Angela was ready to give up and leave Hope Gardens. She wasn’t getting along with staff or the other mothers. She didn’t trust anyone, she didn’t like being around so many people— and she was angry with God. “I was in my room with my infant son,” Angela recalls. “I was blaming God for everything. Why did you do this to me? Why did you let this happen to me? I don’t want to do this anymore. I looked at my son and started crying. Then he just smiled at me. That was my turning point. I said, ‘You know what God? I’ll do it. I’ll stay’—and I did.”
Resurrected From Death
to a New Life
Your Support
Provides
Healing for
Women like
Angela.
“I couldn’t have done this without the support of Hope Gardens, the donors, and God.”— Angela
Angela endured a lot in her life. Her birth parents struggled with drug addictions and were involved in gangs. It was so bad, the authorities took her and her siblings from their home, and they were adopted. Her life, however, did not improve. “I didn’t get along with anyone in my family,” she says. “I never fit in. I always felt out of place. Then, at school, I was constantly bullied, so I wasn’t safe there either. I learned early how much people could hurt me, and I started to believe there was something wrong with me.” To protect herself, Angela started running away from home. By 15, she was homeless, bouncing from house to house, sometimes sleeping in a car or in a park. At 17, she had her first daughter, and a few years later she got pregnant with her son. Then she turned to Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens for help. “I didn’t know if I really wanted to do it,” Angela says. “It was a struggle. I didn’t trust anyone, I wouldn’t listen to anyone, I didn’t want to be around anyone—but God wanted me to do it, and the staff kept pushing me and encouraging me. It took me a long time to open up to anyone, but I was determined to change. Not for me, but for my kids.” She spent the next year at Hope Gardens, taking classes, opening up to staff, to other women, and to God. She started to see God working in her life and the other women’s lives. She began to see herself in those mothers, and her compassion and empathy grew. She experienced relationships in a way she never had before—and it felt good. Angela grew so much that Union Rescue Mission hired her to work with all the single women experiencing homelessness in their building on Skid Row. “I’m able to put myself in their shoes,” she says. “I’m taking everything I learned at Hope Gardens to help them. I couldn’t have done this without the support of Hope Gardens, the donors, and God. I’ve come such a long way.”
Our Families Thank YOU!
In These Challenging Times...
Many Will Give Thanks for YOU!
More than 2 million people in Los Angeles County face food insecurity, including 1 in 4 children. Your support helps provide dinner to more than 2,500 guests at Union Rescue Mission, Hope Gardens, and Angeles House every day! More men, women, children, and families seek our help during the holiday season than at any other time of year. Volunteers help serve meals, support children, mentor guests and serve in many other ways. They play a critical role in meeting the needs of people experiencing homelessness. To learn more about volunteering at URM, visit urm.org/get-involved/ volunteer. Rising food, fuel, and housing costs are threatening the welfare of thousands of individuals and families, pushing many to the brink of homelessness. Thanks to your generosity, Union Rescue Mission, Hope Gardens, and Angeles House offer safe refuge to precious souls devastated by homelessness.
URMOVERTHEEDGE.COM
Sign up for URM’s “Over the Edge” event before it’s too late! It’s your chance to raise critical funds for the Mission’s life-saving programs and services by rappelling down a 25-story building! All funds raised will be used to save people and fight homelessness here in Los Angeles. Date: Sept. 30 – Oct. 1
Time: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Location: Universal Hilton Hotel, 555 Universal Hollywood Drive, Universal, CA 91608
Questions? Contact Alexandra Monsibaez at (213) 673-4882 or amonsibaez@urm.org
URM TOY DRIVE!
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Between now and Thanksgiving, Union Rescue Mission will serve more than 180,000 meals—and there’s no better time to make a BIG difference in the lives of our neighbors devastated by homelessness. Thanks to hundreds of volunteers and generous donations from local markets, each Thanksgiving meal we serve costs only $2.92. Your gift today will provide precious men, women, children, and families at Union Rescue Mission, Hope Gardens, and Angeles House with hot meals, safe shelter, hope — and the taste of family and love we all crave. Bless Someone This Thanksgiving Season Thanksgiving is still more than two months away, but it takes
months of planning and preparation to serve Thanksgiving dinner for thousands of men, women, children, and families on this special day. So please help us get ready! Your gift will help provide meals and more for fall and Thanksgiving— just $2.92 each! Thank you!
NOTES FROM ANDY
Giving Thanks for YOU
The past two and a half years have been the most challenging in Union Rescue Mission’s history. First, it was the isolation, stress, trauma, and fear of the pandemic. Now, we’re facing the painful costs of food, fuel, and housing. No one is immune. Inflation has pushed ever greater numbers of individuals and families to the brink of hunger and homelessness, and to the streets. At the same time, it raises our costs to provide food and shelter for all those who seek our help. Yet, as we begin our long journey to Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of how grateful I really am. Why? Because of the extraordinary generosity of our Lord and people like you. Because of you, we continue to stay open, welcoming all who come our way when they need us most. I know that today’s economic challenges affect you, too. So, let me encourage you with Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” This is no time to grow weary. It’s all hands on deck—because only together can we share God’s love and see one another through.
Rev. Andy Bales, President and CEO