March has been a very eventful month here, with both sadness and celebration. To hear more about all the happenings this past month, please click to watch the March update.
We are looking forward to Easter, which reminds us that God is always faithful even though sometimes we don’t fully understand our circumstances. This promise is something I rely on daily, as we at Union Rescue Mission remain hopeful amidst decreased donations. Please keep our work here and all the precious people we serve on Skid Row in your prayers.
Help transform the life of someone experiencing homelessness. Join us for Union Rescue Mission’s 4th Spring Golf Classic. From fun contests, TaylorMade prizes, good food and great people, the day promises to be both fun and rewarding. Limited to 144 golfers, the scramble format tournament takes place on Monday, May 9th, 2011 at the prestigious Trump National Golf Club. And regardless of your score, you’ll head home knowing you’ve helped to bring hope and healing to people who desperately need it by providing resources for a worthy organization making a difference in our city. Not a golfer? No worries, there are a number of ways that you can be a part of this special day and make a lasting difference in some ones life.
THE MOST SPECTACULAR GOLF COURSE IN AMERICA! Trump National Golf Course is perched high above the jagged California cliffs taking advantage of one of the most incredible views in the world from every hole. Noted as the most expensive golf course ever built, over $250 million dollars has been spent to ensure its prominence. Gleaming white sand lines the walls of the massive bunkers, expansive lakes protect tucked away greens, and magnificent waterfalls cascade down at Trump National. The Donald J. Trump Signature Design tempts golfers to take risks and rewards well-placed shots. The layout challenges experienced golfers and novices to the best of their abilities. Trump National truly stands as a testament to the greatness of golf.
CONTACT INFO: For more information please call Shaeideh Prince (213) 347-6352 or Chris Strode (213) 673-4801. Space is limited, so please return the completed registration form by April 15, 2011
Thanks to your votes last month Union Rescue Mission was chosen as one of two organizations to be supported by Food Truck Wars. Along with Paws LA, URM won the #1 spot to receive proceeds from the food trucks. The food truck event took place on Friday and was the 1st Annual Food Truck Wars held by Dish Dash L.A.
Our URM Volunteer Coordinator Alex at the welcome table to the event telling people about Union Rescue Mission and the cause to help people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles.
The USC Fraternity/ Sorority Row was lined with 10 unique Food Trucks, creating dishes of a wide variety from Spanish tapas to Dim Sum dumplings. Students and Food Trucks enthusiasts lined up to taste and experience the gourmet samplings offered.
Thank you to all of those who worked and organized Food Truck Wars and those who came out to the event to support Union Rescue Mission.
Special thanks to every Food Truck present for their delicious cuisine and for being part of Dish Dash L.A. and supporting URM!
October 2008 marks the date when Union Rescue Mission’s first two-parent family turned to us in need. Since then, our work has rescued over 900 families, representing 1,900 children, from the streets. While other missions and organizations were cutting programs or closing their doors altogether, Union Rescue Mission responded to the economic crisis by cutting costs and increasing programs and services to meet the needs of all who turned to us for help.
Union Rescue Mission’s latest program, “Project Restart”, has helped over 79 precious two-parent and single dad families, representing 307 people, move beyond the shock of becoming homeless to finding employment, securing housing, and returning to a life of self-sufficiency.
Union Rescue Mission has been Certified Excellent by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM) and is the only mission in LA to receive Charity Navigator’s 3-star rating. Moreover, Union Rescue Mission continues to be one of the only providers in LA County providing complete care for single men, single women, and one- and two-parent families with children of any age.
We would not have been able to accomplish this without our generous supporters! Below are charts illustrating the work we have done together. Please prayerfully consider sending a generous and timely donation to help us end this year strong and be well prepared for summer. Currently, we’re anticipating a $1.4 million shortfall in our fiscal year budget. A gift of any amount is greatly appreciated.
Since 2008, we’ve seen a 131% increase in the nights of shelter we’ve provided to families, an 88% increase in nights of shelter overall and a 91% increase in the number of meals served.
These charts provide an encouraging visual account of the way Union Rescue Mission has stepped up to meet the needs of precious, vulnerable people.
How your generous support of Union Rescue Mission helped one addict learn what really matters.
Some people say that nothing is more important than family. For more than half my life, however, drugs were more important than mine.
I grew up in a Christian family. In fact, my dad was a minister – a minister who was so busy doing the Lord’s work, he didn’t have time to be a dad. I resented him, I rejected his rules, I rejected his religion – and I rebelled. I threw myself head-long into cocaine, and later methamphetamine.
By my mid-20’s, I had a $300-a-day habit – but I was making up to $200,000 a year in car sales and web design so I didn’t care. I talked to my mom regularlry and saw my dad and sisters occasionally, but mostly I avoided family gatherings. I kept them all at arms length.
In 2007 and 2008, my drug use caught up to me. I suffered two major heart attacks and couldn’t work much. Then the economy tanked and I quickly ran out of money. I ended up homeless in 2009, but I still wasn’t done with drugs. I scammed money from several people – even my own mom. By July 2009, however, I ran out of options. My heart was functioning at 20% capacity, I had no place to live, no job, no income, and no one would loan me money. Especially my family.
So in July 2009, I finally called my dad, who once worked at Union Rescue Mission, and asked him to bring me here. I started reading the Bible and following it. I took the classes and got into counseling. And I started to rediscover myself – not the drug guy, but the real Marty. Unfortunately, that meant I had to face all the ways I’d hurt my family and pushed them away for over 30 years.
At one time or another, every one of my family had said, “We don’t like you, Marty, but we will always love you.” That tore me up.
