Rev Andy’s Blog

Although it was hard to leave my new grandson, Elijah Solomon Bales, behind in Iowa, I am glad to be back at the Mission and back to work! I am now rescheduling my life and my vacation times around a little 7 lb. 5 ounce handsome miracle – my life will never be the same! Likewise, my bank account will never be the same! As my friend Warren Currie jokingly says, “My 26 or so grandchildren cause me to nearly go bankrupt each Christmas!”

Despite all of the challenges facing our world (after 48 hours in my car listening to CNN on XM radio, I am up on current events – believe me), I am excited to be back because we have lots of exciting things happening in the days ahead at Union Rescue Mission.

Union Rescue Mission is preparing once again to open the winter shelters in Burbank, West LA, Culver City, and here in downtown through added cots in our facility, and we have our biggest Thanksgiving event ever coming up with some surprises. I will inform everyone more on these surprises as the big event approaches.

Thanks to a wonderful open house and fundraiser by the Friends of Hope Gardens Family Center this last Saturday evening, we are preparing to complete the renovation of Hope Gardens Family Center’s kitchen and then take on the final two complex building renovations so that we can house 20 more families and many more children in the months ahead.

This next week we also launch a new Hospitality and Guest Services Department to better serve our men and women guests. We have hired Rev. Brenda Mitchell, former Pastor of Congregational Care at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, to lead our staff in living out our mission statement “…embrace our guests with the compassion of Christ” more fully. We want to greet our guests as they are – the princes and princesses, sons and daughters of the King of Kings.

Thank you for your continued support of this tremendous work and ministry at Union Rescue Mission!

Although it was hard to leave my new grandson, Elijah Solomon Bales, behind in Iowa, I am glad to be back at the Mission and back to work! I am now rescheduling my life and my vacation times around a little 7 lb. 5 ounce handsome miracle – my life will never be the same! Likewise, my bank account will never be the same! As my friend Warren Currie jokingly says, “My 26 or so grandchildren cause me to nearly go bankrupt each Christmas!”

Despite all of the challenges facing our world (after 48 hours in my car listening to CNN on XM radio, I am up on current events – believe me), I am excited to be back because we have lots of exciting things happening in the days ahead at Union Rescue Mission.

Union Rescue Mission is preparing once again to open the winter shelters in Burbank, West LA, Culver City, and here in downtown through added cots in our facility, and we have our biggest Thanksgiving event ever coming up with some surprises. I will inform everyone more on these surprises as the big event approaches.

Thanks to a wonderful open house and fundraiser by the Friends of Hope Gardens Family Center this last Saturday evening, we are preparing to complete the renovation of Hope Gardens Family Center’s kitchen and then take on the final two complex building renovations so that we can house 20 more families and many more children in the months ahead.

This next week we also launch a new Hospitality and Guest Services Department to better serve our men and women guests. We have hired Rev. Brenda Mitchell, former Pastor of Congregational Care at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, to lead our staff in living out our mission statement “…embrace our guests with the compassion of Christ” more fully. We want to greet our guests as they are – the princes and princesses, sons and daughters of the King of Kings.

Thank you for your continued support of this tremendous work and ministry at Union Rescue Mission!

Union Rescue Mission was honored last night to be the charity of choice for James Loney, star 1st Baseman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he received the team’s Roberto Clemente Award, sponsored by Chevrolet. I have provided excerpts from MLB.com below to explain this honor.

The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. Each club nominated a player.

Roberto Clemente was a legendary figure both on and off the field. In baseball, he was labeled “complete” for his incredible offensive and defensive skills. But it was his compassion off the field that redefined the term.

Clemente once said, “Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on this Earth.”

On September 30, 1972, Roberto Clemente hit a double to earn his 3,000th Major League hit, placing him in an elite group of baseball greats. No one knew it at the time, but that two-bagger would represent the last regular season hit for Roberto Clemente. That New Year’s Eve, Roberto and four others boarded a plane to deliver relief supplies to earthquake-striken Nicaragua. Shortly after takeoff the plane exploded and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean. There were no survivors.

“Roberto Clemente played the game of baseball with a great passion that could only be matched by his unrelenting commitment to making a difference in the lives of those in need. People saw him as a great ballplayer and humanitarian.”

