One of Lorraine’s fondest childhood memories is her mother’s cooking. Food was her mother’s way of saying, “I love you.” But no day was better than Thanksgiving and the magical aroma of turkey, ham, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, yams, and sweet potato pie. Lorraine was only 11 when the magic ended. That’s when her stepfather came into the family, bringing verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. Lorraine’s mother quickly became a drug addict. And love disappeared from the home. Then the unthinkable happened. Lorraine was 13 when she was raped by her stepfather.

Crippling Scars

“When I told my mom, she didn’t believe me,” Lorraine recalls. “She just said, ‘No way. He’d never do that.’ After that, I felt so alone. I didn’t feel like I was worthy of living.” A scar on Lorraine’s face, from a car accident, was just the physical manifestation of the wounds she felt inside:

 “ I hated myself. When I looked in a mirror, all I could see was how ugly I was.”

Lorraine left home at 15. She soon had her first child at 16, dropped out of school, and her life slowly unraveled — abusive men, alcohol abuse, more children, and severe depression crippled her. In August 2014, unemployed and a mother of four, she came to Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens.

Cooking Up a New Life

“I asked God to help me build a new life,” she says. “Hope Gardens was the perfect place for me. God answered all my prayers. The people here didn’t see me as a scared and ugly girl no one cared about. God used them to drive the clouds away in my heart and bring the sunshine out. They showed me I’m not Lorraine-who’s-ugly-and-raped. I’m just me. A brand-new person.” Today, Lorraine is also a cook on staff at Hope Gardens, where she serves nearly 222 meals a day to mothers, children, and senior women. “This is my dream come true,” she says. “When I cook, it reminds me of the magic of my mom’s cooking.” But no meal has been more important than Thanksgiving: “Last year, I got to cook all the things I remember from childhood: turkey, ham, mac and cheese, sweet potato pie, all of it. I cooked all night. It was my way of showing the women and kids here how much they’re loved. When we all prayed, I thanked God for Hope Gardens, for my new life, and for my chance to give back to these women. It was the best day ever.”

THANKSGIVING AT UNION RESCUE MISSION: The Recipe for Success . . .

Union Rescue Mission will serve more than 135,000 meals this holiday season and more than 4,000 meals at our Thanksgiving Celebration alone! It’s never too soon to start getting ready. Here’s a brief peek at everything that goes into making Union Rescue Mission’s special Thanksgiving Celebration a day filled with good food and a whole lot of love.

1. FILL THE PANTRY! It takes months to collect enough food!

2. VOLUNTEER! We need over 200 volunteers to help make this day special.

3. PREPARE FOOD We have to start prepping the food almost a week in advance! After all, we have to deep fry and serve more than 500 turkeys in one day!

4. SEE GUESTS SMILE We’ll serve hundreds of thousands of meals this Thanksgiving season. The meals we serve can open the door to a lifetime of change.

5. YOU ARE THE MISSION None of this is possible without YOU! Give someone a real reason to offer thanks to God in 2016!

Please give today so more people like Lorraine can receive the meals and family love they need at Union Rescue Mission. See how your gifts helped transform Lorraine’s life! www.urm.org/Stories

GOING STRONG FOR 125 YEARS BECAUSE OF YOU!

Union Rescue Mission is proud to celebrate its 125th Anniversary on October 24, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Please contact Karmen Herring at 213.347.6311 or kherring@urm.org for further details.

URGENT CRISIS ON SKID ROW! WE NEED YOUR HELP . . . Help Serve a Thanksgiving Dinner — and a Side of Love

This Thanksgiving season, Union Rescue Mission will serve more than 135,000 meals! And that number continues to climb, due to a growing crisis of women and children experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. This year, each Thanksgiving meal we serve costs only $2.41. Your gift today will provide precious men, women, and children on Skid Row with hot meals, safe shelter, hope — and even love. Thanksgiving is still more than two months away, but it takes months of planning and preparation to serve a Thanksgiving dinner for thousands of men, women, and children on this special day. Your gift will help provide holiday meals — just $2.41 each! So please give someone a real reason to give thanks this holiday season. Send the most generous gift you can today. Thank you! For more information, or to put your gift to work even faster, go to www.urm.org/thanksgivingfeast

