Rev Andy’s Blog

Often Under Siege

Serving at one of the largest rescue missions, if not the largest, in the United States has its challenges—especially when it’s in the heart of Los Angeles’ Skid Row, one of the most difficult places on the face of the earth.  For those not familiar with Skid Row in LA, it is roughly a 50 square block area that has been devastated over the years by a practice and policy of containment and corralling of people who are homeless, addicted, or mentally troubled by the powers that be in all of LA County.

For years area agencies, hospitals, police departments, and others from outside communities have dropped off, even bussed in people who are unwanted in their communities.  This created what I call one of the greatest human tragedies/disasters in the United States.

At one time there were thousands of desperate people on Skid Row, just outside of the walls of Union Rescue Mission.  Crime and violence, murder and overdose deaths were rampant.  Large rats were, and still are, a part of the scenery.  Drug deals and drug use could be found at every step.

I’m happy to report that there has been improvement as the thousands have turned into hundreds due to hard work by area agencies and the Safer Cities Initiative by the LAPD.  Crime has been reduced.  Violence, murder and overdose deaths are down.  But drug use, drug sales and violence—especially against women—are still intolerably high.

At Union Rescue Mission, we work hard to make sure that a walk inside our doors is a pleasant experience and a transformational step away from the struggles that wait right outside. That is why I left with great concern last Friday when I learned that someone had run into our parking lot gate—breaking it.  The gate would have to be left open, putting our guests at risk over the weekend.

It is not just the gates and secure doors that keep trouble out and bring peace inside.  It is a combination of vigilant staff and loving volunteers who truly make the difference.  However, locked gates and doors sure help!

A staff person inquired of me regarding the broken gate stating “The battle never ends.”  I then shared that this was just one of a number of battles that I had waged on this day before the Holiday weekend.  My text back read “Battled economy, housing 1st push, drug dealing, bed bugs and hospital drop off so far today – now the parking gate”.

That day I had already poured over the budget making adjustments to keep the folks under our watch employed, while also trying to keep enough reserves to weather the summer doldrums of giving—not to mention the continued budget battle in the Great Recession of 2007, 2008, 2009, …   I was on the phone and writing letters trying to raise the necessary funds to keep Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center strong in spite of the overwhelming needs coming our way.  I ordered 20 more EDAR units so that we could continue accepting families, all while watching our Chapel become a tent city.  I had also taken the time to write to area newspapers and community leaders, sharing my blog from June 4th regarding the Push for Housing First.  I am concerned that while URM is stepping up to meet the needs of so many families in crisis, community leaders and politicians want to move funding away from missions, shelter and other “archaic models”, as they termed it, toward Housing First. Please take time to read my blog on the Housing First Push from June 4th under http://revandysblog.com

I had also been alerted/become suspicious of two possible sources of drugs being brought into our building from the outside.  So I took steps to address this with enhanced security, drug testing, and an alert to the LAPD undercover unit.  Then I became aware that a medical marijuana dispensary may be placed two short blocks away from URM. So you can believe this caused alarm as well.

Next, I declared all out war on a vicious group of bed bugs that we had heard was coming from other agencies in the area.  One of the fellows that has had his life transformed here at URM showed me an infected elbow.  So I sent our team to check out his room and mattress.  When our Environmental Services leader put his finger up to a hole in the mattress, he pulled it away and it was bleeding. “Yes, that is bed bugs”, he declared.  We treated the area and the bed bugs like terrorists, throwing out 26 mattresses, ordering new, and spraying the area thoroughly.  Can you believe that these little terrors will cost us $10,000!?

Finally, I received a call on my way home that yet again an area hospital had dropped off a person with mental health issues at our door without any advance notice or proper referral.  So I asked our team to investigate.  See http://revandysblog.com from April 15th, 2009 to learn more about this.