Manny Sanguillen
friend and former Pirates teammate

Roberto was my favorite ballplayer growing up, as I even used to swing at high pitches and try to “tomahawk” line drives and run the bases with the passion of Roberto Clemente.

When our Chairman of the Board David Dow, an avid baseball fan, heard of this honor, he wrote to me;

“Wow, where do I start! Whom do I congratulate first? That is one coveted award, made more coveted in my heart by virtue of Clemente being my late son’s favorite ballplayer (Mark wore a Pittsburgh Pirate hat until it was grimy and smelly.) Clemente died being the kind of humanitarian to which we all should aspire.”

I met James Loney during his rookie year, on Christian Day at Dodger Stadium, and he was very friendly and outgoing that day as he had his picture taken with those of us from KKLA Radio. He and his wonderful teammate, Andre Ethier, have taken an active interest in URM. Andre has even grilled hot dogs on the roof with us and James Loney has a wonderful outreach with young people in Los Angeles through Loney’s Lounge.

Last night James honored us by handing us a check for $7,500 as the designee of his award. But, if you, our friends, go to this website

Click here to vote for James Loney

Vote for James Loney of the Dodgers for the MLB Overall Roberto Clemente Award, and he wins, URM will receive a gift of $30,000!

It has been an interesting last few days at Union Rescue Mission. We are seeing things and taking on challenges that we have not faced in my 3 and ½ years here.

Another local shelter lost a great deal of their funding and had to reduce their beds by over 200. This put 200 more people on the streets of Skid Row and South LA. As their leadership shared their heartbreak with me regarding reducing their beds, they delivered some shocking news: 150 of their regular guests are either full-time students (some at USC and UCLA) or employed people who, if they put in their time at school or stay for their full shift of work, can’t line up early enough for a bed in their emergency shelter and end up not getting a cot for the night. We have welcomed many of their folks into our community, adding cots on our 2nd floor and in our 1st floor guest area, but at this moment I am wishing that we had 150 more beds for these folks dedicated to working so hard in school and work to get ahead. It pains me that they are being held back from making significant personal progress because of homelessness and near hopelessness.

We also found that one of our newest guests, a 77 year-old, was swindled out of her house by a reverse mortgage scam. This is the report I received from our Chaplain Tracy:

While interviewing for the Second Step women’s program, we heard one of the most heart-breaking stories yesterday from two of our homeless guests, Eva S and Genevieve S.

Ms. S, who is a recent widow, had owned her home for 44 years. One day two men whom Ms. S thought were nice, helpful loan brokers came to her front door, asking if she needed help with repairs on her home… After a while, they convinced her that they could help her to get a reverse mortgage. Long story short, they swindled her out of her home by instructing her to sign blank documents, which resulted in her unknowingly selling her home. She and her daughter are now homeless. Her daughter, Genevieve, is a dialysis patient and depends upon Eva (who is 77 years old) to drive her 3 days a week to the Dialysis center for treatment. Ms. S must have her daughter at the center at 4 a.m., which means they must get up at 3 a.m. to drive to the Dialysis center.

Ms. S and Genevieve have met with police officers, a legal aid clinic, and other lawyers who told them that they have a strong case due to the fraudulent activity, which involves finding the crooks who ran off with the proceeds from her home, but they need money in order to pursue the matter legally. Both Ms. S. and her daughter are on fixed incomes so they quite simply cannot afford the legal bills to bring about justice.

It saddens me to know that this kind of elder abuse is becoming so prevalent in our community. I would like to suggest that (with their consent) we publicize their story with the hope of some kind of advocacy on her behalf, and on behalf of helpless seniors like her who have ended up homeless and heart-broken.

We have turned this over to the City Attorney and the LA Times with hopes that Ms. S and her daughter may find eventually find their way back to their home.

Another recent challenge is the number of single dads with children showing up at our door. It is extremely challenging to find a place for dads with children in Los Angeles – there isn’t even enough emergency and transitional housing in the County for single moms with children, the reason our Hope Gardens facility was established. We were able to recently accommodate one single father and 2 boys on our floor where we normally house volunteers who come to spend time sharing their talents at URM.