Notes from Andy

The one word that describes Skid Row right now is “extreme”: extreme numbers, extreme violence, extreme desperation, extreme heat, and extreme danger. And no one is more at risk than the growing number of women and children we’re seeing here. As many as 4,000 people now call these dangerous streets of Skid Row “home.” It’s tragic to see anyone trying to survive here. But it’s the women and children who break my heart most. Fortunately, many of them are now seeking shelter inside of Union Rescue Mission. In fact, for the first time ever, more than half of our 1,163 guests are women and kids. The sheer numbers and need are challenging all our resources — financial, food, space, beds, increased security, and clean-up costs. And the months ahead only promise more desperate straits. But Thanksgiving is around the corner, and despite our many challenges, we still have much to be thankful for. And I’m especially thankful for the faithful generosity of people like you. You’ve stepped up in unprecedented ways to help struggling people in the past. And I know you will again, as we seek to ensure that every man, woman, and child who comes to Union Rescue Mission finds their way home again.

Blessings,

I hated my mom, because she started it all. I hated my grandmother for everything she did to me. And I hated my siblings, because they all ran off and left me alone with her.

My family was messed up. My mother slept with my grandmother’s boyfriend and had a child. Then my grandmother made life hell for my mom. It was so bad, my mom tried to commit suicide when I was 3. She ended up paralyzed from the neck down, which meant all us kids were left with my grandmother. All the rage she felt for my mom, she took out on us. She beat us so bad, we thought she’d kill us. There were times I prayed she would.

All my siblings ran away, leaving me alone with my grandmother. When I was 15, even she left. All I had left was my hate. I was on my own, living on the streets, drinking and sleeping from pillar to post. Eventually I learned how to use and manipulate women to get what I wanted. It was the pattern for the rest of my life.

I never married, never had kids, and even though I was a raging alcoholic, I had all the girlfriends I could handle. I always worked, too. But in 2007, I hurt my back and couldn’t work anymore. I ended up living in my van, depressed, angry, and drinking three bottles of vodka a day, trying to drink myself to death. Seven years later, I asked God to take this monkey off my back. He led me to Union Rescue Mission.

Leaving the Past Behind

My path was pretty clear. I learned, for the first time, how my childhood shaped me, why I hated myself, why I lashed out, and I learned new ways to deal with my anger and hurt. Then I confessed every terrible thing I’d done, and I left them at the cross of Jesus. I had to learn that not only God forgave me, I had to forgive myself.

And finally, the hardest part, I’ve had to go back to people I’ve hurt and ask them to forgive me for every rotten, dirty thing I did to them. I also had to forgive my mom, though she died long ago, and I wish I could ask her to forgive me for all my hate.

But it all changed me. Union Rescue Mission gave me a family I never had. I’ve learned that God is everything He says He is. I don’t have any more hate.

Fred came to URM after more than 20 years in prison. Thanks to the support of his chaplain, Fred was able to complete something for the first time in his life: our one-year life transformation program. Watch Fred’s amazing story at www.urm.org/Stories

HOLISTIC HELP

Thanks to YOU!

In addition to addiction issues, many guests come to Union Rescue Mission with many other difficulties, including health, dental, legal, and emotional issues that threaten their future. Thanks to the UCLA Primary Health Clinic, the USC Dental Clinic, and Pepperdine’s Legal Aid Clinic and Mental Health Clinic — and thanks to YOU — our guests are able to get the help they need right here on site. Here are some of the ways David benefited from these services:

Health care: “When I got here, I was diagnosed with degenerative joint disease and a torn rotator cuff. I also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hepatitis C. Now I’m getting ready to get both my hips replaced, have reconstructive surgery on my shoulder, and I’m getting treatment for the COPD and hepatitis C.”

Dental: “Because of all my alcohol and drug use, my teeth were rotting, infected, and bleeding. The dental clinic gave me all new implants, top and bottom. Now I got beautiful teeth again.”

Legal Aid: “Over the past few years, I had some hefty fines for several violations on my driving record. There was no way I could pay them. Worse, I had at least five warrants out for my arrest and I was looking at jail time. But because I was committed to staying here at Union Rescue Mission for a year, the people in legal aid were able to get all my violations expunged and got my fines reduced so much, I can take care of them in small monthly payments. Now I can get my driver’s license back.”

GOING STRONG FOR 125 YEARS BECAUSE OF YOU

DR. CLAUDE MOFFITT’S STORY, 1933

I was born to Christian parents in 1914, in Southern Illinois. But despite my upbringing, I left home at a very young age to see the world and to experience the thrills that I thought life could offer me in Southern California.

But California was not as good to me as I had hoped. I ended up friendless, broke, and homeless. Fortunately, someone told me of the Union Rescue Mission. So I came here seeking food and a place to sleep.

