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The Mission – July 2014

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It’s not hard to understand why James holds tightly to Jesus’ parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15), the story of a young man who disgraces his family by living a wild life far from home and finally hits rock bottom — destitute, alone, and with nowhere to live.

“That’s my story,” says James, a 45-year-old native of Korea. “It’s hard to get disowned by a Korean family. But I was. And when that happens, the break is pretty powerful.”

James is the youngest child of a tight-knit Korean family. His parents had high expectations for him. “In the Korean culture, you respect your elders and do as they say. And my parents expected me to be someone,” James says. “The problem was, I just wanted to be average and normal.”

So James did the unthinkable. In high school, he rebelled against his parents, pursuing a life of parties and drugs — including heroin.

“I felt a lot of shame and fear,” he says. “Heroin made me feel like everything was OK. But then my life became unmanageable and dark for almost 20 years.”

He finally hit rock bottom in 2013. “I had burned all my bridges with my family. I had sold everything I owned, I weighed 100 pounds, and I realized I had no one else to rely on and no place to go. I actually had to sleep on the street,” James recalls.

That’s when he came to Union Rescue Mission. “When I got here, I was tired, ashamed, and hopeless,” he says. But everything started to change when James met URM’s Chaplain McIntire. For the first time, James felt like someone loved him and cared about him.

“Chap believed in me,” James says. “He gave me hope and something to live for. There was no way I was going to let him down. Love is a powerful thing.”

Today, James is drug-free and working as a coordinator for Chaplain McIntire. But his story is still unfinished. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the son returns home to a loving, welcoming father. Will James’ family embrace him when he returns?

“I still carry some guilt and shame. I caused a lot of disruption in my family,” he says. “But I also have peace I never experienced before. I’m no longer James the failure. I’m James — child of God. Now I just hope my family will forgive me and welcome me back.”

 

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The Love that Lifted James

By Mike McIntire, URM Chaplain

When James first came to Union Rescue Mission, I knew he was Korean and very out of place. We see very few Asian men come through here because many believe that coming to a shelter like this will bring shame upon their families. So I knew it was a big deal for James to be here.

So I immediately sat down to talk with James and shared that I’d like to be his chaplain and to work together through his struggles.

As a chaplain who works with addicted men at URM, I know that nearly all addicts are trying to cope with some kind of relational trauma in their lives — molestation, abandonment, abuse, neglect, etc. James was no different. He felt like he had deeply hurt his family and had been running from them ever since. And if relational trauma was the problem, I had to model a healthy relationship with him.

James arrived broken and hopeless. But I told him I loved him, whether he wanted it or not, and I would find a way to make him believe it. I was determined
to never do anything that would bring any more shame to James and to help him regain his honor.

Over the next year, James opened up more and more. And as he learned to trust me and believe I truly loved him, he began to change and to believe he was a man worthy of respect again. Today, he has hope that he can rebuild his broken relationships. And one day, I believe he’ll be a man who’s capable of reaching other hurting men with the same love and care he received here.

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The Horrors of Heroin

Overdose deaths in California have doubled since 1990. They’re now the second-leading cause of accidental deaths in California for people 15-34 years old, second only to traffic accidents.
— Los Angeles Overdose Prevention Center

Heroin essentially rewires part of the brain, so when users try to give it up, they crave it even more.
— Fox News, LA

Heroin addiction is on the rise nationwide and in Southern California. It can be a deadly high, and young people are the most vulnerable . . . The number of heroin deaths increased by 250 percent between 1999 and 2009.
— ABC Local News

Police seizures of heroin in Los Angeles have almost tripled in the past three years.
— Department of Justice

In 2007, there were an estimated 373,000 heroin users in the U.S. By 2012, the number was 669,000, with the greatest increases among those 18 to 25. First-time users nearly doubled in a six-year period ending in 2012, from 90,000 to 156,000.
— Huffington Post

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug
addiction, please give us a call at (213) 347-6300 and we can connect you with someone who can help.

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Your gift today will provide shelter, meals, and the real help hurting people need to live transformed lives.

So many reasons lead to the desperation found on Skid Row; addiction and poor choices, trauma and abandonment, the lost of a job or death of a loved one are just a few. Everyone on the streets of Skid Row is broken and hurting. But just like you and I, they are made in the image of God and need a second chance at life.

And because of generous people like you, these same hurting people find that chance for new life at Union Rescue Mission. They begin to live life the way God always intended — filled with joy and gratitude.