Recently a fine, wonderful gentleman asked me why Union Rescue Mission is faith-based, dependent on Christ, and why we require employees to sign a statement of faith.  The honest answer is that we would not even want to begin to take these challenges on without the power of Jesus Christ.  I know that I would not and could not even begin such a task on my own.

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  2 Corinthians 4:11-12

Thanks for your prayers!  We treasure them.  Andy B.

Housing First Push

Lots of folks are pushing the Housing First model as a solution to homelessness. Recently, an LA County Supervisor encouraged the business community to move all of their resources into Housing First and away from other, as one spokesman described, “archaic” models.

I fully support Housing First as a fabulous option, and indeed support the County’s Project 50 program, and even the planned Project 500 directed at placing the most chronic, physically and mentally challenged homeless people in our city into permanent supportive housing.

However, I need to share that the Housing First model is part of the solution to homelessness and that a continuum of housing is the answer to homelessness.

Let me start by explaining what we do at Union Rescue Mission. Some folks describe us as simply a shelter. We are much more than a shelter. We are the oldest rescue mission in Los Angeles—one of the largest, if not the largest rescue mission in the U.S. We are the only mission in downtown Los Angeles that houses single men, single women, women with children, two parent families with children, and single dads with children. In addition, we are one of the few in the County that accepts teenage children.

We provide meals and shelter to perhaps more people than any rescue mission in the U.S. Many days we provide nearly 3,500 meals! Many of those who eat at Union Rescue Mission live in the Housing First-permanent supportive housing that surrounds us on Skid Row. We provide emergency shelter and meals to 260 single men each night. We provide emergency shelter and meals to 200 single women each night. During the rainy winter months from December 1st to March 15th, we double our number of emergency guests through a partnership with EIMAGO, our public benefits charity, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

We also provide emergency shelter and meals to 35 single moms with 60 children each night. During the winter months this last year we saw, through our partnership, 7 times the number of homeless families coming to our winter shelter sites compared to the year prior. These are folks that would more than likely be on the streets each night, if not for Union Rescue Mission.

I would be the first to agree that shelter and meals alone are not the solution to homelessness. Shelter alone would mean the mere warehousing of precious human beings made in the image of God. However, at their worst these shelter beds provide a roof overhead and a waiting area for entrance into permanent supportive housing opportunities. At their best they provide a staging point for an opportunity for entrance into a long term program that could change their life.

When it comes to life transforming long-term program opportunities, Union Rescue Mission again leads the way among Los Angeles providers and in rescue missions throughout the U.S. We have 170 single men in an intense 1 year training program. These men attend hundreds of programming hours in classes on relationships, overcoming addictions, anger management, Bible study; hours in our Learning Center; in physical education; in work therapy and volunteering throughout the Mission. Then they proudly graduate in a cap and gown after successfully completing their year commitment to the program. If you doubt the transforming power of this program, please attend our upcoming Men’s Graduation on Sunday, June 28th, at 3 P.M., in our URM Chapel.

After graduation, our men have the option to move into a 6-12 month transition phase for securing a job and saving money as they prepare to move out on their own. We have 60 men in this transition phase. This totals over 200 men in our programs. We have 16 single women in our 6 month, life transforming program as well. This includes many of the classes mentioned above, but focused on women’s issues.

This Fall, when the economic downturn hit hard we launched Project Restart, a mini-program of sorts, to house and assist 2 parent families and single dads with children who are new to homelessness. The goal is to launch them quickly back into employment and housing. We currently have 15 families and 34 children in this program on our 5th floor.

We also have 30 moms and 60 children at our long-term, transitional housing program at Hope Gardens Family Center. This facility provides a safe environment for single moms and their children. Moms have the opportunity to save money while they further their education and career skills in order to gain employment and provide a home for their children. Hope Gardens also provides permanent supportive housing to 22 senior ladies. These precious elderly women have finally found a permanent home, bringing their cycle of homelessness to an end.

