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Los Angeles
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you again, Blessings
Union Rescue Mission to Hold Annual Thanksgiving Street Festival
MEDIA ALERT – For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Kitty Davis-Walker
(213) 673-4585 or (213) 507-5562
Email: kwalker@urm.org
UNION RESCUE MISSION TO SERVE THREE THOUSAND THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21st
AT ANNUAL THANKSGIVING STREET FESTIVAL 2009
LOS ANGELES CALIF. (November 17, 2009) —– This Saturday November 21, 2009 Union Rescue Mission (URM), CEO Andy Bales will be joined by 300 volunteers at 11: 00 a.m. to transform San Pedro Street into a diners paradise. This year’s festival is sponsored by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and will feature a delicious Thanksgiving meal, live entertainment, lots of give-a-ways and a Kids Zone that’s sure to be a big hit with children and those acting like children.
URM staff and volunteers will serve up plates of Cajun fried and Oven Roasted Turkey, stuffing with gravy, mash potato’s, green bean casserole, candied yams and much more to over 3,000 men, women and children experiencing homelessness on Skid Row this holiday season. Herbalife’s Smoothie mobile will also be on hand serving their signature smoothies.
Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales said “We are honored to invite all of our friends experiencing homelessness over for this very special Thanksgiving dinner, made and served with love! We hope that it will be a life changing event and one that starts the journey home for many. Thanks to our community for providing the resources to make this possible!”
When: Saturday, November 21, 2009. 200 Turkeys will be deep fried on San Pedro St.
beginning @ 1:30 a.m.
Event Time: 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where: Union Rescue Mission
545 South San Pedro Street (between 5th & 6th on San Pedro)
Why: Union Rescue Mission along with major sponsor Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and
KJLH Radio Free will continue to bring people together as long as there is a need for
hope & healing.
Note: The visuals of 20 turkey fryers cooking 200 turkeys in the middle of the night (1:30 a.m.) for people experiencing homeless is a great photo & film opportunity. Also, the Kid Zone activities, rock climbing, bouncers, arts & crafts and interactive games.
About Union Rescue Mission
Union Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the poor and homeless. Established in 1891, URM is one of the largest rescue missions of its kind in the United States and is the oldest in Los Angeles. It provides a comprehensive array of emergency and long-term services, including food, shelter, clothing; medical and dental care; Christian recovery programs, transitional housing, legal assistance, education, counseling and job training to needy men, women, children and families. For more information, please visit our website urm.org
The Mission: November 2009
Available for viewing or download is the November edition of The Mission.
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Homelessness goes Hollywood
Morley Safer of 60 Minutes reports on a unique urban fable that happens to be true.
Steve Lopez is a newspaper columnist for the Los Angeles Times; Nathaniel Ayers is a troubled man with a brilliant past.
They met by chance on the streets of downtown L.A. – an encounter that would change them both. The story of their friendship is a tale about madness, redemption, and the mysterious power of music.
Some of the footage for the story was shot on the rooftop of Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. The story has also been made into a feature film called The Soloist, which will be in theaters on April 24, 2009.
“Homeless deaths on skid row have decreased” – LA Times
Union Rescue Mission was glad to read the latest article from Andrew Blankstein and Cara Mia DiMassa of the Los Angeles Times about the decrease in deaths on skid row.
The number of people who died on downtown L.A.’s skid row has declined by 36% in the last four years, according to city records, the latest sign of major changes on what for decades has been the city’s epicenter of homelessness and drug-dealing.
Excluding murders and suicides, 60 people died in the skid row area in 2008, according to Los Angeles Police Department statistics. In 2005, there were 94 such deaths.
60 deaths is still far too many, 1 is too many, and we won’t slow down our efforts until the day when no deaths are reported and we live up to our title as the City of Angels with no human being having to live on the mean streets and sidewalks of Skid Row.
At Union Rescue Mission we have taken several steps to assist in this effort. During the summer heat in LA we deliver over 1500 bottles of cold water each day that the temperatures rise to 85 degrees or higher. You can see a documented case on video of a man whose life was saved through URM’s efforts by watching the video below. URM has also played a major role in slowing the dumping, or improper dropoffs of patients on Skid Row by area hospitals. We’ve worked hard to make URM more welcoming and added 210 beds to help move people from the streets and supported the Los Angles Police Department with their Safer Cities Initiative.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Merrill Lynch Day at the Union Rescue Mission
On Saturday, December 13th over 100 volunteers from the Greater Los Angeles Region of Merrill Lynch will spend the day serving meals at Union Rescue Mission. The day was originally slated for the company Holiday Party. Instead, Regional Managing Director Chandler Root cancelled the party and encouraged his entire team to spend the day serving those in need.
Employees and family members from each office in the region will be participating including Kelly Caves, Resident Director – Long Beach; Nadia Allaudin, Resident Director – Century City; and Richard Rozman, Resident Director – Manhattan Beach. In addition to sharing their time serving people who are homeless, the group will be bringing donations for Union Rescue Mission’s annual Christmas Store.
Carol – Stories From Skid Row
Over 1,600 bottles of water given away each day
It’s been a hot summer on Skid Row! We pass out 1,600 bottles of water each day to our friends living on the streets.
“Homeless in America” – LA Times Series
LA Times has written a number of great articles on homelessness and skid row. Here are just a few of the articles:
- “Life on the Streets” – Steve Lopez reports from the streets of skid row.
- “Downtown dwellers vs. the homeless” – When a mental health service wanted to move into their Little Tokyo building, loft residents cried ‘not in our lobby.’
There are a number of great up-to-date articles on the issue of homelessness. Click Here to visit the web page.