Your generous gift of $25, $35, or more will help provide nutritious meals, safe shelter, and the real help these precious people need to put their lives back together and return to their communities healthy and whole. So I urge you, please send the most generous gift you can today. Thank you!

For more information, or to put your gift to work even faster, go to urm.org/ChangeLives

andy

Notes from Andy

Instruments of God’s Love 

They’re coaches, mentors, friends, and God’s instruments of healing and love in the lives of our guests struggling with addictions and homelessness. The eight chaplains who work here at Union Rescue Mission and at Hope Gardens Family Center, including Chaplain McIntire in this newsletter, are the very core of our Mission. I get tears just thinking about the work they do here every day.

One thing I’ve learned after more than 25 years of ministry is that the only way to truly end someone’s homelessness is through personal relationship and trust. Our guests need more than a roof or a meal. They need someone to believe in them, encourage them, cry with them, stand alongside them. They need someone to love them.

That’s what our chaplains do. That’s what James experienced when Chaplain McIntire took James under his wing. Not all our guests are ready to respond to that kind of love, but we nevertheless offer that love to our guests every day.

In that way, our chaplains are really YOUR hands and feet. They channel YOUR love, embodied in all your gifts to Union Rescue Mission, and offer that love to our guests. Thank you for being instruments of God’s love with us.

Blessings,

andysig

The Mission – June 2014

Ruthie

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“All my life, i wanted to be part of something, to feel like I fit in somewhere,” says Ruthie, a 57-year-old former crack addict who spent 16 years living out of a tent on Skid Row.

Death and alcoholism decimated her family when Ruthie was young, so she spent much of her youth in foster care back in her native North Carolina. “The trouble started when I was 15, when I started drinking, smoking marijuana, and popping pills,” she recalls.

She managed to get married at age 23, but tragedy struck again a week later, when her husband was brutally murdered. She tried moving to Los Angeles to start over. Instead, she fell into a life of more alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. In the mid 1980s, with three small children, she moved back to North Carolina, where she got married and had one more child.

But on March 7, 1992, Ruthie watched helplessly as her husband and three of her children died in a house fire.

“I heard them screaming,” she says. “That was the worst thingI ever witnessed. The second worst was when they put dirt on them in their graves. From then on, every night I could see it and smell it all over again.”

Unable to cope with the trauma, Ruthie left her surviving child behind and ran back to Los Angeles, where she spent the next 16 years living in a tent on Skid Row and smoking crack. “Crack made me forget about everything. I didn’t have to hurt no more or cry no more,” she says. But the drugs and the streets took a toll on Ruthie’s health, and in 2009, she’d had enough. She joined a drug program and got clean and sober. Two years later, as part of a work therapy program, Ruthie returned to Union Rescue Mission, where she would live as a guest and work in the kitchen.

“That first day I walked through the door here at the Mission, I saw a sign that said, ‘The Way Home,’” she recalls, with a light in her eye. “I knew right then I found what I’d been looking for my whole life. Working and living here at the Mission, I’m surrounded by people who know my name. They look me in the eye and it’s like they’re saying, ‘You matter, Ruthie. I love you.’ The first time someone said that to me, I almost cried. I belong here.

“Union Rescue Mission has changed my life, and with God in my back pocket, I can’t lose. I found my way home.”

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Ruthie

Skid Row Through Ruthie’s Eyes

I moved to Skid Row in 1993, when there were tents everywhere. These streets can be rough on a woman. But I was lucky. I quickly found a man and stuck close to him for protection. A woman needs that out here to survive. We got us a tent and spent 16 years down here. It was wild. Every day, we had to step over human waste. There were people walking around naked, people having sex right there in broad daylight. I saw people get beat, stabbed, or cut up over a nickel. I saw women get raped or beat up and left bleeding on the sidewalk.

For a long time, we never saw any cops down here. It was every man for himself. There were no rules except watch where you step and mind your own business. I learned how to wash my clothes in a bucket and take showers wherever I could. And I learned that as soon as it got dark to get in my tent and stay there. For 16 years, I did whatever I had to do to survive. But I survived.

Prayer

After years of decline, the number of people on Skid Row has tragically skyrocketed over the past few years. Today, as many as 2,000 precious men and women — made in the image of God — now call these dangerous sidewalks and back alleys “home.” For the past 122 years, thanks to thousands of caring people just like you, Union Rescue Mission has transformed the lives of countless hurting souls on these streets, leading them back to health and wholeness — and home.