I share all of these statistics to say, URM is much more than a shelter! URM is a continuum of housing within the much needed continuum of care.

The Housing First model—permanent supportive, forever subsidized care—is certainly the best model for people who are physically and mentally challenged; for those who will likely never recover from the devastating effects of homelessness. These precious folks make up about 10 to 20 % of people experiencing homelessness. This percentage also includes families with parents who are debilitated, or families that, for whatever reason, decide to pass up on a life-changing opportunity like Hope Gardens Family Center. They are those that choose instead to move to permanent supportive housing, or, what I would describe as, “Survival and Subsidy.”

The next 60%, the largest portion of people experiencing homelessness, are struggling with a mountain of issues. But those issues may very well be temporary, or at least not insurmountable. This is where life-transforming programs take the stage. Long-term, intensive programs at places like Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles Mission, Weingart Center, Midnight Mission, and even our own Hope Gardens Family Center, provide folks an opportunity to work hard and a chance to turn their life around.

The final 20% are folks like our first-time homeless families in our Project Restart program. They have, through a series of misfortunes, stumbled into homelessness. They possess job skills and resources to quickly get back on their feet, get back into the job market and into the normal housing market. Housing First’s permanent supportive-permanently subsidized housing would not only be inappropriate for them, but it would in the end be debilitating to their genuine well being.

I would argue that there is a need for this entire continuum of housing as a solution to homelessness. I also recognize that we certainly need to make the shelter experience as short, as welcoming and dignity affirming as we can, given the limited resources.

Affordable housing is a part of the continuum of housing that I have not mentioned, and it is a vital part of the continuum that must be enhanced so that folks in the 80% final two categories I discussed will have a housing option after completing their life transforming program, or after completing a program similar to our Project Restart.

Thanks for listening and please weigh in with your comments!
Andy B.

Heroes for Hope

Just last week I realized the full extent of the way that our URM/Hope Gardens Family Center team has stepped up to meet the growing needs of homeless families and individuals coming desperately to our doors.

We are now averaging 965 individuals per night at Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center, and this is after the Winter Shelters (December 1st to March 15th) closed their doors. This is 400 more people per night since just 4 short years ago! As the funding from the City/County LAHSA for Winter Shelter ran out, we decided to keep 80 men’s cots and 40 women’s cots in operation on the 1st Floor at our own expense. We just could not ask anyone seeking shelter to leave from under our URM roof.

Our meals have grown from 2100 per day just 18 months ago, to nearly 3500 per day! At this rate we will serve 1.25 Million meals this year! It is a bit like the fishes and loaves story from the New Testament because our budget for purchasing food is only $360,000!

As you know, when the economic crunch came last October, two parent families and single dads with children began arriving at our door. Overnight we transformed our 5th floor from offices and rooms for occasional volunteers, to housing for two parent and single dad families. We now have 16 families on our 5th floor with 40 precious children. Of these families 47 percent have never faced homelessness before! The other night we were completely filled with families, and an expectant couple showed up. We placed them in an EDAR (pup-tent like structure) until a room could be found. Their precious baby girl was welcomed into the world just last week.

Some agencies around us have responded to this crisis by reducing costs through staff and service cuts—some by as much as 23%! We had to ask, “If we don’t step up now, who will?”  And so, we made a decision to step up and meet the growing need! We have been able to increase services and meet the need not only due to our donors’ sacrificial giving, but also because our URM/Hope Gardens staff has taken heroic measures to care for those with nowhere else to go. Cutting services, letting staff go, and adding to the ranks of the unemployed and potentially homeless was simply not an option. Instead, our team decided to sacrifice across-the-board for the sake of those we are called to serve.

Our staff has taken two 5% pay cuts. The employer match to our employees’ 401K has stopped. We’ve frozen hiring and wages. Though our wages have been reduced, 65% of our staff still signed up as Heroes for Hope, pledging a part of their paycheck each month to support the work and ministry of URM/Hope Gardens Family Center. This is amazing!

