union rescue mission

3rd Annual URM Spring Golf Classic

You are invited to participate in the Union Rescue Mission’s 3rd Annual Spring Golf Classic benefiting URM and Door of Hope. Once again, the day will be filled with excitement, fun contests, prizes, great food, and awesome people.

Golfers will compete on Monday, March 2, 2009, at the beautiful Mountain Gate Country Club. The tournament format will be a shamble. The top three finishing teams will win TaylorMade irons.

Whether you’ve been a longtime friend of Union Rescue Mission and/or Door of Hope, or this is your initial engagement, you’re sure to have a great time! Remember, the support you lend to our cause is not measured in dollars and cents, but in transformed lives.

Click here to register now!

Download The Mailer Here

“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.

Pray for My Friend G.

Yesterday, as I walked back to Union Rescue Mission from the Los Angeles Mission where I had just completed my term as President of the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative, I ran into one of my friends/guests from the Mission. He was weeping uncontrollably. He kept telling me, “You are the best person in the world, thank you!” Then he said, “Union Rescue Mission is the greatest place on earth! But I can’t stay!” My friend G. had been drinking. I believe that though he was intoxicated, he was absolutely sharing his heart feelings with me. I had some tears in my eyes as well. I grabbed his hand, and I told him that if Union Rescue Mission was truly the best, then he could certainly come back with me to the Mission and get some immediate help. He refused. I tried to direct him to a local 24 hour drop-in center where he could detox. He refused. I grabbed his hand, looked him in the eyes, and told him, “Remember G., if URM is the best, that means you can always come back, right?” As he walked into some of the meanest streets in the United States, I yelled one more time, “Go to one of our Winter Shelters!”, another man tried to direct G. back toward my voice, but he was gone. I walked back the remaining block to URM with my head down, praying against the evil forces that had taken hold of G. and were weighing him down, telling him he was not worthy of our love or care or anything else. As I continued walking I prayed for God’s hand of protection to watch over him on these mean streets of Skid Row. One of our (CLDP) program men caught me as I walked by our loading dock and asked me what was wrong. “That is hard on you isn’t it, Andy.” I answered, “Yes, it really is.” Our gentleman said, “What you have shared with us will stay with him, you’ve planted a seed of hope. When I was out there hitting bottom — that seed was always with me and brought me back here when I needed help.” Those were extremely encouraging words that I needed to hear at that moment. Please pray for my friend, G. Please also pray for the 150 men in our Christian Life Discipleship Program who are making it through one day at a time. Thank you.

Andy B.

“Shelter looking for site” – Glendale News Press

Jason Wells of the Glendale News Press reports on Union Rescue Mission’s urgent need to find a temporary site for the Burbank Winter Shelter.  

Operators of the winter homeless shelter at the Burbank National Guard Armory are scrambling to find an alternate location capable of housing 50 of their clients during two planned closures of their current site.

The Salvation Army of Burbank has agreed to take in up to 50 homeless people during the planned closures Feb. 6 to 8, and again for the same dates in March, but that would cover only half of the average crowd that uses the emergency winter shelter every night, said Carrie Gatlin, vice president of government relations and special project for the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles, which oversees the operation.

Click here to read the article.

Honored to Serve at URM

There is no question that working at Union Rescue Mission is both challenging and at the same time, a work of ministry, to say the least. Every now and then, someone takes a moment to share a life changing experience that they have had at the Mission, and then you know that all of the hard work and all of the challenges are more than worth it. Here are two stories I received just yesterday that lifted my spirits:

I received this one from someone I will call Rebekah;

“I came to L.A. in 2005 with only a few dollars in my pocket due to a serious family situation beyond my control. I landed at Union Rescue Mission where I was favored and taken care of. I was given shelter, food and clothing. Your case managers worked along with me and my working schedule. I was able to start working temporary as a legal secretary and after six months, I landed a permanent job. I am on my feet now with my own apartment and a nice car to get around the city. I’m back in school majoring in legal studies with a minor study in performing arts. Because of my wounds, it was very hard and challenging, but it is worth it. I will always support Union Rescue Mission and I thank you for allowing me to have another chance at life.”

Bill sent me this one late last night;

“It has been several years since I have been to Union Rescue Mission; the last time there was a funding event that I attended as a Board Member of Centenary United Methodist in Little Tokyo. Before that, our church had a youth mission project at Union Rescue Mission.

However, today I had the chance to engage with your staff once again as I was personally directed to help usher a young [abused] Crack addicted mother to a safe, and Godly nonprofit. It could have been that the timing was bad and it conflicted greatly with my calendar, or – it may have been so inspired by faith that I was simply in shock at the urgent role that your nonprofit (Union Rescue Mission) plays on skid row.