But one evening during a worship service in the spring of 1933, God spoke to my heart. When the invitation was given, I made my way to the old altar where God forgave all my sins. Shortly after that, God called me into the ministry. I served as a pastor for 15 years, and I later served as the executive secretary of the Arizona Baptist Convention, working with some 50 churches.

HELP CHANGE SOMEONE’S LIFE TODAY

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

There’s no one way to help people escape homelessness. Some need recovery from addictions. Others need counseling and
spiritual renewal. Many need education and job training. But they all have one thing in common: they need another chance at life.

Thanks to generous people like you, these same precious 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, and surrounded by friends.

Your generous gift of $25, $35, or more will help provide nutritious meals, safe shelter, and the real help broken, hurting people need to put their lives back together. 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 www.urm.org/ChangeLives

NOTES FROM ANDY: You’re the Fuel

People experience homelessness for many different reasons: addictions, lack of affordable housing, broken family
relationships, childhood and domestic abuse, and mental-health issues. Then there’s unemployment and underemployment, lack of job skills, lack of education, and legal issues.

That’s why Union Rescue Mission —thanks to you — offers a holistic program that addresses every area of a person’s life to help them escape homelessness. You help provide people with safe shelter and a nutritious meal. You help provide classes dealing with addiction, healthy relationships, financial management, and more. You help sharpen education and job skills. You support counseling services and spiritual nurture. And you make sure people get the health and dental care, and the legal services they need. And most important, you make sure people are surrounded by loving friends and a loving God. It takes an entire community to offer folks all these services.

It takes all kind of partners and strategic relationships. But in this community, no partnership is more vital than you. You are the fuel that makes everything that happens at Union Rescue Mission possible. Your financial support and prayers are changing lives — today and for eternity. Thank you.

Blessings,

To read Andy’s blog, please visit revandysblog.com

My parents loved me and raised me right. I was on a good path — until I got lost after my father died when I was 16. Without his guidance, I started hanging out with the wrong crowd, drinking, smoking marijuana, and eventually smoking crack. Before long, I lost everything and ended up on a path that eventually took me all the way to Skid Row.

On Skid Row, I could smoke all the dope I wanted. I spent my days on a sidewalk, and slept in the different missions here at night. I smoked crack all day, every day, so I didn’t have to face all my disappointments and failures. And I smoked crack so I could endure the horrors of Skid Row — a filthy, drug paradise controlled by the devil. A place that drives many people here to near madness.

I saw women get beat up and raped. I saw a man get his throat cut open. I saw people die out there every month. But the worst part? You get used to it.

In 2014, though, I couldn’t do it anymore. I came to Union Rescue Mission to get help. I give the chaplains and all the other guys here a lot of credit for helping me get sober. But what really changed my life was the day I looked at how bad my life had become and realized I had no one else to blame but me. I had to forgive myself and realize I could still live right, the way I was raised.

So I invited God into my life and let Him heal me and take control. God became personal to me. And when that happened, everything changed.

Now I want to get involved and be part of the solution for others. I’ve already gone back into the streets and persuaded three other people to get help like I did. And now I’m planning on going back to college to get a degree in drug and alcohol counseling, so I can help others get to where I am.

Union Rescue Mission offers much more than food and shelter — we resurrect the lives of men like Paul. Watch his story at www.urm.org/Stories

A Streets-Eye View of Skid Row

Everywhere there’s smoke, cigarettes, pee, and trash. It’s dirty everywhere. Nowhere is sanitary. When it gets hot, the smell becomes overpowering. — Marquesha, 15

The streets are horrible. There ain’t no respect for life. You can get someone killed out here for $5. — Tom, unknown age

Sometimes I lived in a tent on the sidewalk, other times I lived in a storage unit. In the winter, I can’t tell you how many times I went to bed wet and freezing. And I reeked because I rarely bathed.
— Guillermo, 41

Where’s Jesus on Skid Row?

by Dan Anderson, Director of Strategic Relationships

Some people say hell is wherever God is absent. It’s hard to look at Skid Row and not think that’s true. As a pastor, I spent much of my life in the suburbs.But last winter, I started working here at Union Rescue Mission and Skid Row. I’ve never seen anything like the pain and suffering I see on Skid Row. The sidewalks are crowded, elbow to elbow. Trash piles up everywhere. It smells like urine, and you have to be careful you don’t step in human waste. But for many, these sidewalks are their home. Even their bed. No human being should have to live like this.