We’ve reduced other costs as well. We cut our warehouse costs by $10,000 per month through collaboration with the Salvation Army on a shared warehouse. One of our partners agreed to continue services to our guests without a $9,000 per month reimbursement from URM! We also made some strategic decisions to move to some new vendors who could add to our cost savings by $8,000 per month.

We all did this sacrifice and cost-cutting without hurting the quality of care or love for our guests. A gentleman the other day shared on the radio about URM:

The slogan here is “The Way Home”, and coming into the doors, coming into the building definitely gave me the feeling of, “I’m on my way back.” God is in this building from the basement to the roof, and you can feel it when you walk in. I knew then that I was going to be ok. Getting God back in my life was going to be the only way that I was going to get back the things I had lost. The hope factor in my life has changed dramatically. I now see a goal for myself. I now see a purpose for myself. Since I’ve been here in the program at URM I have gotten a relationship with my family back—with my mother, my grandparents. I’m actually in school at USC. Everything has completely turned around within a matter of months. I can’t do enough for the rest of my life to pay back what this Mission has done for me.

Another program graduate showed his growth here with this letter to us when his folks became ill:

Since February I’ve know that my mother has had cancer. It was my hope that she would improve with the care and prayers of doctors and friends. But that is not the case it appears, as her health has taken a turn for the worse. My mother is now 88 years young and my father is 92 years young. While it is truly a blessing to still have my parents here with me, my father is now suffering from Alzheimer’s as well. Because of my contact with the Mission, my life has changed. The way I think it has changed? My relationship with God has improved and my willingness to help others has grown. God has truly blessed me! I’ve met a lot of good people, a lot of caring people. The program itself allowed me to gain skills I didn’t have before coming to the Mission. As I have learned to respect myself more and think about the choices I have, it all comes back to just plain old giving back to God what God has given me. I’m very grateful to everyone here at the Union Rescue Mission. I will tell anyone and be proud to say so. There is love, understanding and true giving here at the Mission. Downtown in the middle of all the madness, God’s presence is here. I will be leaving for Seattle, Washington Wednesday, May 20th. Please pray for me. Pray for my mother and father. And I will pray for everyone here. This has truly been, The Way Home. THANK YOU!

It is hard for me to describe in words the honor I feel in serving alongside our URM/Hope Gardens Family Team. They are true Heroes for Hope!


(Not) Alone in the World

When Union Rescue Mission saw this economic downturn happening before our eyes, we made an unusual choice. We decided to not only stay on course welcoming those struggling in poverty with the love of Christ, but in order to live up to our history during the Great Depression, we stepped it up a notch to meet the growing need. We converted our 5th floor, previously saved for VIP’s and volunteer groups (and me if I ever needed to spend the night), into housing for two-parent families and single Dads with children, two groups we had not often seen coming to the Mission previously. Since making that choice, we’ve seen some incredible things. Our meals have gone up nearly 40%, as we served 3,450 in one day alone last week. Last night 929 souls found shelter under our roof. Dozens of families have arrived on our 5th Floor, Project Restart as we call it, and a number of families have been placed in transitional and permanent housing thanks to our efforts and partners working with us. As of last night, 15 families with 39 children, a total of 61 people, occupy this 5th floor space that was largely under utilized in the past.

This includes one very special family awaiting their first baby. A co-worker came to my office on Monday and told me that we had a couple who had lost their housing and were seeking shelter, but all of our rooms were full. Not only were all of our rooms full, but even our tent-like structures, EDARs, were in use. My co-worker also let me know that the husband is working and the expectant mom is 9 months pregnant, due any day. We did what we always do. We searched for a place to put this precious family. We found an unused, cleaned up EDAR unit, and placed it in our 5th Floor Conference room. The expectant couple was thrilled to lay their heads down in a safe place and get some much needed rest.

