Set Free to Fly
Your Gifts at Work
Come Serve Kids on Skid Row!
Stories from Skid Row
Transform a Life Today
Notes From Andy
SET FREE TO FLY
After a lifetime of abuse and heartache, Ruby felt abandoned, angry, and hopeless. When she came to Hope Gardens with her four children, she shut down and kept to herself — until God reached her heart with a butterfly.
“When I was young, I was often left with family, friends, or anyone who would take us. At one point, I was molested. And when I was 16, I had to drop out of school to support my siblings. I never had a childhood.”
Heartbroken and Hopeless
Ruby’s unstable life left her feeling unsafe and unloved. Her self-esteem hit rock-bottom. After earning her GED at 18, she spent the next 10 years enduring unimaginable emotional and physical abuse from the men in her life. By 28, she was a single mother with four children, doing whatever it took to make ends meet, but barely hanging on.
“I got down on my knees and told God, ‘I surrender myself to you.’”
In 2017, Ruby finally broke down. She lost her job and her apartment, and she came to Hope Gardens with her children.
“When I got here, I was lost and confused. I felt hopeless, and I was mad at everybody, even God, because I never thought He was there for me,” she says.
Soaring to New Heights
But one day, in one of her classes, a teacher showed her the picture of a butterfly attached to a rock, unable to fly. “It was beautiful,” she says. “But it couldn’t be free as long as it was carrying that burden of the rock. I knew what God was showing me. I got down on my knees and told God, ‘I surrender myself to you. I can’t carry this burden anymore. Please help me.’”
God answered that prayer. Ruby opened herself up to everything Hope Gardens has to offer and began to thrive. Her spirit soared with new faith in God, joy, and hope. Today, she’s on track for a new job and housing.
“I allowed God to come in and heal me,” she says. “You wouldn’t recognize me from a year ago. I am so grateful to Hope Gardens and the donors who support this place. You believed in me when I didn’t. You never gave up on me. You transformed my life and the lives of my kids. Now I just want to stay on this path and do good by you and God.”
Please give today to help more precious souls, like Ruby, find the loving care they need to heal and turn their lives around.
NOW YOUR GIFTS ARE SAVING EVEN MORE WOMEN ON SKID ROW
Thanks to your generosity, Union Rescue Mission is now building a new Sprung structure in our San Julian parking lot to provide much-needed safety, shelter, and services for up to 120 additional single women devastated by homelessness on Skid Row.
This new 4,100 square-foot, semi-permanent structure is set to open in March 2019, and will include bathrooms, a large dorm-style sleeping area, and additional access to medical, dental, and mental healthcare, as well as case management.
On behalf of all the precious women who will find new hope and life at Union Rescue Mission, thank you! You made this possible!
Your gift will give more precious women a chance to find new life and hope! Will you give today?
COME SERVE KIDS ON SKID ROW!
Children and youth devastated by homelessness at Union Rescue Mission need more than a safe bed and a hot meal — they need lots of hands-on loving care and attention. They need YOU!
Do you have a heart for kids on Skid Row? Come show them a little love by teaching music; playing soccer, basketball, and other games; reading books; doing crafts together; or just plain rocking babies! Here’s your chance to volunteer with one of our many children and teen programs. Visit us here for more information about these and other volunteer opportunities.
Stories from Skid Row
After years of abuse and struggles with addiction, Yoana found hope. See how your gifts helped transform her life!
TRANSFORM A LIFE TODAY!
Union Rescue Mission serves 3,100 hungry people a day and shelters 1,300 men, women, and children every night. But most need more than food and shelter. They need hope and a new chance at life — and you can give it to them.
Your gift today of $25, $50, or more will not only provide meals and shelter, it will give hurting people at Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens access to counseling, mentoring, classes, medical care, spiritual nurture and, most important of all, the life-transforming love of God.
So please do more than save a life today. Help change someone’s life. Don’t wait. Please send the most generous gift you can. Thank you!
Sign Up for Rev. Andy’s Lenten Email Devotionals
This Lenten and Easter season, we invite you to join us for a few moments each day to reflect on our hope for healing and new life. Receive Andy’s devotional emails by signing up here.
Your Compassion Transforms Lives
Men, women, and children who come to Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens have often experienced unimaginable physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds. Some walk through our doors feeling hopeless and lost, crippled with guilt and shame — much like Ruby in this issue of The Mission.
Precious souls like Ruby need more than a hot meal and a safe bed. They need new life, from the inside out. That’s why everything we do here — from emergency shelter to our men’s recovery program, to the Family Program at Hope Gardens — is designed to transform lives.
Yes, thanks to you, we serve 3,100 meals a day to hungry people and shelter 1,300 people every night, and that’s critical. But more important, we want them to experience the redeeming, life-changing power of Jesus Christ — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
“Everything we do is designed to transform lives.”
That’s what your gifts and prayers truly make possible. Your generosity is the fuel that keeps Union Rescue Mission going. Your compassion not only saves lives, you also change lives — today and for eternity. Thanks to you, lives are transformed, families are restored, and God is glorified. Thank you for giving to this life-changing work.
Blessings,
