Los Angeles

“Finding L.A.’s hidden homeless” – LA Times

Check out this great article written by Jessica Garrison of the Los Angeles Times.

“To most people, it’s just trash: A scrap of dirty blanket visible under some stairs. A glimpse of blue tarp peeking out of a bush. A bag of recyclables parked discreetly behind a concrete column.

But Courtney Kanagi, an outreach worker, has learned how to decode bits of urban detritus that most people ignore. She knows what these signs mean: the crawl space beneath the stairs was someone’s home.”

The article will give you good information on how many of our homeless friends live each day of their life. Click here to read the article.

“L.A. Council gives early OK to patient ‘dumping’ fine” – LA Times Article

This article written by Cara Mia Dimassa of the LA Times talks about the recent dumping of patient’s on skid row.

“Hospitals that leave homeless patients on Los Angeles streets without their consent would be fined $25,000 under an ordinance tentatively approved today by the City Council.”

“The ordinance would make it a misdemeanor offense for hospitals to transport a patient to a location other than his or her home without written consent. It is intended to end the practice of leaving vulnerable patients on skid row.”

Click here for the rest of the article.

Struggling To Keep Up With Need

We had quite a time over the last weekend when we received two big storm fronts and 5.8 inches of rain downtown. Not only was Union Rescue Mission fully occupied with precious souls, but this year we also took part in providing Winter Shelter in Burbank, Culver City, and West LA. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority contracted with our EIMAGO, public benefits entity, to provide winter shelter to an additional 570 individuals from Dec. 1 to March 15th, through the colder, rainy season.

“Storms Pound Skid Row Shelters” – Downtown News

We did a quick count of the numbers we had been getting at each of our Winter Shelters when we saw the weather forecast and stepped into action. We readied 150 cots in the Burbank armory, 150 each at the Culver City and West LA’s armories, along with 198 added cots to our downtown shelter facility. When the first storm hit we were overwhelmed with folks trying to get in from the cold, so we added an additional 100 cots in our Downtown facility’s gym! All told, when the second drencher came we had, if we included the women and children at Hope Gardens Family Center, 1,600 of our homeless friends out of the rain. We even received permission from the State Office of Emergency Services and the County of Los Angeles, to keep the Armories open 24 hours per day throughout the weekend. We added bus runs, more security guards, more cots, and 3 meals per day. This was great news to my friend Henry at the Burbank Shelter. “Could you see if you could keep it open for a few more days? It is too cold to go out there!”

I know this is just a drop in the bucket, so to speak, compared to the many homeless in our County, but I also know that I rested a bit better knowing that our team had done all that it could to get as many people out of the cold and the rain as possible. I have never been more proud of our hard working team!

I was pretty pleased with our work, ready to take a ‘breather’, and then I received an email from a friend in Ontario, California, just 30 miles away:

I’m trying to get a message to your president and CEO, Pastor Andy Bales. I remember reading about him when he was associate pastor of a church in Pasadena, where I used to work. The Lord moved me to Ontario a little more than two years ago and we need your help out here!

Here’s the situation: I’ve been preaching to the homeless in Pomona the past three years. Before that, we used to go out once a month to Skid Row and once a month to Pomona to take people food and pray with them. I remember leading a gentleman to The Lord right outside URM in the summer of ’04 just before he had to go in for the night. But The Lord moved me in Pomona, where I’ve been ministering weekly for about three years now.

But after He moved my work to Ontario, He also began moving me here. I started feeding and preaching Saturday mornings from a little spot near a train station and a small museum here (Ontario). About 25-30 homeless would gather there. Before long, the city moved people there, and about 25-30 people were living in tents by the railroad tracks.

Then the first week of July last year, the city came on a Thursday and said, “You have to leave by tomorrow. Here’s where you have to go.” So they led them to empty lots in the middle of nowhere – land that Ontario Airport’s owner actually owns (the company, which also owns LAX, was none too happy as the city did it without their knowledge!). Long story short: Now more than 200 people live in that area, aka “Tent City.” The people who’ve ministered to the homeless for many years in Ontario can’t support all the people who’ve moved in from out of town. In Pomona, the National Guard Armory opens up from December-March, so the people with whom I work over there can at least spend the night out of the elements. In Ontario, however, they just get wet, cold, and put upon.