I am sure that this young couple felt deserted, abandoned, and alone in the world when they came to our doors. Even as they entered I am sure they felt some fear and trepidation, but as they entered, because of the commitment and courage of our Board of Directors and staff, they were embraced with the love of Christ. Today, the young husband is figuring out ways to have his employer bless the other families with food donations and anxiously asking about a parenting class he can attend so that he can be a good father to his first born. Pray for this little one. She is very special. She is the reason we stepped up in a time of need.

Union Rescue Mission Helping to Change Skid Row into Hope Central

As I worked with the Los Angeles Police Department this morning to solve a major crime (more details to come in weeks ahead), I began to reflect on all that URM and our staff have accomplished to bring change to the streets of Skid Row. Many others rightly get credit for the major turnaround on these difficult streets. Our friend, Steve Lopez, author of The Soloist—the book on which the soon to be released movie, The Soloist, is based—opened the eyes of all of LA to the realities of Skid Row in his series, Life On The Streets in 2005. Commander Andy Smith, labeled Super Cop during his time serving at Central Division, and his courageous officers brought order to what he described as Mardi Gras on crack. Less apparent to our great city, has been the work of URM and our staff.

In 2005 we took decisive, bold action and purchased a safe place called Hope Gardens Family Center, so that we could move our women and children from the streets of Skid Row and make sure that no women or children were left living on the streets of Skid Row. We fought a lengthy battle to win the right to move our women and children to Skid Row, at a time when there was a great deal of talk about opening regional centers to serve people who were homeless. In the words of Steve Lopez, “Union Rescue Mission was the only one who succeeded in opening up one of those regional centers, and it is called Hope Gardens!” We welcomed LA County Family workers on site and provided offices for them so that we could work together to make sure that no woman or child was left on these mean streets.
We recently received a nice Thank you, from LA County CEO William T. Fujioka for doing our part.

When Chief Bratton moved ahead with the Safer Cities Initiative, we were one of the few and the first agencies to support them in bringing extra officers to the streets of Skid Row. We helped prepare the new officers with how to deal with our sensitive friends who are homeless and struggling on the streets; we joined them in outreach as they went out to enforce the law; we are still called on by the LAPD to go out and alert our friends who are homeless before the LAPD carries out a maximum enforcement of the no sleeping ordinance in effect from 6:00 A.M. to 9 P.M.

In March of 2006 we caught a hospital drop-off on video, a video that played throughout the world and provided strong evidence that “hospital dumpings” were not an Urban myth. This led to proper care for this particular patient, helped lead to the development of a proper protocol for the release of future patients and even led to a city law that prohibits such patient dumping. Just last week, a press conference was held on our URM rooftop, as a hospital and the city came to a settlement over the dropping off of 150 mental patients onto the streets of Skid Row. URM and our staff found the first fellow wandering the streets. We gathered evidence and turned it over to the City Attorney’s Office, which led to the finding that at least 150 mental patients, our most vulnerable citizens, had been dropped off by this Orange County Hospital—40 miles away—onto the mean streets of Skid Row. This has now led to the development of a new, Patient Safety Zone, and a proper protocol for the referral of Mental Health Patients.

When the economic downturn hit hard last Fall, we recognized early that 2 parent families were losing their homes, and while other agencies cut staff and services, our Board of Directors provided the leadership that allowed us to transform our 5th floor from volunteer housing to temporary living quarters for 2 parent families and single Dads with children. We utilized our Chapel as a kind of Red Cross like Emergency Shelter for families living in tent like structures called EDAR units. We stepped up to meet the growing need as we assisted nearly 4 times the number of families than we had the previous year. URM has not done this alone. Our faithful staff and bold Board of Directors have played a key role in making a powerful impact on Skid Row, and we move ever closer to the day when we truly can describe our city as the City of Angels, and Skid Row will be better known as Hope Central. I am honored to serve here at Union Rescue Mission. It is the greatest honor in my life.

Bless you,
Andy B.