Skid Row — The Final Stop
Every day, I walk these streets, praying for people. The heaviness of spiritual oppression overwhelms me. Many people I meet are filled with so much sadness and hopelessness. Their lives have been one giant fall through the cracks until they land here, the final stop, the end of their rope, where too often they give up on life, because they feel like life gave up on them.But God made these men and women. They’re God’s special masterpieces, made in His image. When Jesus walked the earth, these are the people He befriended — and healed. People the world labeled as prostitutes, thieves, outcasts, drunkards, sinners, people with broken bodies and wounded souls, the weak and powerless. The people here on Skid Row need Jesus’ healing touch today — but where is He?

See For Yourself
He’s right here. He never left. He’s out there on the sidewalks, and He’s inside the walls of Union Rescue Mission, transforming lives through people like you and me. He’s in every gift you send and every prayer you pray. I know, because I see it every day. In fact, I invite you to come see for yourself. Take a tour, meet the men and women whose lives YOU have helped transform in the name of Jesus, helping people who cannot give anything back in return. You and I, working together, have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference on Skid Row. And through the power of Jesus Christ, we’re transforming lives. Thank you for being Jesus on these streets.

Going Strong for 125 Years Because of You:
A Testimony From 1996

“Please help me! I’ve never been to Skid Row,” said Jennifer, a young mother with three children, ages 3, 5, and 10. “I don’t know what to do. Someone told me Union Rescue Mission could help.” It’s hard to imagine the fear and despair she must have felt walking her kids through these streets. She could barely speak between her sobs of hurt, as her children cowered behind her. Delowesia, a URM staff member,tenderly put her arm around the young mother’s shoulder and held her hand. “It’s okay, you’re safe here.” Later that evening, as Jennifer stroked the heads of her sleeping children, she began to sob, “This may sound strange,” she said, “but my tears are really ones of joy. I can’t tell you the last time I went to bed with sounds of love ringing in my ears instead of hateful threats. This is a wonderful place.”

Notes from Andy:
There is Hope

On the surface, Skid Row is an overcrowded, post-apocalyptic world of chaos, violence, and lawlessness. The sidewalks are clogged with tents and makeshift shelters sitting on concrete stained with human waste. The people who call these streets home could be predators or prey. They’re hungry, desperate, and many are beaten, raped, and robbed over a dollar or a watch. That’s what some people see on the surface of Skid Row. But it’s not what I see. I see precious individuals, made in the image of God, who have been dumped into this vacuum of despair and left to die. I see hurting men and women who have a better future, if only they could see it and receive help. It would be easy to lose hope out here. But I don’t. That’s because every day I see lives transformed here, I see people who have escaped these streets and are now filled with joy and hope. And those lives change for one reason: people like YOU who care and who are willing to do something about it. This is God’s work. And as long as you and I continue working together here, there is hope.

Blessings,

It’s shocking. Tragically, as many as 4,000 people now call the filthy, dangerous sidewalks and back alleys of Skid Row “home”— and more come every day. Some are mentally ill and many are struggling with addictions, but all of them are precious men and women made in the image of God. No one deserves this kind of life. And for the past 125 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.

Often, it doesn’t take a lot to help a hurting man or womanget back on their feet and escape Skid Row. 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

There’s nothing worse than the feeling you’re dying. I’ve felt that way many times in my life — sometimes it triggered anxiety attacks so bad I could barely function. And that’s a terrible experience for someone who loved life as much as I did.

At least, I thought I loved life. Looking back now, I realize I was never really alive.

When I first tried crystal meth in 1975, I knew it was the only drug for me. For the rest of my life, no matter how good or bad my life was going, my one companion through it all was meth.

For 15 years, I managed pretty well for a meth addict. I had a good-paying job in the trucking industry, a three-bedroom condo in Huntington Beach, and a girlfriend who loved me. But when I lost my job because of my addiction, I lost everything else, too.

It wasn’t long before I was sleeping on the streets of Anaheim, recycling cans, and diving in dumpsters. Anything to get more meth. I did work from time to time. But I also crossed a lot of moral lines and did some things I’m really ashamed of.

Thanks to meth, I missed out on so much, like family birthdays, camping trips, or a family of my own. I just did not know how to do life without meth. Sometimes I stayed with friends. Other times, with my sister or nieces. But when my drug use got too much for them, I was out again. I thought I loved life — but I hated the way I was living.

In June 2014, however, God led me to Union Rescue Mission. I guess you could say when
I came here I was a walking dead man. But I knew from the start that everything would change. Over the next several months, thanks to my chaplain and the other guys in the program with me, I slowly realized I still had value and life was still possible.