Reflecting on all of these new challenges, we can’t help but see much more of this ahead. As families, who have been foreclosed on, expend everything they have to bounce back, some families will not bounce back but will come our way. With the current state of the economy, we realize that we will have to assist more people with fewer resources. The only way we can respond to more need with fewer resources is through creativity, partnerships and prayer. –Rev. Andy B.

Will you join me in prayer, creating partnerships, and thinking out of the box?

Will you let others know about elder abuse?

I just returned from a short visit to La Canada Presbyterian Church’s family camp. They invited me to enjoy the full week and although my schedule would not allow one week, I did find time to stay one day and night before assisting with a Homeless Family Simulation project. We divided everyone into five groups with five different outcomes as I presented the groups with a common challenge for our homeless friends. Each group needed to raise enough money in a short time period of time to move from living in a car to getting a motel room, a shower, and a good night’s rest, for a change. I was supposed to arrive and teach, but I learned more than I taught.

During the first evening, I shared the story of Irvin, a man who has gone from living on the streets near death for 7 years, to being a healthy, strong, tremendous member of our maintenance department at Union Rescue Mission. I shared how a simple cold bottle of water and Christ’s compassion made a big difference in Irvin’s life. I shared that our mission and my opportunity here is to love the folks that the rest of the world has given up on. After I finished my short talk, Bill Robinson, the President of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington spoke.

Bill delivered a powerful message and one that I needed to hear. He told the audience that it was not just Irvin who needed the compassion of Christ, but that everyone we meet has hurts and brokenness, even if they don’t appear to, and that each encounter we have presents an opportunity to share the compassion and love of Christ. In fact, Bill eloquently shared that it is not proof of the Gospel or apologetics that will win doubters to Christ, but that a combination of proclaiming the Gospel and sharing the compassion of Christ that will have the most powerful effect. I have to admit that it is a easy and a natural tendency of mine to quickly share compassion with hurting folks on the streets, while I sometimes struggle to show that same compassion to folks who appear to have it all together. I’ve determined in my heart to love each and every person I meet with the compassion of Christ. Andy B.

Who do you find it easy to show compassion?

Who do you find it is difficult to show compassion to?

Interesting, heartbreaking, and encouraging moments can happen on the streets of Skid Row within minutes of each other. Yesterday, our water walk was put in jeopardy for a moment when a woman pushed another woman in front of a passing bus at 5th and San Pedro. The woman was injured and we have no status report as of yet, but this brought lots of police activity and closed the block off for a bit.

As we went out the back door of Union Rescue Mission, I saw a young man who looked out of place. A big, strapping young man, with piercing blue eyes, Hollywood good looks, and a great smile, full of life. He introduced himself to me this week as a young man with a very good job, but a deadly crack cocaine and newly found heroin addiction that has nearly killed him by overdosing several times in the last few weeks. My heart went out to him as I looked into his striking eyes and I told him, “You need to stay here and save your life!” Tears flowed down both of our eyes. He is still here. Pray for him!

Another man in a wheelchair grabbed my hand and yelled, “You are the unsung heroes! You are saving lives out here!”

As we walked, precious human beings lay in the corners of buildings, appearing to be near death. It was quite an experience for our young people visiting with us from Virginia on our Urban Experience. On the walk the day before, a drug crazed, very large and athletic man began jumping straight up into the air and kicking our boxes of bottles on the cart, telling the young people from Virginia that if anyone hurt them, he would take care of them. Our security person asked the man to calm down and he went off! We never know what to expect.
As we closed our walk yesterday, a tiny, quiet and very wrinkled lady walked up to me in front of the young people and gave me a theological lesson in God’s goodness. She said, “God provides! I needed a shower and clothes and He provided me with just what I needed at Union Rescue Mission just now. Now I am thirsty, and you have come along with a cold bottle of water, right on time. God always looks out for me, when I don’t try to run from Him!” She began trying to convert me until I let her know that Jesus was the reason that I was delivering the cold water. Jesus is the reason that we do what we do here at URM. Thanks for your support!