Alternatives to Tent Cities in this Emergency Situation

The news has been scary lately with so many people in trouble due to our economy. At ground zero here on Skid Row in Los Angeles the reality is even more incredible. Real unemployment in Los Angeles is at nearly 21% according to Jack Kaiser of the Los Angeles Economic Corporation. It is no wonder then that families coming to Union Rescue Mission are up over 340% since last year, and our meals are up 32% from 18 months ago.

47% of the families needing shelter throughout the city are homeless for the first time ever in their lives.

And it’s not just Los Angeles, it’s everywhere. I was contacted by a friend of Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, a former NBA great, asking me what could be done about the tent cities springing up in Sacramento and around our country. Sacramento’s tent city has grown to 1200 people and there is talk of demolishing it. But that will not solve the problem.

I have come up with a plan, and though I can’t say that it originated with me, I believe that it is a tremendous alternative to letting folks sleep on the streets or in tents. First of all, the Governor should declare a state of emergency and ask that all armories be opened to house people as we do in the Winter Shelter months. Non-profits like Union Rescue Mission and our EIMAGO public benefits charity should be commissioned to operate them. We could provide emergency housing for 200 people each night, along with meals, a cot, a shower, and bathroom facilities for $1.2 million per armory a year.

Secondly, I received this note from a friend concerning a dream of hers. She told me, “One morning I awoke about 5:30 am to the words, ‘Hotels will be given to house the homeless, restaurants will be given to feed the hungry.’” I considered her dream—the empty hotels/motels in our area that are struggling to do business, and the nearly abandoned restaurants on the brink of closing. Then I thought of the tsunami of families coming our way seeking assistance and experiencing homelessness for the first time in their lives. What if we exchanged hotel/motel vouchers and restaurant vouchers for a small fee? Whatever a family could afford to pay, we put roofs over the heads of children and good food in their bellies while at the same time assisting the hotel and restaurant businesses in keeping their doors open and their employees working. We could provide case management to assist the families in pursuing permanent housing and employment. For those without a partnering family to turn to as they struggle through this ordeal, we could connect them with a church family to encourage them along the way. Some churches could possibly even step up and provide a gym for housing or an empty apartment that they could sponsor. Could we as a city, state, and country find it in our hearts to join in a bit of a bail out program for desperate families—along with some accountability and dignity to boot?

I want to encourage all in authority that this is an increasing emergency situation and needs an emergency response. We should not allow anyone, especially children to experience the devastating effects of homelessness.

Blessings, Andy B

Take a moment to watch this report from NBC Nightly News about Sacramento’s tent cities.

Heartache

It is difficult to describe the heartbreak I feel as our Winter Shelters close. This weekend 450+ souls were asking, “Where can I go?” The very sad part is that many of these folks have never experienced homelessness before. We saw our economy crumble during the months the emergency Winter Shelters were open (Dec-March). Now as they close, these fearful folks will be on the streets for the first time in their lives.

Friday evening I stopped by the Burbank Winter Shelter to be a part of the very special meal of chicken and ribs our kitchen prepared for the guests. California Assemblyman, Paul Krekorian was there with our other faithful volunteers serving the special meals to the guests at tablecloth covered tables. That night many folks were asking me, “Where can I go?” One of our guests–a tall, handsome, and very polite man–asked me to lead them in prayer before they began eating. I was touched by their spirit of thankfulness even as they were about to face absolute homelessness. Another man called me over to his table. I thought he wanted another plate, but instead he thanked me and said that our Winter Shelter staff was incredibly helpful.

My wife and I visited the West LA Winter Shelter Saturday night. There, I asked Lucy, a lovely redheaded woman to come to URM downtown today so that we could assist her. She responded, “I can’t come downtown! The last time I did I was attacked on the street!” I asked the same to a lovely older woman, Annie, and she agreed to come down and give us a chance to assist her in finding housing. Another fellow hugged me in the parking lot and thanked me for the Winter Shelter.

