Step 9

Increase investment in more life-transforming services.

Men and women trapped in homelessness often have significant barriers to overcome before they can return to a productive life. These barriers often include devastating emotional damage, addictions, criminal records, and inadequate job skills or life skills — all conditions that can trap people in homelessness and poverty. And the longer they experience homelessness, the more difficult these conditions are to overcome.

Agencies like Union Rescue Mission offer structured, long-term recovery programs that have helped thousands of individuals and families address and overcome their obstacles and return to the community as productive citizens.

Action Steps

  • Financially support organizations that offer effective life-transformation programs, such as Union Rescue Mission. These programs offer a great return on investment, altering the future for individuals and families for generations to come. Go to urm.org/get-involved to see how you can help.
  • Attend a graduation event at an agency like Union Rescue Mission and see for yourself how lives are being transformed! Contact acornejo@urm.org for more info.
  • Mentor a man or woman who has graduated from a life-transformation program. A mentor’s friendship, support, and encouragement are crucial to the success of graduates transitioning from a program back to the community.
  • Watch the “Stories from Skid Row” video series to see how Union Rescue Mission’s life-transformation program is changing lives. Share your thoughts and offer feedback regarding your reaction to these videos. Share the videos with friends who might be moved by life transformation.
  • Support single moms and children at Hope Gardens Family Center, which helps these vulnerable people escape homelessness, get back on their feet, and return to society as healthy and productive families. Sponsor a fundraising drive, host an event, and engage your friends in a way that will benefit these precious women and children. Contact volunteer@urm.org for ideas and suggestions.

Inadequate job skills or life skills… can trap people in homelessness.