Join Union Recue Mission CEO Andy Bales and Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael O. Johnson today Monday, May 3, 2010 as they announce a partnership to serve healthy protein shakes at breakfast weekday mornings all year to Union Rescue Mission guests in the Skid Row community that depend on the Mission for good nutritious meals.
On average (URM) serves 3,500 meals a day. Herbalife will donate its Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix to the Mission so residents can start their day with a nutritious drink along with their breakfast.
Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales said“A big thanks to Herbalife for empowering our precious guests with a delicious and nutritious shake!”
Who: Union Rescue Mission & Herbalife will launch & serve Herbalife Shakes with celebrity Chef G. Garvin, Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway & Actress Kiki Sheppard.
When: Monday May 3, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. Sharp
Where: Union Rescue Mission 545 South San Pedro Street (btw 5th & 6th on San Pedro)
Why: Union Rescue Mission and Herbalife coming together to provide healthier eating to people experiencing homelessness.
About Union Rescue Mission:
Union Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving people experiencing 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
About Herbalife Ltd.
Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is a global network marketing company that sells weight-management, nutrition, and personal care products intended to support a healthy lifestyle. Herbalife products are sold in 72 countries through a network of approximately two million independent distributors. The company supports the Herbalife Family Foundation and its Casa Herbalife program to help bring good nutrition to children. Herbalife’s website contains a significant amount of information about Herbalife, including financial and other information for investors at http://ir.herbalife.com The Company encourages investors to visit it Web site from time to time, as information is updated and new information is posted.
This month, 9 “Peeps” – children at Hope Gardens between the ages of 1-5 years old – were able to enjoy a fun-filled outing to Knott’s Berry Farm! The kids had a blast riding the rides at Camp Snoopy, and eating pizza for lunch.
By the time, they left they were worn out and sleeping on the bus back to Hope Gardens!
There has been some controversy over guests paying a fee for services, both nearby on Skid Row and in New York City. The controversy arose when a local group in LA bought a building, and after a few months began offering a cot and a place to sleep for $125.00 per month. Some advocates for people experiencing homelessness cried out about the fee, but also in regards to the fact that only the cot and case management was offered, and that there were no shower services or regular food program to go along with the cot.
In New York City a bigger storm arose over the City of New York carrying out a Client Contribution Program, a pilot program to charge guests with an adequate income a gradually growing fee to both sustain the shelter program and to develop responsible choices among the guests. I have posted the link below;
“Dusting off an idea dating back to the Giuliani era, the Bloomberg administration has quietly started charging rent to homeless people who stay in emergency city shelters, the Voice has learned.
With no fanfare, Bloomberg officials in June began charging residents of at least four Brooklyn shelters up to 30 percent of their income, records obtained by the Voice show. People who don’t pay could be kicked out of the shelter, the documents show.
Eric Deutsch, a spokesman for the Department of Homeless Services, tells the Voice that the so-called Client Contribution Program is a “very small” pilot program for people with a significant amount of income in the shelter. “We’re trying a variety of new strategies to help families and individuals move towards permanency and into their own homes,” he said.
According to Deutsch, the first month at the shelter is free, with fees rising from 10 percent in the second month to 30 percent in the fourth month. Deutsch said the money goes into a pool that “clients” can draw from when they leave the shelter. But shelter residents say a number of people have already refused to pay the rent fee because they can’t afford it, and because the city hasn’t offered any additional rights or benefits in return.”
At the Rescue Mission I ran from 1986 to 1990 in Des Moines, Iowa, we had a similar practice. The Door of Faith Mission was established by George Holloway, a man who had a 3rd grade education, spent 37 years on the road without a home, going from shelter to shelter, until he had his life transformed right here at Union Rescue Mission, I believe. He returned to Des Moines, Iowa, with a philosophy of running mission’s differently;
He made it welcoming for the entire day, instead of making people line up at night to come in for a meal and a bed
>He fed the men well so they could feel good, go out and work, and get help avoiding the temptations of drugs and alcohol
He required sobriety from those who lived at the Mission because it is difficult to stay sober when surrounded by the site and smell of alcohol
He required the men to work and pay their own way, because people feel better about themselves when they work, and pay their own way. It affirms their dignity, teaches responsibility, prepares them for paying rent when they move, and it provided 1/3 of the needed income for operating the shelter. The rest of the income came from churches and individuals. The first 3 days were free of charge or paid by the County, subsequently the next 30 day fee was $6.00 per day, then $7.00 per day, and finally $8.00 per day to prepare the men to pay rent.