With a real unemployment rate of 20% in Los Angeles, I have been pleading for help. I have been hoping against hope that Governor Schwarzenegger and other leaders would recognize the emergency we are in during this Great Recession—that they would keep the National Guard Armories open and continue the Winter Shelters year round. Unfortunately, no such leadership or help has come forward. Instead of finding partners to step up with an emergency plan to assist, we find ourselves battling some neighbors and a Burbank City Councilman just in order to open the Burbank Winter Shelter again next year. As a result, the majority of the 450+ people at our Winter Shelters, along with many others from Winter Shelters in the area, will find themselves without a roof tonight.

To add insult to injury, on Sunday I received word that the Sergeant on duty at the Burbank Armory decided to close one day early. Our staff found out at 3:40pm when they showed up to go to work. Our team scrambled to move the folks quickly to our downtown URM gym for the night.

Though my heart is breaking, I am also burning with a bit of (I hope) righteous anger at leaders who seem to be caught like a deer in the headlights instead of responding to the needs of fellow human beings. We at Union Rescue Mission are doing what we can. We are leaving most of our Winter cots up at our downtown facility, though we absolutely do not have the funds to do so. Our faithful staff are meeting with people that we referred from area Winter Shelters, many of whom are rightly scared to death of life on the streets. We are doing our best to assist them in finding a place to go.

Please pray for these precious souls. Pray for our leaders to wake up to the emergency we are in. Pray for Union Rescue Mission and our response. Pray for me. Thank you.

A Different Kind of Blog

I am in my office, preparing to go on Union Rescue Mission’s yearly 2 day Senior Leadership Planning retreat. Normally a very exciting time, a chance to get away, cast a wonderful vision, bond as a team, enjoy a few meals out together. This year is very different, my wife and I are providing the venue, in order to be frugal, I am cooking most of the meals(we have a brave group), and our strategic sessions will be more about surviving this deep recession than casting a powerful vision.

I have to admit I am leaving with a lot of concern, and I say concern because many believe worry is a sin, and I don’t want to sin, but frankly I am worried. Our staff has responded well to wage freezes, a hiring freeze, stopping the employer match to their 401K’s, and even the knowledge that as of March 1st, our wages will be cut 5% across the organization, with some of us possibly reducing our wages by 10%. We’ve reduced costs in our warehouse by 66%, halted renovation and construction projects, and have tried to reduce costs in nearly every area, but with the economic news and recent trends in donations, I am afraid that we have not done enough. That, possibly not enough can be done.

Like many of our friends who have come to us homeless, this was not my plan. When I came to URM it was to be the pinnacle of my career of serving people who are struggling. I did not plan on the greatest economic disaster since the Great Depression happening on my watch!

Yesterday, I must admit, I was overwhelmed! Today, after a prayerful night, I know that we need to continue to step up to meet the needs of people coming to us. The number of families is up nearly 400% and climbing, our Chapel is beginning to fill with an overflow of desperate women and their children. They need us! People coming into our Mission looking for a meal is up nearly 40%, 900 a day! Somehow the Lord is providing because for the first time in our history we served 1 Million meals in 12 months with food purchases of only $300,000, a reminder of what Jesus can do with fishes and loaves and willing hearts.

I also realized last night in a prayerful night that I need to go directly to heads of Foundations and personally tell them our dilemma, and plead for help, as that is all I can do and must do.

I also must ask you personally for your help. I am troubled going to the well one more time, but for the sake of our guests, and the sake of Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center I must. Your giving in December was incredible! We were blessed in so many ways we could not have imagined, but that generosity and the growing bad news must have taken their toll because January’s giving was less than half what we projected, and February’s giving has decreased even more. We at Union Rescue Mission are facing events that I can’t even imagine; widespread layoffs, loss of services, closing of facilities, if this trend continues. The only power I have is to pray to our Lord, and to ask you personally to give what you can. I’d actually like to meet with you personally and talk to you if you would have time to meet with me and ask me questions to understand our circumstance. Please consider giving what you can today so that we can continue together to meet the needs of families with children losing their homes, hungry people needing a meal and an encouraging word. Please feel free to call me at 626-260-4761 or email me at abales@urm.org to schedule and opportunity to meet face to face. Thank you, for taking time to listen.