Many of you may have been following the story of precious Betty and I wanted to update you.
Betty is a wonderful mom who has done what only a mom or Jesus might do – she left all else behind to come to America and rescue her daughter from the streets by assuming herself the homeless plight of her daughter. I met Betty at the Burbank Winter Shelter on her 86th Birthday.

Please read this wonderfully written piece by her case manager, Olivia.

Good afternoon,

I wanted to update you on the good news! As you know Scott and I took Ms. Betty on a tour of Hope Gardens and Sequoia Lodge. She was very quiet on the way there but as we got closer to the mountains she started to relax and began talking. By the time we arrived and she stepped foot on the grounds she was quite reluctant. She was already expressing concern about being alone and feeling isolated. She was also very worried about her being new and whether or not anyone was going to like her.

By the time we approached the main lodge, Betty lit up when she finally took a moment and began to look around, seeing where she was and what she was surrounded by. She just stopped in her tracks, falling in love with the flowers and all the greenery. When we approached the door to the lodge, there were a few mothers outside with their children. They all greeted her and were so welcoming. Scott took us on a tour of the main lodge and the family area, where he stopped to show Betty a room and explained that this was where she would most likely be staying until something else opens up. She was still a bit reluctant to be by her self. We continued with the tour.

As we continued driving, Betty kept saying how “romantic” and “beautiful” it was there. When we arrived at Sequoia Lodge, the staff was there to greet Betty and she loved it. Of course, when Ms. Johnnie arrived she took over and Betty was drawn to her immediately. Ms. Johnnie has a knack for making people feel so welcome. Ms. Johnnie introduced Betty to everyone and then showed us to the dining area, where we all took a minute to sit down to have lunch. This definitely helped Betty relax and open up more. Once we finished lunch, the tour was on.

When Betty started to see everything there was to do there, she just fell in love. I learned so much more about Betty during that tour, she really opened up. It seemed everything they had there she wanted to do, learn and try. She was shown the rooms, library, piano room, garden, and so much more. She was so excited when Ms. Johnnie asked Betty to help her with the garden. Betty said she would love to teach a sewing class. She said she wants to exercise and learn to speak Spanish. She played the piano for us and it was so sweet. After all was said and done, Ms. Johnnie and I spoke with Betty about visiting Sequoia Lodge until she feels comfortable with the idea of being there with out her daughter. It seemed like Betty liked that.
However, by the time we got in the car to leave Betty said, “I am ready. As soon as possible, I will go.” Scott and I joked with Betty about what sealed the deal with her. We think it was the freedom to shower whenever she wants and she agreed!

I am pleased to say that I received a call from Scott Chamberlain this afternoon with the good news that Betty is being asked to be a part of the Sequoia Lodge and Hope Gardens family starting Monday.

As everyone knows, Betty has made a lot of sacrifices and left a lot behind in Indonesia to stay true to her husband’s last wish that she go to their daughter, get her off of the streets and make sure she is ok. She is definitely staying true to this promise, no matter how hard it has been.

As you also know, Betty’s daughter has mental health issues and requires a lot of attention, sometimes on a daily basis. There has been a lot of stress on her and her daughter over the last month or so. It seems her daughter’s housing situation along with several recent mental episodes have caused her daughter to take out her frustrations and emotions on Betty and this was neither good for Betty nor her daughter. Understanding how close they were, regardless of the pain they cause one another, I knew going into it was going to be hard to separate her and her daughter. Well, let me say that everyone involved in this has made the two of them feel so comfortable and safe, that they are so excited. With Betty at Union Rescue Mission’s Sequoia Lodge and her daughter here in our downtown shelter for single women, this will give me so much more of an opportunity to really focus on her daughter while Betty can feel at peace taking care of her own self. Now, Betty’s daughter will no longer use her mother as an excuse and can see the potential in herself to take care of the things she needs to on a daily basis.

Again, I can’t thank everyone enough for this opportunity to take a woman who has been through so much in her life and give her some peace of mind, while I do everything I can to help her daughter get focused, and learn to help her own self get her life back in order.

Olivia

Please keep Betty and her daughter in your prayers, and continue to support URM as we rescue precious people from the mean streets! Andy B.