In effect, I learned everything I know about properly running a Rescue Mission not from my more than 15 years in colleges, universities and seminaries, but almost entirely from a man with a 3rd grade education.
I came to Union Rescue Mission with this philosophy intact, but I have not implemented all of the components of this philosophy as of yet. I was reminded of George Holloway’s teachings the other day, when a front line staff mention that some guests residing free at Union Rescue Mission have an income of $1,000 and some an income of $2,000 and that it is difficult to watch someone stay free, eat free, and irresponsibly fritter away huge sums of money in the first few days only to be completely broke the rest of the month, while our worker has suffered 2 pay decreases and responsibly struggles to make ends meet.
I’d like to start a dialogue and get your thoughts on this dilemma. What do you think? Should Mission guests pay a fee to learn responsibility, prepare for paying rent, and help sustain the Mission’s operating costs during such a challenging time? Thanks for weighing in!
Although National Volunteer Month is coming to an end, we want to continue to express how grateful we are for all our volunteers that support us here at URM and Hope Gardens throughout the whole year!
Just this past Saturday, we had 150 volunteers from five groups join together for a Day of Service at Hope Gardens! Volunteers from Nestle, Calvary Chapel Murrieta, Pacific Crossroads Church, Bel Air Presbyterian, and Cloud and Fire worked on projects ranging from gardening, painting, organization a donation room, demolition, and landscaping!
In particular, 70 youth volunteers from Bel Air Presbyterian Church and Cloud & Fire Ministries came together, as they have for the past year, to work specifically on the donation area, clearing a hillside to plant fruit trees, and removing a large planter in the parking lot area. They also took part in the dedication of a wing of classrooms that they helped to put the finishing touches on that afternoon.
It takes a lot of work to do what we do here at URM, and we couldn’t do it all without the help of our many volunteers! In celebration of National Volunteer Week, we honored some of our standout volunteers! A total of 10 volunteers made it down to our Tuesday morning chapel for a special recognition in front of our staff and guests.
Without the help of these and other faithful individuals and organizations, we would not be where we are today!
Thanks to everyone who gives of their time to make an impact here on Skid Row – you are appreciated!
“HELP & HOPE COMES IN THE FORM OF AT- RISK YOUTH WORKING TO BUILD A BETTER COMMUNITY”
Sylmar California (April 22, 2010) — On Saturday, April 24, 2010 more than 100 youth volunteers from Bel Air Presbyterian Church and Cloud & Fire Ministries will converge on the grounds of the Union Rescues Mission’s Hope Gardens Family Center as they have for the past year building, repairing, constructing and restoring buildings around this Oasis of Hope nestled in the foothills of Sylmar California. Activities for this Day of Service will begin with a brief program and special visit from Councilman Richard Alarcon.
Who: Union Rescue Mission’s Hope Gardens Family Center in partnership with Bel AirPresbyterian Church and Cloud & Fire Ministries (YouthBuild) will showcase the extensive construction work done by the helpful hands of at-risk youth from Cloud & Fire Ministries.
What: A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony celebrating the completion of Bel Air Presbyterian Church and Cloud and Fire Ministries (YouthBuild) team will start the Day of Service by putting the finishing touches on a wing of classrooms to be dedicated on this day at noon.
Where: URM’s Hope Gardens Family Center located 12249 North Lopez Canyon Road, Sylmar California 91342.
When: Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Why: To assist the Union Rescue Mission in providing a beautiful campus of quality transitional housing for senior women and single mothers with children experiencing homelessness.
Union Rescue Mission CEO, Andy Bales said “The youth from Cloud and Fire have transformed Hope Gardens’ educational wing with their tremendous work, and have impacted other children and youth for years to come”.