But it was Jesus Christ who made the real difference. He died so I could live. And on that first Easter, when He walked out of the tomb, He carried me with Him. When I got that, I could give up all my guilt and shame. I could forgive myself. And 2 Corinthians 5:17 became real: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

When I came to Union Rescue Mission, I was dead. But today I am truly alive. And I love
that feeling.

Celebrating the Easter Promise of New Life at Union Rescue

Good Friday Easter Egg Hunt and Personalized Easter Egg Baskets
On the Friday before Easter — what we call “Good Friday” — children experiencing homelessness at Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center receive handcrafted, personalized Easter egg baskets filled with toys and candy, and participate
in a special Easter egg hunt.

Saturday Easter Outreach
The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Union Rescue Mission holds a special outreach event for the Skid Row community.
Guests are treated to live musical performances, free medical checkups, foot washings, and the chance to obtain items of their choice, including clothing, shoes, snacks, hygiene items, and Bibles.

Good Friday Evening Service in the Main Chapel 
On the evening of Good Friday, all Union Rescue Mission guests are invited to a special chapel service to commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.

Sunrise Easter Service (nondenominational)
Early in the morning on Easter Sunday, nearly 150 guests will gather on the rooftop of Union Rescue Mission to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ — the reason we do what we do.

GOING STRONG FOR 125 YEARS BECAUSE OF YOU: Story of a convert from 1941

“I lived all my life without God,” said Earl*, a guest at Union Rescue Mission in 1941. “I suffered all the tortures of the addicted and damned. What was I to do?”

He turned to Union Rescue Mission for help. One Sunday night, he listened to the president of Union Rescue Mission, R. Gordon Boyd, preach a sermon on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Through the rest of the evening, Earl went over the message again and again: Jesus Christ died on the cross and atoned for the sins of the world. He was resurrected three days later and lives today. So by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus, Earl could be saved.
Could it be true? Earl wrestled with the thought as he lay in bed that night. At last, in despair he cried out, “God, have mercy on me and forgive my sins!”

At that moment, Earl received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. “God granted His mercy to me,” Earl recalled later, with tears running down his cheeks, “and He completely transformed my life.”

He eventually ended up working as an executive at one of the largest hotels on the Pacific Coast.
*Not his real name.

Notes from Andy – Our Easter Mission

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

If there’s a single verse that describes the miracle of James and the new life he’s living, it’s this one. For almost 40 years, he was lost in a living death of meth addiction, a lifelong blur of pain, misery, and fear of death. But today he is a brand-new man,
drug free, restored to his family, and full of life. The old is gone; his new life has begun.

That’s the kind of miracle I see every day here at Union Rescue Mission. It’s the kind of miracle that keeps me going, and it’s why I race to work every day. It’s the kind of story that reminds me to never give up on anyone, because God never gives up on any of us. All things are possible through Jesus Christ! That’s what we believe at Union Rescue Mission, and I know it’s what you believe, because your financial support proves it.

I know it can get pretty discouraging sometimes. Walk a few feet outside our doors, and you’ll see thousands of devastated people, slowly suffering and dying on these sidewalks. It’s easy to look at that man or woman and think there’s no hope. But it’s not true!

Just walk a few feet inside our building, and you’ll see a whole different story. Through your faithful financial support and prayers, through our chaplains, therapists, caseworkers, and volunteers, working together, we change lives. But even more important, we create the space for God to transform lives. And isn’t that what Easter — the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — is all about?

Union Rescue Mission is an Easter mission. Thank you for being our Easter partners!

People on Skid Row who are struggling with addictions and homelessness need hope that new life is possible for them. Thanks to Easter, when Jesus walked out of His tomb, you and I know that new life is more than just a hope.

When men, women, and children experiencing homelessness come to Union Rescue Mission, they receive the real, tangible help they need to rebuild their lives. That’s what your gifts really mean to hurting people at Union Rescue Mission — thank you!

Your gift will provide hot meals — and new life — this Easter!

It doesn’t cost much to help transform a life. And that’s what our Give Help Give Hope Easter Fund 2016 is all about. Your generous gift of $25, $35, or more today will help provide hurting men, women, and children with hot meals, safe shelter, long-term help — and hope for new life this Easter season.

So, please give the most generous gift you can today.

Thank you!

Your Easter Gift Resurrects Lives Like James’

This Easter season, your gift to Union Rescue Mission is truly a cost-effective way to transform a life like James’.
To compare, it costs . . .

$82.50 to house a person for one day in an area hotel.
$129.92 to incarcerate a person for one day in jail.
$600 for a person to spend one day in a private recovery program.