On Monday evening, we had the opportunity to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of moving our women and children to the safety of Hope Gardens Family Center. Many of the churches, volunteers, and donors, who have been the keys to success of Hope Gardens and responsible for creating an environment for change in the lives of our precious moms and children, came to celebrate the anniversary and witness a special graduation. 10 moms completed our 10 class program and some moms have achieved all of their goals and even moved into permanent housing!

Two things touched my heart the most.

Each child was exuding pride in their mom’s accomplishments, showing incredible behavior and peacefulness as they celebrated their moms! I was incredibly proud of the moms and their children.

But what made me the most satisfied and honored was the presence of our neighbors who once vigorously opposed Hope Gardens Family Center, now attended the celebration, congratulated our moms, and greeted us with thanks and warm hugs. Something special has happened in their hearts and ours!

Here is a sample of the attitude change from one of our neighbors who previously strongly opposed Hope Gardens. I hope it touches your heart like it touched mine.

Dear Andy,
Your Hope Garden yesterday was such a special day that I will remember it fondly forever. The pride I felt for your families and the joy shining from each of them for their individual and group accomplishments is so very apparent that many a moment I had tears come to my eyes.
Thank you for letting me join in your celebrations. What a splendid afternoon for all. It was lovely to see you although it is too bad you weren’t able to participate there in person for the entire festivity but you will enjoy it on video soon I’m certain.I thanked Scott Johnson a few times and told him how happy I was for all of you and I asked Scott Johnson to relay my special thanks to you and to Scott Chamberlain who did a quick disappearing act when his moment was done there. I had so wanted to express my feelings to him as well. Please let Scott C. know that I applaud you all very much.
Bravo all!

What a difference a year, hard work by staff and moms, resources provided by donors and volunteers, open hearts by our neighbors and God’s amazing grace makes in our hearts and lives. What an honor to serve at Union Rescue Mission. Blessings, Andy B.

Union Rescue Mission is celebrating our very own Hope Gardens Family Center’s first anniversary. What a difference a year makes! Last year, in this season, we had just won a very challenging battle and began moving a few moms and children from the dangerous streets of Skid Row, to the safety and peace of Hope Gardens Family Center. Now, 30 moms, 55 children, including 10 precious babies, live in very supportive transitional housing, and 22 senior ladies live in permanent supportive housing, all surrounded by coastal redwoods, shady oak trees, beautiful flowers, and walking paths – all amidst tranquility and beauty.

We have established a Boy Scout troop, a Girl Scout troop, along with a Cub Scout troop, and our walls are plastered with pictures of children whose lives have been changed and are now on the honor roll in their respective schools.

Just this week, the neighbors somewhat near Hope Gardens, who had opposed us very effectively one year ago, asked us to come to their neighborhood meeting and team up on an issue that may affect their safety as well as ours. What a joy it was to walk into the Kagel Canyon/Dexter Park Community Building and feel a welcome and peace – I was humbled as this was not the case one year ago. I attribute this welcoming experience to their willingness to give us a chance, and our fantastic Hope Gardens team, led by Scott Chamberlain and Scott Johnson, managing this great challenge in a way that kept all of our promises to the neighbors and set up a fantastic environment in which our moms, children and precious senior ladies could prosper. This was difficult and courageous work – I applaud our team.

This welcome was also made possible by our donors, who stretched themselves and gave sacrificially to provide the needed resources so that we could hire staff and produce an environment that was conducive to positive life transformation – they helped us keep our promises. What a difference one year and a multitude of faith and courage can make in the lives of our women and children! Blessings, Andy B.

This week was an especially encouraging week despite all of the challenges. In our Tuesday morning chapel, we heard the stories of 5 men who are graduating from our intense, 1 year training program here at Union Rescue Mission. These were 5 men with 5 powerful stories of transformation. All of the stories were amazing, but I will only share two:

Antonio shared the struggle of having a son who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, at only a few months old! On shaky ground already, Antonio dealt with the pain by falling deeper into drug and alcohol abuse until he lost everything, including almost losing his family. But his wife directed him to the Christian Life Discipleship Program here at Union Rescue Mission. For the first time, Antonio read the Bible and experienced a change in his heart through accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior. After completing the program, Antonio shared that he now has his family, his sobriety, and a job! He has committed to living a pure life, so that his son, now 6 years old, will be able to accept a healthy lung transplant from Antonio when his son reaches age 18. Antonio has important reasons to stay alive and to live a healthy life. We were all brought to tears by his story and his commitment to save the life of his son.