As The Lord leads you, I would ask that you consider helping! Please! I’ll be out there this Saturday morning taking water and whatever blankets, coats, etc., that people donate. Whereas I used to bring coffee, doughnuts and water to attract people so they would hear The Word (either I or a friend would preach), now it is just about loving them and letting them know God loves them.

I’ve been to Skid Row. I’ve volunteered at URM (though that was >5 years ago). I’ve dragged people from the Fred Jordan Mission down here to help in the past. The situation has grown beyond the ability of one or two churches or parachurch ministries to handle it. We need to pull together The Body of Christ and allow Him to lead us. The fields here are ripe for the harvest. We need some laborers! Would you please help???

The next day another gentleman stopped by my office seeking assistance. He is opening up a Rescue Mission in the High Desert, as the existing shelter there, doing its best, is beyond full capacity and turning away an estimated 50 people each night.

Pray for us as we struggle to keep up with the needs of precious people around us. Thank you, Andy B.

Questions:

If you were in our position, what would you do?

Are things going to get better in our society, or are the numbers of people living without a permanent home going to increase?

What can you do in your own area to help meet the need?

Extreme Winter Weather Fills Homeless Shelters in California

Union Rescue Mission Issues a Request for Emergency Donations for Food and Shelter

We are over capacity at every shelter and have set up additional cots in the gym of our downtown location and are bussing people in. In all, we have nearly 1,500 individuals out of the rain compared to just 700 last year and we need immediate assistance from the community in order to feed these folks.
To make a donation to URM, please visit urm.org/donate
To make a financial donation, please visit urm.org/donateonline
For more information, contact me at (626) 260-4761.
~Rev. Andy B.

2007 Top 14

There is no doubt that we had some heartaches in 2008; a robbery and fire, some tragic deaths, losses that are too tough to even write about, but I wanted to start off 2008 with a blog that lists some of the past year’s highlights!

  1. Obtained Conditional Use Permit for Hope Gardens Family Center
  2. Moved families into Hope Gardens Family Center
  3. Saluted former CEO Warren Currie and named the first completed residential buildings at Hope Gardens Family Center – Currie Court – in honor of Warren and his family.
  4. Received $1 Million each from Weingart, Ahmanson and Lincy Foundations for Hope Gardens Family Center
  5. Union Rescue Mission appeared on Dateline, Prime Time, Anderson Cooper 360, 60 Minutes, and a pivotal scene in Oscar nominated major motion picture SiCKO (along with Economist Magazine, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and many other media/publications)
  6. Union Rescue Mission was given a 4 Star rating by Charity Navigator for the first time
  7. Chief Financial Officer Richard Sykes was named one of the top Non-Profit CFO’s by Los Angeles Business Journal
  8. EIMAGO, Inc., our non-profit public benefit organization affiliate, capable of receiving government funding, reorganized to be of benefit to Union Rescue Mission’s specific Mission – including additional winter shelter for 560 homeless friends!
  9. Union Rescue Mission/EIMAGO steps up to take on 4 new winter shelter contracts – in our downtown shelter site, West Side, Culver City, and Burbank, making sure 560 additional folks aren’t left out in winter rain and cold
  10. Union Rescue Mission is certified excellent by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM)
  11. Our 2006 Annual Report received 1st place at AGRM International Conference in May 2007
  12. CEO Andy Bales was named one of top 3 fundraising professionals in Los Angeles by the Association of Fundraising Professionals at National Philanthropy Day
  13. Union Rescue Mission, its Capital Campaign, and affiliate EIMAGO raised the most funds in one year since 1992, when a large bequest came to URM to enable URM to build its current facility downtown
  14. Union Rescue Mission hosts our best Christmas Store to date. 400 families celebrated Christmas in a very special way. Take a look at what it meant in the life of one special family


    15. Serwa | Stories from Skid Row from Union Rescue Mission.

    What were your highlights in 2007?
    What are your hopes for 2008?