$81.07 

to support a person for one day in URM’s Life-Transformation Program.

When I came to Union Rescue Mission, I had one foot in the tomb. I hadn’t spent two days sober in more than 50 years. I’d lost everything — my family, home, career — and I was in deep debt. I once lived with a view of the ocean. Now my view was Skid Row.

Quite a fall for a man with a master’s degree from one Ivy League university and who once served as Dean of Men at another.

I started drinking when I was 15. I was already an alcoholic in college. I met my wife, Kim, in a New York bar. By the time we married, she quit drinking. I didn’t. For more than 20 years, she tried to get me to stop. She made my life miserable. Now I realize she was the one person who showed me what real love looks like.

As my drinking became unbearable, Kim kicked me out.

So I drank even more. To pay rent, I borrowed from my wife and my mother.

In August 2014, I got evicted from my apartment. That’s when Kim brought me to Union Rescue Mission. When I told her, “I’m not going in there!” she responded, “Then you can live under a bridge.” She saved my life that day.

I stayed. But that meant I had to face the lies I had built my life upon: I’m not an alcoholic; I can quit any time I want. Lie: I’m too smart for this; I have an Ivy League education!
Lie: I’m not as bad as all these other alcoholics and junkies. And the Lie of lies: God hates me for what I’ve done.

Slowly, I gave up every one of those lies but the last one — until my chaplain looked me in the eyes and asked, “Who told you God hated you?” My chaplain started going through scripture with me and enabled me to realize God didn’t hate me: He loved me unconditionally. Nothing could ever make Him stop loving me. When I understood that, I could finally face the incredible shame and guilt that kept me drinking for 50 years. And I left all that shame and guilt on the cross of Jesus Christ.

After Jesus died on that cross, He lay dead in a tomb. When I came to URM, I lay dead in that same tomb. But here’s the thing: Three days after they put Jesus in that tomb,
He walked out with a resurrected life. And when He walked out, He carried me with Him. Now I have a hope and a future. Hallelujah!

The Love That Saved Robert’s Life

Some people say that a successful marriage is just two people who refuse to give up on each other. Kimberly, Robert’s wife for more than 35 years, models that adage.

“Bob’s drinking was hard to deal with. I could have divorced him, but I didn’t want my son to go through that,” Kimberly says. “Besides, I care about Bob. I really care. He’s smart, he’s funny. And he has a good heart. So I had to find a way to help him and to make our marriage work.”

When Kimberly met Robert, she was a self-described alcoholic, too. After she started experiencing blackouts, however, she quit drinking and tried to get Robert to quit, as well. He refused.

The marriage was difficult from the beginning. Then, as Robert’s drinking worsened, Kimberly became a “born-again” Christian. She found solace in her new faith, but the marriage got worse. “We argued and kept falling further away from each other. Then, when we fell behind in paying our bills, I got more and more resentful. I finally had to get him out of the house for both our sakes. But I never stopped caring for him.”

Another Miracle on Skid Row

One day, she started listening to Rev. Andy Bales on URM’s Amazing Stories From Skid Row radio program, which features men and women at Union Rescue Mission who are overcoming addictions and homelessness. She knew what she had to do. In August 2014, she brought him to the Mission.

Her tough love paid off. “I see a miracle taking place in Bob,” she says. “He’s a changed man. He loves the Lord and every day he’s getting healthier. I’ve always known that he loved me and our son, but now I’m seeing it every day. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re gaining our trust in each other again, now that we have Jesus in our lives.  I truly believe that all things are possible when we reach out to our heavenly Father. Union Rescue Mission is an amazing place.”

For 18 years, I was rarely sober. In fact, there was a saying back in the town where I lived that if you wanted to do any business with me, you’d better get to me before 5 o’clock — because by 6 o’clock, I was too far gone.

I simply couldn’t stop drinking. I lost everything. My family wanted nothing to do with me. Even my own father denounced me.

I tried over and over to quit drinking. I couldn’t do it. But one day, I walked into Union Rescue Mission because I was curious. I listened to an old man talk about how he had spent 35 years drinking, and he was completely drunk the day he walked in here. But then he prayed to God and he had been sober for nine months.

That’s when I realized that I had tried everything to quit drinking except Jesus Christ. So I went up to the altar and cried out to Jesus Christ. He came into my life that night and I have been sober now for more than two years.

No more box cars, no more empty pockets. Today, I am a free man. I am a trusted employee in a large corporation. I share a Christian home with my beautiful wife and a fine baby boy. And now I can look the whole world in the face and praise God.