About Hope Gardens Family Center
Hope Gardens Family Center a program of Union Rescue Mission is a Transitional
Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing campus that gives single mothers and their children, and senior women experiencing homelessness a chance to move out of despair and rebuild their lives. Hope Gardens Family Center helps women transition from homelessness to independence within 12 to 36 months through long-term rehabilitation programs, services and spiritual care designed to support and empower each individual and family. For more information, please visit our website www.urm.org
Two of my Union Rescue Mission colleagues and I just had the opportunity to travel to Baja Mexico with Calvary Church Pacific Palisades to build a loft house in partnership with Hands of Mercy for a family experiencing homelessness in their little village outside of Ensenada, Mexico. To be honest, I’d been so blessed by the church’s support of URM that I wanted to go and make sure they were safe on the trip! I think that Scott Johnson, our COO, and Michael Treadway, a URM graduate and head of our transitional living program for men, went along to make sure that I stayed safe!
We knew that the trip would be a challenge, but as Michael and Scott tearfully shared in this week’s URM chapel, it was also life changing. We arrived on a very long bumpy canyon filled dirt road, and spent the first night in a camp, and slept in a loft house, just like the one we would build for the family. We were without electricity, cell phone coverage, or indoor plumbing. I got up in the middle of the night and we had 7 wild horses running around our camp and cabin. Amazing! This was our view in the morning!
We then met the families we would build the homes for and travelled back out the bumpy road to begin.
We picked up our houses on a trailer and headed out.
We then journeyed to the village, up a very steep rocky road, to a scenic site for the new home.
I quickly made friends with the family, Victor, his wife, and their 12 year old girl Maria. Maria showed me where they were temporarily staying with their Pastor in a 144 Square foot home, just like the one we would build with them.
We began to build their beautiful, little, green house.
At times I even found the strength to pitch in and do some heavy lifting! Scott made the mistake of saying in front of me that he had not worked this hard since 1987!
It took us from sun up to nearly sun down to near completion, and Victor, the father, a very spiritual man who suffers from diabetes and loss of some sight, was praising the Lord for his new home.
The neighbor, Robert, who lives behind Victor, kept coming to me, asking us to build a house for him. He said, when it rains, water runs through his home. This is his house below:
These are the neighbors’ precious kids:
We are going to go back to build an outdoor toilet and water catching system for Victor and his family to go along with their new home. We hope to go back soon to build a home for Robert and these precious little ones as well. Michael wept as he said, “I never knew people lived like this.” Scott gave Victor his tool belt and tools so he could take care of his own home and hopefully earn money to support his family. I learned two things – what good men Scott and Mike truly are, and that I would be content with what I have from now on and cease to want more. Bless you, Andy B.
Union Rescue Mission is in need of a cargo van (new or used) that will be used for transport of donations. If you can help, please contact Chris Strode at (213) 673-4801 or cstrode@urm.org.
Vanessa picked up her 2-year-old daughter, Christina, and shut the door to her motel room for the last time. Out of work, out of money, and with no friends or family to turn to, Vanessa had nowhere to call home. She reached bottom – her only alternatives were the streets or a homeless shelter on Skid Row. By October 2008, Vanessa and Christina had already experienced homelessness for almost two months. The stress and fear overwhelmed them both. “It was really hard on my daughter,” Vanessa recalls. “I felt so helpless and scared. I didn’t know how I could keep her fed. But whenever I would cry, Christina would cry with me and ask, ‘What’s wrong, Mom?’ Then she would always tell me that everything was going to be okay. She was such a comfort to me.”
After living at another homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles for several months, God led Vanessa to Union Rescue Mission in May 2009. And four months later, Christina and Vanessa moved to URM’s Hope Gardens Family Center. “No one should ever have to spend a single night on the streets of Los Angeles, especially women and children,” says Andy Bales, CEO of Union Rescue Mission. “That’s why we started Hope Gardens.”
Hope Gardens has helped women and children like Vanessa and Christina find sanctuary from homelessness. Through the Mission’s comprehensive program, mothers like Vanessa progress from homelessness to independent living. “As soon as we got here, Christina was smiling and chatting again, just like she used to,” Vanessa says. “When she saw how happy I was, she was more at peace.”
Throughout her life, Vanessa had experienced a lot of abuse, leaving her with a crippling lack of self confidence. “But all the classes, teachers, counselors, and chaplains here helped me grow and see that I can do whatever I want to do in life,” Vanessa says. “So this summer, I’m going to start college and pursue a career in sociology so I can work with youth or maybe in drug rehabilitation. Hope Gardens is so important to mothers like me, but even more important for our kids. Our children are going to be the future. I’m so grateful, because I know my daughter will now have a chance to do something with her life.”
