Winter Shelters

Winter Shelters: Glendale

Since December 1st, the LA county Winter Shelters have been providing assistance, meals, and housing for those experiencing homelessness all around the Los Angeles area.

Looking for a safe haven from the winter cold, the rainy weather, and hopelessness of living in a situation of homelessness, hundreds of people have found the EIMAGO shelters. EIMAGO is a Union Rescue Mission subsidiary, who has worked with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to provide four additional shelters for the winter months. These shelters will be closing March 15th, a recent worry on many guests’ minds.

The Glendale winter shelter has been a place called home by over a hundred people these past months. Over this past weekend, numbers were higher than usual due to the rainy nights. Having decided to never turn anyone away, the shelter provided beds to over 200 individuals Saturday night.

Dinner was also served to an over-capacity crowd with the help of volunteers, people who dedicate many nights each week to this particular shelter.

Return back tomorrow for some stories of those currently calling Glendale Winter Shelter their home.

Please Help Keep the Winter Shelters Open!!

Today marked the end of our Glendale Winter Shelter, and on March15th, the remaining shelters will be closing as well. Unfortunately, the money that funds the armories will run out then, which means that the 670 people who have been staying at the Winter Shelters will have no place to go.

We would like to ask you to please be an advocate for those who are experiencing homelessness, and consider contacting government officials to keep the Winter Shelters open year round.  The number of people walking through our doors has continued to increase; we don’t ever want to see the day when we have to turn someone away.  Keeping the Winter Shelters open would ensure that we would not have to.

Please go to http://youarethemission.org/advocate. We are asking people to send a pre-written letter to Governor Schwarzenegger to help keep these shelters open by declaring a State of Emergency.  Then, contact the LA City Council, LA County Supervisors, and Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA) to support our efforts. With your help, we can bring about a change!  Thank you so much for your support.

 

 

L.A. County shelters being overwhelmed by homeless – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Troy Anderson of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin writes about the increase in visitors to winter shelters around Los Angeles County.

Despite innovative efforts by the city, county and nonprofit agencies to help keep homeless families off the streets, officials at rescue missions and winter shelters in Los Angeles County said Thursday their facilities are being overwhelmed by homeless families.

Andy Bales, president of the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles, said the number of homeless families staying at the mission has tripled to 45 over this time last year.

At his winter shelters in Burbank, West Los Angeles, Culver City and downtown, Bales saw more families in the first three days this year than the entire winter last year.

“I think we’re in an emergency,” Bales said. “And I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. We get vouchers from the (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) to put families up when they come to winter shelters and we’ve used four-fifths of the vouchers we get for the entire season already.

“We have a bigger problem now than we’ve ever dreamed of before.”

Click Here to read the rest of the article.