All I ever wanted was someplace I could call a “home” — someplace safe, someplace where I had nothing to fear, someplace where I felt loved. But it didn’t work out that way.

When I was growing up, my stepfather molested me, and my mother physically abused me. I was left hurt, afraid, and deeply angry. Many times, I sat in my room, crying and thinking, “God, if you’re there, why are you letting me go through this? Why don’t you save me?”

Finally, when I was 15, I was put in foster care. But by that time, I didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone. I ran away from most of them. I had no idea what love was. I just didn’t believe in love anymore.

By the time I was 21, I had three children and I was on my own — yet I was determined to make a life for myself and my kids. My children mean everything to me. It was the first time I realized what love could be. I found a job, bought a car, got into housing, and for a while, everything seemed to be working out. But when I had trouble with a roommate, I lost my apartment and ended up living in a motel. Before long, my car got repossessed, I lost my job, and I was homeless.

I didn’t know what to do. Then someone said, “Call Andy Bales at Union Rescue Mission.” When I called, Andy said, “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be OK.” Next thing I knew, he drove all the way out to Pomona and brought me and my kids to Union Rescue Mission, and finally to Hope Gardens.

When I first got here, I kept to myself and told everyone, “I know there’s a God, but I don’t want anything to do with Him.” But I started going to chapels and the classes, and I saw how happy everybody was. Everyone made me and my kids feel safe. The staff told me the truth and they loved me. Every person here touched my heart in some way. And slowly I started opening up — even to God.

They helped me in so many ways and I’ve learned so much. My kids and I have our own apartment now and I’m hoping to go to school. I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for Andy Bales, Hope Gardens — and people like you. But I know where I am now. I’m home.

They’re not struggling with drugs or alcohol. They’re not those suffering from mental illness. More and more, people caught up in the crisis of homelessness in Los Angeles include single women, mothers, children, and even entire families, driven to the streets because of unemployment, low-wage jobs, and unaffordable housing. In fact, more than half of the people surveyed by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority last year said they were homeless because of an eviction, foreclosure, unemployment, or financial reasons.

And on Skid Row, the crisis is even more dire. The number of women living on the streets has jumped by 35%. More tragically, the number of families devastated by homelessness has skyrocketed by 111% — and more than 300 children call these streets home.

These precious souls need someone to care. They need someone to help. They need you.

All over Los Angeles County, the number of women devastated by homelessness is a crisis and an unthinkable tragedy. But the worst tragedy of all are the children.

No mother or child deserves to live in fear on these streets. Yet thanks to caring people like you, thousands of these precious souls have found new hope and transformed lives at Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens. Your compassion gives them the hope and courage they need to give life another try.

Every gift, large and small, is crucial to help men, women, children, and families get back on their feet. Your generous gift of $25, $35, or more will help provide food, beds, shelter — and give everyone who walks through our doors the real long-term help they need to rebuild their lives. So please send the most generous gift you can today. Thank you!