From the moment this mother and I walked into your mission, I could indeed feel the spirit move in [our] favor. We were asked to sit in the lobby, and a team of staff embraced this young mother’s needs.

One person guided us from one person to another, and then another… within 15-minutes (of our arrival), I met Mr. Colin Kakiza. He assured us that he would find the supportive services that were needed. With care, and Christ-like friendship Colin shared his love for this new client. Job well done!

However, the saga did not end there; this mother in need was guided to the patio, then (she) slipped out the back to Crack Alley, then to the park. Having produced a 2-year documentary on the skids (the bottoms)… I am well versed in this area, also well known and respected. I saw your new client sitting with a group of (drug) dealers. They hovered around her like bees on honey offering her their products. Not seeking to enter a beef with bangers, I returned to the mission to find security. I told Mr. Kakiza what happened, and he said ‘I will go back with you and we will get our client’.

Again, God was on her side and allowed her to flee. Rev. Bales, your staff member, Colin, provided Christ’s love and was ready to stand in the gap for a stranger. I’m not amazed at the courage of his heart, but – I am thankful for his service to your client, and the willing support he directly displayed for me.

May God continue to bless the Union Rescue Mission with the fiscal resources to grow a sustainable nonprofit on the front lines in the Kingdom.”

There isn’t much more I can say or add to these two stories, except, I am honored and blessed every day to serve here at Union Rescue Mission.

Rev. Andy Bales

Los Angeles County shelters brim with families – LA Times

Jessica Garrison of the LA Times writes about the increase in families who are homeless this season.  Several individuals from Union Rescue Mission were interviewed.

The economic crisis and cold weather have created a larger than usual influx of families to shelters in Los Angeles County this year, according to shelter officials and other service providers.
On Wednesday, officials at the Union Rescue Mission, which runs the county’s cold-weather shelters, held an emergency meeting to figure out what to do when they run out of hotel vouchers for families, which could happen this month. The numbers, said Chief Executive Andy Bales, are sobering: The region’s winter shelters and the skid row mission have seen 86 families in the last three weeks.

By comparison, last year the agency took in 20 families at its emergency shelters over the entire cold weather season from Dec. 1 to March 15, with 15 to 20 more at its downtown mission. Two weeks ago, the mission downtown opened up its fifth floor to two-parent families and single fathers with children, something it has never had to do before. It may also convert its chapel to sleeping quarters.

Click here to read the article.

Shelters see significant rise in demand – KABC Channel 7 News

KABC news interviewed Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales about the increase in individuals facing homelessness this year.

Officials at a winter shelter in Burbank say they have seen a 1,000 percent increase in demand since their doors opened on Dec. 1. They blame it all on a very troubled economy.

As they are dealing with increased demand in the valley, shelters in Downtown Los Angeles are retrofitting offices to accommodate more families.

“I’ve been doing this nearly 23 years and I’ve never seen anything close to this,” said Andy Bales, Union Rescue Mission.

Andy Bales runs the Union Rescue Mission on skid row in Los Angeles. He said homeless shelters like his are being inundated with young families.

“I believe that we’re going to have to take emergency steps to make sure that no family and no children spends time on the streets and suffers the devastation of homelessness,” said Bales.

Click here to see the video and read the rest of the story.

E.D.A.R. video – LA Times

Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales is interviewed about a new invention to provide shelter to individuals who are homeless. The invention is called E.D.A.R., which stands for Everyone Deserves A Roof.

“Winter shelter opens” – BurbankLeader.com

Zain Shauk of the Burbank Leader writes about the opening of the winter shelter in Burbank. Union Rescue Mission is running the program again this year.

The city’s winter homeless shelter opened Monday, providing cots, showers and hot meals to 31 people on its first night of operation at the Burbank National Guard Armory.

Last year, the shelter drew only about 15 people on its first night and almost 150 on its most crowded evening before it closed in mid-March, said Andy Bales, director of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, which runs the program.

Click here to read the article.

Subway partners with Union Rescue Mission

For the twelfth consecutive year, Los Angeles area SUBWAY restaurants will partner with Union Rescue Mission during the holidays.  SUBWAY staff members will collect toys and volunteer to prepare and serve over 1800 meals for guests at Union Rescue Mission.

SUBWAY will also distribute flyers to their LA area patrons asking them to make a donation to Union Rescue Mission at urm.org/subway.  As a thank you to those who donate $10 or more, SUBWAY is offering a $10 discount coupon that can be used toward a catering order of $30 or more (some restrictions apply).