Join us for our annual Hearts for Hope Gala

On March 5, Union Rescue Mission and the Hearts for Hope Committee will host the seventh annual Hearts for Hope Evening of Entertainment Event at the beautiful
Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village to benefit Hope Gardens Family Center.
Hope Gardens Family Center is a transitional housing facility where women and children experiencing homelessness can find rest, regain hope, and get the chance to build
a better life. Today, Hope Gardens Family Center is a safe refuge for over 50 moms,
80 children, and 25 senior women.

This year’s event will include a shopping boutique, silent and live auction, raffles with great prizes, dinner, entertainment, and the presentation of our 2016 Heart for Service Awards.

Hearts for Hope Gala
“A Generation of Hope”

Date: March 5, 2016
Time: 5:30PM – 10:00PM
Location: Four Seasons Hotel – Westlake Village
Two Dole Drive
Westlake Village, CA 91362
Cost: $225

For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact Karmen Herring at (213) 347-6311 or visit urm.org/Hearts2016

Remember Our Hope

This Lenten and Easter season, we invite you to join us for a few moments each day to reflect on our real hope for healing and new life. Receive Andy’s devotional emails by signing up at urm.org/Devotionals

“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” — Romans 6:4

Union Rescue Mission helps transform the lives of men, women, and children — mind, body, and spirit — through a variety of programs with the compassion of Christ. After meeting their basic needs, URM offers more personalized and comprehensive solutions.
Your gift today of $15, $25, or more will not only provide meals and shelter, it will help hurting people develop a personal relationship with Jesus, rebuild family relationships, create financial stability, restore physical health, and much more.

So please do more than save a life today. Help change someone’s life. Don’t wait. Please send the most generous gift you can. Thank you!

To put your gift to work even faster, go to urm.org/NewLife

Notes from Andy
Your Life-Changing Work

It may never get made into a movie, but Robert and Kimberly’s tale in this issue of The Mission is a real love story. Robert, the brash, funny, smart, likeable, life-long alcoholic — the college sophomore who never grew up. And Kimberly, the beautiful, faithful, caring wife who refused to ever give up on Robert, despite his self-destructive addiction. Robert caused Kimberly a whole lot of heartache and trouble!

But when Robert hit his rock bottom, it was Kimberly who picked him up and brought him to Union Rescue Mission. Robert slowly came around, and his wit and outgoing charm emerged with him.

I cheered him on every step of the way. The love he experienced here at the Mission transformed him. But it was Kim’s love that saved him.

Yet there’s a deeper love here, too. Robert spent 50 years walking a long, dark journey of addiction. But that long, dark journey ended at the cross of Jesus. Thanks to God’s love, and Jesus’ death and resurrection, Robert is a completely new man. That’s the promise of Easter. And that promise of Easter is what Union Rescue Mission is all about. And it’s what YOU are all about. Your support means Easter miracles.

Blessings,

Jon was dying — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He was 54 years old and his life felt empty and meaningless. Loneliness, depression, and alcohol were killing him. The physical and emotional abuse he experienced as a child ended long ago. But the pain didn’t.

“I don’t remember a lot of happy times as a child,” he says. “My father was an alcoholic and there was a lot of violence in our home. When he beat my mom, all I could do was sit there and cry. I remember asking God why we couldn’t have a regular family, without all the hurt.”

Jon spent the rest of his life crippled by feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. Over the years, conflict tore his family apart and they all went their separate ways.

“I felt so alone,” Jon recalls. “I didn’t have any close friends. I was OK as long as I was at work, but then I had to go home. Money, cars, and homes didn’t make me happy. I just couldn’t figure out what my life was all about. So I started drinking and one thing led to another. It just got worse and worse.”

Jon came to Union Rescue Mission in 2009 and got sober. But he soon relapsed. “I still felt lost and for some reason I just gave up on everything. I didn’t want to be around people, places, or things. I could barely get out of bed in the morning.”

But he didn’t want to die like that. So he returned to Union Rescue Mission in April 2014. The first time he came, he learned how to stop drinking. This time  he was determined to learn how to deal with himself.

“I knew I had to let go of my past,” Jon explains. “So this time, I turned my life over to God and got into His Word. I started to learn that God loves me. Really loves me. I learned I was important and that I was worth something. I had to learn how to forgive my father and how to love myself. As I started to understand all that, it seemed like the emotional baggage I’d carried my whole life just fell off. I could live a brand-new life.”

