Union Rescue Mission has entered America’s Giving Challenge, to try to win up to $50,000 for our cause!
America’s Giving Challenge is a 30-day, national competition that encourages people to leverage their personal networks and online social media to help win cash awards on behalf of their favorite non-profit. Participants in the Challenge compete for daily and overall cash awards based on the number of donations generated for a cause, not dollars raise. Awards will be given to the non-profit causes that receive the highest number of unique daily donations (minimum $10, one donation per person per day) between October 7, 2009, and November 6, 2009. To find out more about the Challenge, go to www.causes.com
The cause with the most donations over the whole 30 days will receive $50,000 for their non-profit. Second place will receive $25,000 and the next 5 highest will be given $10,000. Additionally, there will be 2 daily awards each day: $1,000 to the cause with the most donations, and $500 to the cause with the second highest number of donations.
The great thing about this Challenge is that it doesn’t matter how much you give, but instead how much you do to encourage friends and family to get involved in our cause. We all need to come together and start promoting the cause if we want to win.
We are very thankful for our Church Partners who came out amidst the rain to attend our 5th Pastor’s Luncheon on Wednesday, October 14th.
The event was hosted by CEO Andy Bales and Jeremiah Johnson of our Church Relations Department. The luncheon was a chance for churches to learn more about partnering with Union Rescue Mission to help those in need. The group discussed the needs for our Christmas Store toy drive, the possibility of starting mentoring groups for the families and women with children here at Union Rescue Mission, and what is still needed for our upcoming Thanksgiving celebration. Special thanks to these fine men and women of God who are helping to make a difference in the lives of others!
For more information on how your church can get involved, please contact Jeremiah Johnson, Church Relations, at 213-347-6300 ext. 2225
Our theme for October is “What We Do”. This week, the focus is on “Rescue”, which is often the second step in the process of giving hope and healing to those who have been devastated by the effects of homelessness.
We hope that you will listen to the story of Mo and her baby to better understand our Emergency Services, and the role they play in helping people find their way home.
Thanks so much to Mark Horvath for allowing us to be a part of his journey with InvisiblePeople.tv. We are so glad to be a part of what Mark has been and is continuing to do!
Also, we would like to thank Marc Salsbury for attending Social Media Day and taking so many beautiful pictures! Click here to see his entire online album from the day.
Rooftop-view of San Julian Street and our Men’s and Women’s Day areas.
A new study by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles shows that providing housing for the vast homeless population in Los Angeles may actually save taxpayers’ money. A survey showed that those living on the street may incur more expenses than those incurred by public housing, through more frequent trips to the hospital, mental health clinics, and jail, which are paid for with tax dollars.
Of course, providing public housing isn’t a perfect solution; as with any complex situation, there is no easy fix. The researchers noted that “chronically homeless residents feared that public housing would be taken from them” and it “took time for them to overcome their suspicions. Even so, as they became more comfortable, “their qualify of life improved, with many getting off drugs and alcohol and finding permanent jobs”.
Another major factor to consider is mental illness. “Putting those folks…into housing is nothing but warehousing them without treatment,” says Tony Bell, spokesman for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. That being said, the government would need to address “the particular needs of the homeless before their problems become debilitating”.
The United Way hopes to educate the public about their findings, and hopefully, to use them to bring about positive change regarding the issues of homelessness in Los Angeles.
Today, we were honored to welcome back Mark Horvath of InvisiblePeople.tv from his two-and-a-half month-long RoadTrip USA! Mark has been traveling across the country, capturing the stories of many people experiencing homelessness and sharing them with the world. You can view them all on his vlog, InvisiblePeople.tv!
The day began with discussion about the work Mark has been doing, the work that the guests are involved with, and also what we here at URM have been up to. The group was able to then take a tour with Rev. Andy and Mark, to see not only what we do but how it gets done!
Following the tour was an interview between Rev. Andy and Mark, which was broadcast live on UStream. They were able to touch on a lot of important issues surrounding homelessness.
If you have ever doubted the horrors of Skid Row, the need for change, and also the reason we can’t live up to being the City of Angels until no humans live on the streets of Skid Row – read this!
I am joining 2 well known Pastors remembering anniversary of their church by suffering on streets with those who 1st joined church 8:49 PM Oct 1st
I’ve fried turkeys & interviewed folks all night on Skid Row LA, but 2night I am sleeping on streets of Skid Row & tweeting what I see. 8:42 PM Oct 1st
Watching prostitution & drug trade in self-cleaning toilets on San Pedro. Hoping Pastors don’t want to sleep near that 2night! 9:25 PM Oct 1st
Our guest ladies on cots are sleeping in http://urm.org chapel 2night due 2 waxing floors. They’re worried about me on street 2nite. 9:30 PM Oct 1st
Waiting on Pastors & Loretta Swit, Hot Lips Houlihan from MASH called me to pick up donation this Saturday 9:53 PM Oct 1st
Intoxicated man w/ big boom box just lurched in my face & said he wasn’t scared of me but I was busy twittering & hardly noticed 9:56 PM Oct 1st
The rats are so loud I thought someone had a squeezy toy! 10:40 PM Oct 1st
Trying to calm down a young man revved up on something & upset at his baby’s mom. I let him borrow my phone but they hung up on him. 11:34 PM Oct 1st
When I decided to stay on streets outside http://urm.org i forgot it is 1st of month & folks on street have $ 2 get higher than kites 11:57 PM Oct 1st
Helped older man who was intoxicated, invited Calvin into program, gave my card to girl w/ wheelchair & told her I’m worried 4 her 12:41 AM Oct 2nd
Each time a police car drives by, I feel a sense of safety, as I believe do others who are on the streets tonight.