It doesn’t take a lot to help a hurting man or woman escape Skid Row and get back on their feet. But today, thanks to an extraordinary matching grant, your generous gift of $25, $35, or more will help provide TWICE the food and shelter, and a fresh start at life for people experiencing homelessness.

So please send the most generous gift you can today. Thank you! For more information or to put your gift to work even faster, go to urm.org/icare

andy

Notes From Andy

Act Today — and Make a Difference

Remember these lyrics from a popular 1980s TV show? “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name . . . you want to be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You want to be where everybody knows your name.” That song always reminds me of Ruthie, here at Union Rescue Mission. Here she found home and people who care about her. Now her infectious joy lights up our Mission with hope. The streets of Skid Row inflict horrific damage on the men and women, like Ruthie, who live here.

Loneliness. Despair. Defeat. Depression.

And apart from true life transformation, most will never recover.

But life transformation takes more than offering people food, shelter, and safety. The folks on Skid Row need those things, of course. But more than that, they need to know they belong somewhere. They need community and family. They need love and friendship, and to know they matter . . . to be where everybody knows their name. That’s where life transformation happens. And, thanks to caring people like you, that’s what Union Rescue Mission is all about.

Blessings,

andysig

The Mission – May 2014

Frank Sontag is the host of “The Frank Sontag Show,” the largest Christian talk program in the U.S. The program airs 4:00pm-6:00pm, Sunday-Friday, on KKLA radio. Rev. Andy Bales is a frequent guest on “The Frank Sontag Show.” KKLA is also home to Union Rescue Mission’s “Amazing Stories from Skid Row.”

As a talk-show radio host for more than 25 years, Frank Sontag has interviewed countless numbers of individuals in all walks of life — many of them are celebrities and those who are rich, powerful, successful or influential. But his heart beats for Jesus and the “invisible,” precious people on Skid Row.

“I visited Andy Bales at Union Rescue Mission yesterday,” Sontag says. “When I left and walked back to my car, I looked at the hundreds of people living on these streets and I felt the very powerful presence of Jesus. I see Jesus on these streets. There is so much potential to serve the people here and to love them in the name of Jesus Christ.” As a child, Sontag says he was “raised in a difficult area of Cleveland.  So I know . . . poverty and violence.” Maybe that’s why he’s always had a heart for those who are underprivileged, struggling, and experiencing homelessness.

Sontag has frequently volunteered to serve people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row for more than 20 years. But it wasn’t until he visited Andy Bales and Union Rescue in 2013 that he realized it was time to get more involved. Continue reading »

The Mission – March 2014

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Pops is a 70-year-old former heroin addict, bank robber, and drug dealer. He was once considered so dangerous and mean, the gangs along the U.S. border with Mexico nicknamed him “El Diablo” — The Devil. For 30 years, he also dealt drugs and death on the streets of Los Angeles. But he came to Union Rescue Mission in 2009, a decision that transformed his life. We originally published his story in February 2012. But that was just the beginning of his remarkable new life . . .

It’s a beautiful day in MacArthur Park and Pops is enjoying a stroll through the area. After kicking a 50-year heroin addiction at Union Rescue Mission in 2009, he’s determined to enjoy every moment of his new life.

Suddenly he overhears two youths talking about drugs. “You boys addicts, huh?” Pops says. “What of it?” they reply. Pops shows them his heavily scarred arms . . . Continue reading »

The Mission Newsletter – February 2014

George

Right now, thousands of people in Los Angeles are experiencing the cold reality of homelessness in winter. But weather’s not the only kind of cold. I spent years running from God, like Jonah, hiding in the cold, dark belly of the whale.

I grew up in an economically poor, but spiritually rich, family. Most of the men were preachers and ministers. But I chose a different path. Continue reading »

Important Update

I don’t know about you but with the end of 2013 looming right around the corner I find myself reflecting on all that has happened in the last 12 months and I must say that it has been nothing short of amazing  both for me personally and for Union Rescue Mission and the people we serve.

For example just this week I received a note from a grateful father whose long lost son was found on Skid Row by two of our teammates here at URM and returned home.  This morning, I was brought to tears as a co-worker shared how he has been taking breakfast each morning to a very troubled, dangerous man living on the sidewalk right outside our building, hoping and praying that this man will sense God’s love through our staff member and take the opportunity to come inside and receive the help he needs to turn his life around.