Heading into 2016 with his new life, Jon has one goal:
“I know there are a lot of people like me out there. I want to find a way to lift them up. At the end of the day, I want to make a difference in someone’s life. That’s my New Year’s wish.”

Watch how Tiffany works through losing everything to experiencing blessings and joy at Hope Gardens Family Center. urm.org/stories

Notes from Andy
More Challenges — But Even More Hope

Looking back at 2015, it’s been a challenging year. Skid Row has exploded with people, reaching new levels of cruelty, fear, and desperation. And the number of families experiencing homelessness is growing, too. Nearly 100 families, including almost 200 kids, live here at Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens.

Yet despite the challenges, I’ve also never been more hopeful and I’ve never seen
so many lives changed. Hundreds of men and women have been transformed. Thirty moms just graduated from Hope Gardens, their families healthy and strong. More than 100 men and women at URM have found jobs. And thanks to your extraordinary generosity, we are responding to new challenges as they arise. So 2016 promises to be a wonderful and productive year.

Your partnership will enable us to improve and expand Hope Gardens to house
an additional 16 moms and their kids. And we’re even in discussions with a city official to start a satellite of URM in a neighboring city so more hurting men and women will get the help they need without having to relocate to Skid Row. Thanks to you, struggling people in Los Angeles will have a very happy New Year!

Blessings,

Let’s End 2015 2X Stronger!

Many of our Skid Row neighbors have little hope that their lives will be different in the coming year. But right now, generous friends of Union Rescue Mission have offered to match every gift we receive before December 31 — up to $500,000!

That means any gift you send will be doubled — automatically — to provide twice as much help for hurting men, women, and children at Union Rescue Mission as they rebuild their lives in 2016. That means TWICE the safe shelter, warm clothing, hot meals, and even hope — but you must send your gift before December 31!

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/NewYearsWishes

New Year’s Wishes from the Street

Thanks to your generosity in 2015, Union Rescue Mission is giving men, women, and even
families experiencing homelessness the chance to hope and dream for a better 2016. In this issue of The Mission, we celebrate some of those men and women and their dreams for a better life in the year ahead!

“I want to be a better father . . .”

I’ve been in and out of prison since the age of 20 because of drugs. I came to Union Rescue Mission in 2014 because I was getting too old to live like that and I wanted to get my life together. Today I’m clean and sober, and I have my own apartment. In 2016, I want a permanent job, maybe a vehicle, and to be a better father to my 8-year-old son.
— Ricky, 53 Union Rescue Mission Christian Life Discipleship Program

“I hope to get my real estate license . . .”

I left Houston and moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream of being a professional singer. But when I got off the bus here, I had no money and nowhere to go, so I came to Union Rescue Mission. In 2016, I hope to get my real estate license, continue to pursue my singing and acting career, and even travel the world. I have a lot of faith!

— Raven, 24 Union Rescue Mission Gateway Program

“In 2016, I want my own room again . . .”

For the past 10 years, I struggled with bipolar disorder and was unable to work. I’ve lived off a small pension I have from being a former schoolteacher. But I’ve had some tax problems this year and could no longer afford anyplace to live, so I came to Union Rescue Mission. In 2016, I want to take care of my tax issues, get my own room again, and heal my relationship with my daughter.

— Robert, 55 Union Rescue Mission Gateway Program

Because of You: Marty’s Story

I grew up in a very Christian family and my father was a minister. But early on, I took off the other way. I was addicted to alcohol and drugs, like crack and meth, for 30 years. It almost killed me. In fact, I had two major heart attacks, in 2007 and 2008, and should have died. I’ll have to wear a pacemaker the rest of my life.

I finally admitted I needed help and came to Union Rescue Mission in 2009. So much has happened since then. I just celebrated six years of being clean and sober. My relationship with my parents, siblings, and my two kids has never been better. And I’m now working full-time here at the Mission, trying to support and help guys like me through their addictions. I really enjoy my time with these guys.

December 31 Is Around the Corner — Give Today and DOUBLE Your Gift!

Precious people experiencing homelessness need YOUR help. And now, generous friends of Union Rescue Mission have offered to match every gift we receive — up to $500,000.

That means any gift you send will be doubled — automatically — to provide twice as much help for hurting men and women at Union Rescue Mission. But this extraordinary opportunity is only available for a short time — the deadline is December 31!

Also, when you make a gift of cash or appreciated property to Union Rescue Mission before December 31, not only will your gift double to help more people experiencing homelessness, you will receive a charitable tax deduction on your 2015 tax return.