Just stopped a man who was attacking a couple on streets and then I called 911 & reported him. 12:50 AM Oct 2nd
Lady in wheel chair sells herself out of self-cleaning city toilet & gets high on heroin. I told her 2 come 4 help & that I am worried 4 her 12:56 AM Oct 2nd
A friend from Seattle weighed in on twitter.com and said that Seattle had given up their self-cleaning toilets for just such reasons.
Just told the man attacking everyone that he should feel bad about attacking everyone after he said I should feel bad about my “shift”. 1:04 AM Oct 2nd
Just took walk around block and found lost 87 yr. old man looking in our locked back door. He’s safely in bed now! 1:21 AM Oct 2nd
Took another walk around block & intervened in fight between man & woman. Now man telling us how he lost wallet & $300. 2:03 AM Oct 2nd
Finally met up with Dream Center’s Pastor Matthew Barnett on streets of Skid Row celebrating their 15th anniversary. I’ll twitpic soon! 2:31 AM Oct 2nd
Somewhere in here a man came with a sob story about his family and being out of gas. I gave him all I had-about $8.00
Finally settling down to rest in http://Edar.org on sidewalk. Folks are asking about them. Hope it’s rat proof! 2:56 AM Oct 2nd
I’ve got to be honest-No way I could sleep soundly on streets if I were truly homeless. 3:03 AM Oct 2nd
Now Pastor Tommie Barnett stopped by and greeted us on street. He’s heading over 2 sleep in Midnight Mission Courtyard! 3:25 AM Oct 2nd
Thankful my night experiencing homelessness on Skid Row is over. It was as bad as the nightmares I’ve had for years about being homeless.5:41 AM Oct 2nd from mobile web
One of my friends wrote me and told me that after 6 or 7 days, the fear is replaced by anger, and we as humans adapt to any situation eventually. I, for one, say Skid Row is not a situation or environment that any human being should adapt to. It was terrifying. I would not have slept even the one hour I did from 3 A.M. to 4 A.M. until one of our brave guests joined me in an adjacent Edar. I felt he had my back and so I slept for a bit. Two days later, he was arrested on the street for a strong armed robbery.
Union Rescue Mission would like to invite everyone to join us for our first ever “Social Media Day“!
We will be celebrating Mark Horvath’s InvisiblePeople.tv, which has captured the stories of many people experiencing homelessness throughout the country. Mark is the founder of InvisiblePeople.tv, a Vlog dedicated to giving homelessness a name and a voice, in the effort to make those that are ‘invisible’ visible.
Social Media Day will be held on October 9th, 2009. The event will begin with a warm welcome for Mark as he ends his 2 1/2 month long journey. The day will include a question and answer session live on Ustream wth Union Rescue Mission’s CEO, Andy Bales, and Mark discussing misconceptions surrounding homelessness.
LOS ANGELES CALIF. (October 2, 2009) —– Friday October 9, 2009 at 10: 00 a.m. Mark Horvath, founder of InvisiblePeople.tv will end his 10-week road trip across the U.S. at the UnionRescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles. During InvisiblePeople.tvRoad Trip USA, he has interviewed those without homes and provided a way for them to share their stories, raw and unedited. Union Rescue Mission, the only Mission that sponsored Mark, is welcoming him back from his journey to discuss homelessness solutions and misconceptions, and to celebrate Road Trip USA.
InvisiblePeople.tv is a vlog that showcases stories of homelessness and organizations trying to help through videos. The goal, he states, is to “make the invisible visible”. Mark started InvisiblePeople.tv Road Trip USA with the goal of meeting those experiencing homelessness all around the country and sharing their stories with the world. Through the support of corporate sponsors like Hanes and Ford, he has made this goal a reality.
Social Media Day will celebrate Mark’s two–and–a-half month journey while addressing misconceptions about homelessness and discussing solutions. Mark, who experienced homelessness himself, began Road Trip USA in Las Vegas on July 16th 2009. He then traveled east, capturing the stories of people living in tent cities, motels, cars and on the streets. The goal of the tour was to “unearth the modern-day realities of homelessness while providing a venue for “invisible” people to tell their story, raw and unedited”.
In support of Mr. Horvath’s work Union Rescue Mission is hosting Social Media Day:
When: Friday, October 9th 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Where: Union Rescue Mission
545 South San Pedro Street (btw 5th & 6th on San Pedro)
Parking: Secured Parking underneath URM
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 www.urm.org
Mark, a one-time television producer, found himself homeless nearly fourteen years ago due to addictions. Today, he is giving back to that community by breaking the mold and stereotypes surrounding homelessness. He uses his vlog to share the stories of those who are homeless so that they will no longer be invisible.
Below is an InvisiblePeople.tv video of Vickie, who has been living under a bridge for four hard months. She says that there are lots of rats and ants, yet this is where they now call home. She ended up on the streets as a direct result of the recession; Vickie’s boyfriend lost his job and their ability to pay rent.