Weathering the Storm

It is hard for me to describe how proud I am of the URM team and the honor I feel in working alongside them. This year we have faced overwhelming odds. Our numbers of single guests are up significantly, at least 25%. Our number of meals served has grown from around 750,000 last year to an incredible number of more than 1,000,000 meals for the 1st time in URM 118 year history! We now have 59 families with 111 children at our downtown URM facility, with another 32 families and 62 children at URM’s Hope Gardens Family Center in Sylmar. We have already had an astounding 113 families in the first two months of our Winter Shelter Program compared to 35 families in the entire 3 ½ months of last year’s Winter Shelter Season. Yet our staff is not only holding up, but exceeding the need of people who are coming through our doors, desperate for help. Our staff has even adjusted to the new challenge of housing families in EDAR units (see http://EDAR.org) in our chapel, and we are expecting many more families to do so.

I am honored because our staff is doing this with less resources, less food donations, and during a time when the economy has forced us to freeze hiring, freeze wage increases and suspend the employer matching portion of their 401-K retirement plans. I’ve also had to alert them to a potential 5% pay cut across the board, and still they carry on with joy. Challenged to become a Hero of Hope this morning in our weekly Chapel service, more than a dozen employees immediately marched to the Human Resources office and signed up to have a donation automatically given to the Mission from their paychecks every payday in the future. All this, despite the possible impending wage cuts. I have to tell you, that I am amazed!

Partly amazed because I see many National, State, County, and City officials stunned, stymied, almost paralyzed by the gravity of the emergency situation as we face a Tsunami of families facing homelessness. I am thankful for URM and agencies and ministries stepping up to meet the need, and I am honored to be part of this team.

Pray for My Friend G.

Yesterday, as I walked back to Union Rescue Mission from the Los Angeles Mission where I had just completed my term as President of the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative, I ran into one of my friends/guests from the Mission. He was weeping uncontrollably. He kept telling me, “You are the best person in the world, thank you!” Then he said, “Union Rescue Mission is the greatest place on earth! But I can’t stay!” My friend G. had been drinking. I believe that though he was intoxicated, he was absolutely sharing his heart feelings with me. I had some tears in my eyes as well. I grabbed his hand, and I told him that if Union Rescue Mission was truly the best, then he could certainly come back with me to the Mission and get some immediate help. He refused. I tried to direct him to a local 24 hour drop-in center where he could detox. He refused. I grabbed his hand, looked him in the eyes, and told him, “Remember G., if URM is the best, that means you can always come back, right?” As he walked into some of the meanest streets in the United States, I yelled one more time, “Go to one of our Winter Shelters!”, another man tried to direct G. back toward my voice, but he was gone. I walked back the remaining block to URM with my head down, praying against the evil forces that had taken hold of G. and were weighing him down, telling him he was not worthy of our love or care or anything else. As I continued walking I prayed for God’s hand of protection to watch over him on these mean streets of Skid Row. One of our (CLDP) program men caught me as I walked by our loading dock and asked me what was wrong. “That is hard on you isn’t it, Andy.” I answered, “Yes, it really is.” Our gentleman said, “What you have shared with us will stay with him, you’ve planted a seed of hope. When I was out there hitting bottom — that seed was always with me and brought me back here when I needed help.” Those were extremely encouraging words that I needed to hear at that moment. Please pray for my friend, G. Please also pray for the 150 men in our Christian Life Discipleship Program who are making it through one day at a time. Thank you.

Andy B.