March has been both an exciting and difficult month at URM. Last weekend we hosted our bi-annual Box Outreach, with over 300 volunteers distributing care boxes to those living in hotels. Unfortunately, this month also marked the first time we have had to lay off employees and cut back on costs due to the economy.
We hope that you will consider us and our neighbors on Skid Row more than ever during these hard times; we cannot continue to provide our services to those who need it most without your generous support. Thank you.
Sheila Raye Charles, daughter of the legendary Ray Charles, will be blessing us tonight as a featured speaker for “Celebrate Recovery”. We are very excited and honored to have Sheila speak to many of our guests this evening. She has a very-moving testimony about recovering from addiction - she struggled with crack cocaine for many years and even ended up in Federal Prison.
When she finally surrendered to God’s will, she was at her lowest point and desperate for relief from the personal pain she had created. She has chronicled her personal story in her book Behind The Shades and produced a collection of music by the same name.
You can listen to her inspirational testimony in this short clip:
The OWIN Foundation, a non-profit charitable foundation dedicated to providing aid to orphans and widows throughout the continent of Africa, hosted its 4th Annual Fundraising Gala last Saturday, March 20th. The theme for the event was, “Development, Africa & You: Erasing Poverty Through Education.” A.C. Green, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers and known as the NBA’s Iron Man, was the Key Note Speaker.
Andy Bales was honored as the Humanitarian Service Award Recipient for his 20 years of experience in community outreach and service to “his homeless friends”, as he puts it. The OWIN Foundation selected Andy because of his work in bringing a new era of unique and innovative services for Los Angeles’ Skid Row community.
Mr. Rick Rozman, VP of Merrilly Lynch and OWIN Foundation Board Member, presented the award to Andy.
Union Rescue Mission (URM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit 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 the oldest in Los Angeles. We provide a comprehensive array of emergency and long-term services to our guests, including: food, shelter, clothing, medical and dental care, recovery programs, transitional housing, legal assistance, education, counseling, and job training to needy men, women, children, and families.
Description
Must enjoy working in ministry related environment. Provides broad-based administrative/recruitment support to the Human Resources Department. Assist with the recruiting process i.e., resume tracking, job posting and advertisement of positions. Student will have opportunity to learn essential basics about the Human Resources field.
Qualifications
Student must have reliable transportation. Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program and interested in working in Human Resources. Must have excellent communication skills. Professional demeanor must always be present.
To apply for this position please e-mail resumes to jobs@urm.com
Guadalupe Cortez, an Intake Dorm Assistant in our Contact Office, has gone above and beyond to offer help to many of our Latina, non-English speaking guests! Guadalupe, who is certified in many life skill components, offered an 8-week workshop on her Saturdays off!
To celebrate the completion of the class, a luncheon and certificate presenation was held. The women were overjoyed with gratitude and a sense of accomplishment! These ladies successfully completed classes and training in HIV/AIDS prevention, tools for depression and anger, DV prevention and breaking the domestic violence cycle, positive self image and esteem in Christ, and STD prevention. One woman was moved to tears and said she is going to send the certificate to her daughter to show her accomplishment!
Congratulations to all the women who completed the course, and thank you so much, Guadalupe, for your kind heart and willingness to serve others, especially to help bridge the service gap for our Latina guests!
Daniel was a rising star in the investment world until alcohol ruined his life. Your investment in him gave Daniel another chance.
Daniel’s friends and family expected big things from him. After all, he had earned a spot on the National Honor Society in high school, appeared on the “Who’s Who” list of American students, and was awarded a full academic scholarship to study business and finance in college.
“People would always tell me what a great man of God I was going to be and that I was going to affect so many people,” Daniel says. “But I didn’t want any part of it.”
To cope, Daniel turned to alcohol, and the more he climbed the corporate ranks of the banking industry, the more he drank. ” Every night after I got home, I drank myself to sleep.”
Finally, in January 2007, his drinking cost him his job. By Christmas, he had lost all his savings and found himself on New Year’s Eve in downtown Los Angeles, with only $17 to his name.
“As I sat there, I started to pray,” Daniel recalls. “Lord, I’m sorry. I know this is all my fault. Please forgive me and take control of my life.”
The next morning, Daniel heard about Union Rescue Mission and immediately joined the one-year Life Transformation Program. He knew it was his only chance – and he wasn’t going to miss it.
“Every day I attended classes taught by the chaplains, met with counselors, studied my Bible, prayed, and completed every assignment designed to help me be more honest with myself, and dig into the deep-rooted issues and fears I had always tried to cover up,” he says.
He dealt with resentment he felt towards his father for abandoning him as a child, and even reconnected with him. He learned to trust friends and authroities, and to let himself be vulnerable, exposing his weaknesses – and most important, accepting their help and support.
And finally, the Program helped him uncover his crippling “fear of success, a fear that had always kept me from going after big dreams. “
One year later, in January 2009, Daniel graduated from URM’s Life Transformation Program a new man. “I haven’t touched alcohol in over two years,” he says today. “Every day I feel myself becoming a stronger man in God.
“God has called me to some big plans and I’m no longer afraid of the success He has planned for me. I’m like the Prodigal Son. I was once dead, but now I’m alive. And I know the life I have now is all because of what Jesus did.”
“The people who give to Union Rescue Mission aren’t investing in stocks or bonds, they’re investing in human souls and transformed lives. I know, because their investment gave me a second chance at life.”