Continue reading »

The Mission Newsletter – December 2013

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I was walking down the street one day in November 2011, when I passed an old lady with a dog. I’d never seen her before, but she stopped me. “Excuse me, young man,” she said. “God has plans for you. You can reach people others can’t. So whatever you do, get on the right side of God and stay there. You remember what I said.”

I’m not used to strangers stopping me on the street, so I kept walking. But a few steps later, I turned around to take another look at her. She and her little dog were gone. But what she said haunted me.

While I believed in God, He wasn’t important to me. After all, I thought, I’d led a great life without Him. I earned a lot of money as a private contractor, laying carpet, tile, and hardwood flooring, as well as doing drywall and painting. I had a great home and a girlfriend who was carrying my child.

So, no, God wasn’t that important — but crack cocaine was. Although drugs had never been part of my life before, suddenly I was spending almost $300 a day on crack, and it was beginning to tear my life apart.

I don’t know whether that old lady was an angel or what. But God used her to get my attention. If God had something for me to do, I knew I’d better get clean and figure out what He wanted. So two months later, I checked into Union Rescue Mission.

Two months after that, my girlfriend gave birth to my child. My baby lived for five hours and died. Then a month after that, my girlfriend died of a brain aneurysm. I know one thing, I couldn’t have endured that much sorrow if it weren’t for Union Rescue Mission.

I still don’t know what God has planned for me. But I’ve been here for almost two years now and I’m clean and sober. The Mission has completely transformed me. For the first time, God is number one in my life. I know I could leave today and never touch drugs again. I could leave and rebuild my career. But I remember what that old lady said. And I’m not leaving this place until God pats me on the shoulder and says, “Here’s what I got for you to do.”

So what’s my New Year’s wish for 2014? God’s pat on my shoulder.

 

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notesfromandy

For a long time, I’ve joked that I want to be a skinny biker dude — you know, one of those skinny guys riding their bicycles around town. It was a joke, because as someone battling Type 2 diabetes, and major heart and kidney problems, I had no hope of that ever happening.

In July 2012, I got my heart fixed, but by December, my kidneys had failed. I feared that my lifelong work on behalf of people experiencing homelessness was coming to an end. It was hard to face that. The number of people living on Skid Row continues to grow. It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it. And the desperation here is even worse. It broke my heart to think I’d have to give up this work.

But last February, my dear wife donated one of her own kidneys to me. Her gift saved my life. With a new heart and a new kidney, my health has improved dramatically. I no longer face 2014 with fear — in fact, the URM team and I have big plans! A new jobs program for our guests. Moving more families away from Skid Row. Helping hundreds more people gain new housing.

And my New Year’s wish? Well, I’m biking again. I want to be that skinny biker dude I used to joke about!

Blessings,

andysig

Expand Your Holiday Shopping

Have you considered expanding your Holiday Shopping to make a huge impact and an eternal difference in someone’s life?

I had that opportunity just last night!  I finished our radio show, Amazing Stories From Skid Row, on 99.5 FM KKLA.com at 9:30 PM each weeknight.  It was late and I was tired, but my wife asked me to pick up a Thanksgiving Turkey before it was too late.  I’d been delaying shopping awaiting pay day.  As I jumped out of my car a man stumbled up to me, out of the shadows, obviously suffering from alcohol or drug abuse.  At first I waved him off.  Then I felt the familiar tug on my heart, looked back, and asked, “What do you need?”

He answered, “I’m hungry and I need help.  I assured him that I would get him a sandwich, and something to drink.

“Can you buy me a beer?”

“No, I can’t do that.”  I then gave him my card, told him that I am the CEO of Union Rescue Mission, and that we could help him with his recovery, followed by job training, then a job. I asked his name and he told me a bit of his story and that his name is Bobby.

As I walked in for a 20 lb. turkey, I simply added a Lunchable Uploaded, a 2 liter Diet Coke, and a big bag of chips to my shopping cart, and in effect, expanded my Holiday Shopping.  I had the opportunity presented to me to make a bit of a difference in someone’s life, instead of just thinking of my own and my family’s needs.  It may not have been much, it certainly didn’t cost much.  But if Bobby takes that card, decides to come to Union Rescue Mission and enter our 1 year intense recovery program, that little gesture of kindness I made very well might transform a life.