Irvin then began to share his journey. He kidded that he started a camping trip in the year 2000 and it didn’t end until 2007. “Nobody goes camping for 7 years!” he said. Then Irvin got serious. He shared how he had run from God and for 7 years he was trapped by a cocaine addiction on San Julian, the mean street just behind our Mission. He said that one day, he was lying out there on the sidewalk, starving to death, thirsty in the heat, and he decided to come into the Mission. Irvin said that he came in with a commitment for 3 months only, but after arriving decided to give his whole self and heart to God. Irvin has now completed a year, works all over the Mission with our Maintenance department, and is looking forward to coming on staff at Union Rescue Mission. When Irvin mentioned that he was starving to death on the street behind the Mission in 2007, I suddenly saw the face and body of a man who I had handed a cold bottle of water to late last year. I remembered Irvin in red gym shorts, unable to stand up, a wisp of a man, ribs showing. I remembered calling my friend, Sergeant Deon Joseph of the LAPD, and telling him that a man was dying on the street on San Julian. After chapel, I asked Irvin if he remembered a big, strong, African American police officer coming to his aid on the streets. Irvin said, “Yes, he gave me your card and told me to get off the street and into URM’s program, but I wasn’t ready quite yet.” But Irvin didn’t forget. He came in and experienced a complete life change, when most experts and the world would have said it was too late. That shriveled up, dying man, lost in addiction is now a strong, hard working, friendly ambassador of life changing power.

I had a renewed strength and passion to go out onto the streets this week with cold water. Last night, as I joined a monthly neighborhood walk with several dignitaries, a young man approached me and said he needed help. He said he had been homeless in Portland for 10 years and had just arrived in town. I shared with him about our programs and opportunities at URM. I thought about waiting until after the walk to take him back to the Mission, but I looked at him and said, “I think you have done enough walking.” As we left the dignitaries and the walk behind, he was startled by the violence, behavior and smell of Skid Row. We only walked one block back to the Mission, but this young man asked me, “You walked all the way out here alone?” We walked into the Mission and were quickly met by staff members who are former program graduates. They welcomed Ray and after a tour of URM, he joined our program. What a joy it is to work at the Mission and get to be a part of bringing life changing hope to people who are struggling. Andy B.

We realized summer had arrived this week and it was not just the scorching Southern California heat that let us know.

On Tuesday, a gentleman who had just been transferred from our extended winter shelter beds to our emergency guest services beds, was standing outside of Union Rescue Mission on San Julian Street, when a group of young men attacked him, even going so far as to punch him in the face. Our guest fell, his head struck the pavement, and he was gone. Immediately, we all began grieving this tragic loss and for his family. There was no mention of his life or death in the news, but he was a valuable human being and very precious in our sight.

The next day one of our little boys at the Mission stepped onto the bus and was punched right in the face, leaving a big gash and a great need for stitches. The bus driver dropped him off at the curb and drove on to school. I comforted this little guy and his struggling mom and younger brother as they stepped into the ambulance.

We knew summer had arrived – our efforts to cool folks off and cool folks down with heightened care and security had started.

We delivered nearly 1,000 cold bottles of water out on the streets 4 out of the 5 weekday afternoons and we were greeted mostly with extreme thanks, to us and to the Lord. Some folks on the street were so troubled that they cursed at and threw the bottles back toward us. One troubled man even poured the cold water out in front of us despite the 97 degree weather and his extreme thirst. My most encouraging moment came when, after receiving a cold cup of water, one elderly lady moved from distress to dancing with joy!

On these days we know that we have the opportunity to lift spirits, extend the love of Jesus Christ, and possibly even save lives. Please keep our TEAM IN YOUR PRAYERS or even come and join us on any afternoon when the temperature is above 85 degrees. Blessings, Andy B

How are you beating the heat this summer?

Are there folks near you in need of cold water?