How your generous gifts give people experiencing homelessness a second chance.
Men and women trapped in homelessness must often overcome significant barriers before they can return to a productive life. Devastating emotional challenges from their past, broken relationships with family, addiction issues, criminal pasts, and insufficient job or life skills all hold people back and keep them trapped in homelessness and poverty.
Overcoming these barriers usually requires a structured, long-term recovery process. Union Rescue Mission’s Life Transformation Programs, lasting between one and three years, give men and women experiencing homelessness the real help they need to rebuild their broken lives.
For 118 years, generous people like you have offered tens of thousands of hurting men and women the chance to rebuild their lives. The three most important parts of our programs include:
The Discipline to Change
People experiencing homelessness often distrust structure in their lives and resist accountability. Our programs give people a daily structure that demands discipline. And we provide them with a network for mentoring relationships, including chaplains, counselors, and each other that encourages and strengthens them.
Support through Tough Times
Many people who enter our programs face long-term emotional abuse, neglect, addictions, and life-related issues that have shipwrecked their lives. Our programs provide ongoing counseling and classes with chaplains and counselors that help them deal with the wounds they carry with them.
Learning to Lean on God
The most important component to change is spiritual growth. We encourage each man and woman to develop a relationship with God and rely on His strength to rebuild their lives. Then we offer regular Bible studies, worship services, and daily opportunities for personal devotion.
Notes from Andy
Living Second-Chance Lives
Every day when I come into Union Rescue Mission I’m reminded that when Jesus died and rose again on that first Easter morning, God promised every man, woman and child a second chance at new life. I see that promise at work every day in the lives of hundreds of people here at URM and at Hope Gardens.
In addition to counseling, classes, caring love, and menoring, I believe the single most important part of our life-transforming programs is helping men and women experiencce the power of Jesus Christ in their lives. In the end, it takes a miracle of God for people to experience real, lasting change.
Right now, more than 48,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, most of them able-bodied men and women who have the portential of returning to work and rebuilding their relationships as husbands and wives and mothers and fathers- to be productive members of society again.
All they need is one more chance, a little help, and the power of God to overcome addictions, learn to change their lifestyles, gain new job skills, grow their spiritual lives, and build a firm foundation that enables them to live in a healtyh way. Thank you for being a part of this miraculous, life-transforming work.
First of all, we would like to thank every one of you who joined with us in our efforts to keep the Winter Shelter Programs running year round. We had an astounding 208 people take action, with a total of 229 emails sent to officials to ask for help in keeping the Winter Shelters open! Unfortunately, the Governor did not call a State of Emergency and there was no additional funding granted to cover the expenses of the shelters. Despite the outcome, we remain hopeful for the future. We plan on continuing our efforts to keep the shelters open year round, and hope you will continue to be as supportive as you have been so far! Thank you!
Brentwood Presbytian Church partnered with Union Rescue Mission for a “Day of Service” last weekend. The team came out to share the love of Christ with the people of Skid Row. The kind words and cold bottled water they had to offer were greatly appreciated – something as seemingly small as a bottle of water or a smile can make all the difference in the life of someone experiencing homelessness!
Thanks to the BPC team for coming out to serve, and to Andy Bales and Jeremiah Johnson for organizing the event!
This has been a difficult, gut wrenching day. The prolonged recession has caused a downturn in our giving and having exhausted every other means of significantly reducing our costs, we were forced to join the humble ranks of those who have had to make the painful choice of letting faithful, diligent employees go.
I sent personal letters to each of the 7 employees who were released, and these couple of paragraphs were included in each of the letters.
“I want to thank you for your faithful, diligent, and sacrificial work that you have provided to Union Rescue Mission and our guests during perhaps the most challenging period of time in our 118 year history.
The prolonged recession has caused a downturn in our giving and we must reduce our costs significantly, and this reduction means that we will eliminate your position with Union Rescue Mission. I am deeply sorry. I have worked hard and prayed much in hopes that it would not come to this.
This decision is not about you, as it is all about these unbelievably hard times we are facing as an organization. I hope you will always remember that you were part of the amazing team at URM that stepped up to meet the great need of 2007-2010, and we will always hold you close to our hearts.”
I am not sure if it is harder for me to swallow the pain, or swallow my pride. I have been so thankful, so proud, that unlike others who cut staff and reduced services, we stepped up, met the need, welcomed all who came to our doors, sacrificed our salaries by taking pay cuts, and stopped receiving a 401K match, all to do the right thing.
Now we have joined the humble ranks of those who have had to make the same painful choice of letting precious people go. I feel responsible, and I am. The problem is that I am responsible but I am not capable of overcoming the challenges brought on by economic forces, and that is a painful pill to swallow.
The following scripture brought comfort to our staff as we met this morning to pray for our fellow co-workers in Christ as they look for other opportunities and to ask the Lord to continue to carry Union Rescue Mission through these difficult waters.
Psalms 138:6-8 (ESV)
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
People are often surprised to learn that many of the guests who stay with us each night do not have substance-abuse or addiction problems. The fact is, a majority of the women we meet are escaping some form of domestic violence. This is the case of Robyn and her 9-year old daughter Le Dai; after suffering in an abusive relationship for nearly 11 years, Robyn is now hopeful about her future and thankful for each day she is alive.
We hope you will take a moment to check out Robyn’s amazing story of determination, strength and hope – the latest release in the ground breaking series Stories From Skid Row.