That is what Giving Tuesday is all about;  Expanding your Holiday Shopping opportunities by including those in need in not only your thoughts, but in your shopping list.  Americans spend $52 Billion between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Giving Tuesday began to shift the focus a bit to others in our community who very well are left out of this Holiday Giving Tradition, and like Bobby, left out in the cold.

Won’t you consider a gift to a worthy cause that transforms lives such as Union Rescue Mission?  Donate Online at urm.org/givingtuesday.  A gift, even a small portion of your shopping budget, could transform a precious soul like Bobby.  To learn more about Giving Tuesday, read my friend & twitter expert Beth Kanter’s Blog about Giving Tuesday.

Blessings,

andysig

 

Rev. Andy Bales, CEO

Washing The Feet Of Skid Row – Thanksgiving Outreach 2013

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“Wait till you see my feet… you won’t be smiling no more!” the man chuckled with his lips curling into a smile.

The wrinkles on his face betrayed his young age. The volunteer laughed warmly as she started to remove his discolored, worn-down sneakers — if you could call them shoes. Beyond broken in, the darkly crusted laces puffed out a cloud of dust as she began to untie them.

She pulls off his grey socks — once white — and she carefully places his feet into the washing bin. He flinches, unused to the touch of clean water swell around his toes, but finally begins to relax — restfully placing his interlocked fingers onto his belly.

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Armed with gloves, soap, and a lot of love, she gently washes away weeks — maybe even months — of grime and grit. There isn’t any hesitation in her motions as she calmly continues to pour pitchers of water over the crooks and crannies of his feet. Focused, her eyes gleam with grace the stranger in front of her is probably not used to. Grace on Skid Row is always at a premium.

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They continue to engage in conversation as she dries his feet off with a fresh towel. This was her first time volunteering at the Mission and he has been around Skid Row for one too many nights. If you had removed the wash bin, you would have thought they’d been friends for ages — the authentic tone in their voices erased the reality of the circumstances.

“Can I pray for you?” she asks.

He shyly mumbles some words I couldn’t overhear, and it was probably for the best — sacred moment are better left untainted. She lifts up some words of prayer and stands to retrieve one of the UCLA podiatrists on call. Equally as friendly as the volunteer, the physician and the supporting medical students begin to ask questions to ascertain the overall health of the man’s feet.

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While running through a battery of different tests, the medical students offer the man useful tips on how he can maintain better foot health. With each piece of advice, his furrowed brow lifts with more and more understanding. They offer fresh new socks — a luxury — and direct him to the section where he would be given new shoes.

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Many of these unique stations were trickled around our parking lot, as our Thanksgiving Outreach tries to give those living on the dangerous streets of Skid Row a comprehensive list of items necessary to get through another day. To the left of the foot washing station, other volunteers were handing out toiletries — shampoo, toothpaste, and the like, much to the delight of those in line.

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For those needing legal counsel, a group from Loyola Marymount University set up a booth to hear the struggles of the homeless with so little hope left in their pockets. The lawyers-turned-listeners each carried a packet of tissues, as tears would frequently roll down the faces of those airing out their troubles. The lawyers repay those tears with hope and many left those tables with a definite change in their countenance. Someone had heard their story, and they were equipped with the knowledge to do something about it.

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A Persian group from Palos Verdes was eager to serve Skid Row’s denizens a filling meal of chicken, salad, and fruit. Like clockwork, this group would take the meal ticket provided to each person in line and produced a box filled to the brim with food, sending a few back inside to reload when needed.

Today was not the day people would go hungry.

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As the event was coming to a close, I couldn’t help but notice the booth at the center of our parking lot. Sitting behind the table sat two men, twirling pencils in their hands. In front of them were stacks of blank papers accompanied with the sign — Cartoons.

They had spent the whole morning volunteering their time drawing caricatures of anyone who would want one. Young and old would line up, and each would seek me out to take their picture — to capture a screenshot of their joy. Sometimes it isn’t enough to just give people “necessities”, but giving them something as superfluous as a caricature goes a long way.

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Something about offering your gifts, whether if it’s legal advice, medical work, cartooning, or even just giving up your Saturday morning, made me contemplate the true meaning of being thankful. And much of that was present — thankfulness was present in the servants and the served.

None of this work would be possible without the good work and donations that people like you cheerfully give to Union Rescue Mission. This day was just one of 365 days that helps make the Mission a light in the darkness.