One day, I met my dad at Starbucks and thanked him for helping me get my life back. I had never seen him shed a tear before. But we cried together for two hours. Then I asked my mom to forgive me, and we cried. Today, I’ve been at Union Rescue Mission for a year and a half, and the Lord has blessed me with physical and spiritual health again.
I haven’t felt this good in 30 years. But most importantly, I have my whole family back. They visit me every week. Peace of mind and the love of my family – nothing matters more to me.
“ Marty is special, and I’m so proud of him …”
I knew what Marty was doing to himself, and it hurt me. He’d disappear for days or even months at a time. I’d often lie awake at night, imagining him sleeping on a park bench, in the rain, and without any food. And for a long time, I honestly thought I’d never get my brother back. I knew we were going to wake up to a phone call one night, and the police would say they found him dead. It wasn’t a matter of if we’d get the call, it was just a matter of when. But thanks to Union Rescue Mission, I did get my brother back. He’s come so far. Marty is special, and I’m so proud of him.
— Maryanne, Marty’s sister
“ God answered my prayer and led my son to Union Rescue Mission …”
I watched Marty struggle with drugs and alcohol almost his whole life. There were nights I cried so much I couldn’t sleep. For a while I thought I’d lost him. But I determined that I would never give up. I decided that whether it was 30, 50, or 80 years, I would pray for my son. My dying breath was going to be, “Lord, take care of him and get him back. Don’t let Satan have him.” And God answered. He led my son to Union Rescue Mission, and they saved him — both in this life and for eternity. Marty is part of our family again. Our Prodigal Son has returned.
— Kathy Jo, Marty’s mother
“ Thanks to Union Rescue Mission, I have my son back …”
I know I wasn’t a perfect father. Far from it. So watching Marty rebel and struggle with his addictions for all those years was devastating to me. I knew he was in trouble. But I really loved Marty. Years ago, he visited me when I was working at Union Rescue Mission. He asked me why I enjoyed working at the Mission so much, and I replied, “I’m getting the place ready for you when you’re ready.” Today, thanks to Union Rescue Mission, I have my son back, and we’re as close as a father and son can be. It is absolutely priceless what Union Rescue Mission has given to me and my family.
— Andy, Marty’s father
Resurrecting Families
I hope you enjoyed reading about Marty and his family in this issue of The Mission. It’s a remarkable picture of family love and reconciliation. But I’ll be honest, when I see Marty, I see more than a courageous man who found new hope and healing — I see one of my own sons.
Like Marty, my son is extraordinarily gifted and bright. But early on, he had issues with a father who worked so hard at his ministry, he didn’t have time to be a dad to his son. He rebelled and experienced trouble that could have led him down the same road Marty took — and ended up at Union Rescue Mission. Thankfully, by the grace of God and through the patient love of our family, my son worked through his issues and today is a special young man.
The love of family. Over the years, I’ve learned that the single most common denominator among people experiencing homelessness is that they’ve lost the love and support of family. This Easter, please remember that when Jesus rose again, he promised resurrection not just to individuals, but to families. And I encourage you to pray for the reconciliation of more families just like Marty’s.
This Friday, from 3:00pm-9:00pm, you can come out to enjoy some delicious food AND benefit URM at the same time! Dish Dash L.A. will be holding it’s 1st Annual Food Truck Wars, and we are one of the lucky beneficiaries (there was a voting contest on their site a few weeks ago, and we got the #1 spot!)
Using both sides of the street, there will be 10 food trucks battling it out to sell their tastiest cuisines to customers. On one side, a portion of the profits will benefit URM to help people experiencing homelessness, and the other side will benefit Paws LA. (So, if you want to help benefit URM be sure to know which side is which!)
A few of the Food Trucks that will be participating include Chunk in Chip, Dim Sum, Frysmith, Papa’s Tapas and White Rabbit.
We are so excited to be a part of this event! Please come out for a fun and tasty evening and to benefit some good causes. Dish Dash is a USC student guide to Downtown. For more information visit http://www.dishdashla.com/foodtruckwars.php.
Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute visited Union Rescue Mission on Saturday as part of their Urban Plunge experience weekend. Students and professors took part in this Los Angeles city experience, making Skid Row and Union Rescue Mission part of their focus.
Urban Plunge is a weekend event organized to show students Los Angeles as a greater urban city and how they can become a part of its culture. The group of 16 began their day at URM listening to testimonials of five graduates of the Discipleship Program. Listening to the stories of these life transformations opened the eyes of students.
After a day of walking in LA, they returned to URM to set up EDARs, our mobile shelter beds, to sleep in for the night. Experiencing the cold and some rainfall during the night, they were able to feel what it may be like to experience homelessness in Los Angeles.
They woke up at 4:45 the next morning to serve breakfast in the kitchen.
Kelly Roberts, an Urban Plunge coordinator, says that spending time at the mission was a huge part of their weekend. “Skid Row can be a heavy experience for some people for the first time,” she said. But she was thankful to have seen and been part of how URM operates and serves LA on a daily basis.
This past week, Union Rescue Mission welcomed a group of 19 college students to the mission. Resonate Church, from Pullman, Washington and Moscow, Idaho, has for the past few years offered a Spring Break missions trip to Los Angeles, bringing them to URM.
Staying in tents on the roof, this group devoted themselves to serving the mission in any way they could. The students worked daily, serving breakfast and lunch in the kitchen, beginning at 6 a.m. They also helped in our recent renovation of the roof, putting together new lawn furniture.
During their breaks, the group volunteered their time in the Women’s Day Room. Laura Slatemaker proposed the idea of offering manicures to the women. The women loved it, lining up excitedly for their chance to receive a manicure. These students were able to serve the women for two afternoons and gave every woman have a chance to get their nails done.
Thank you to Chad McMillan and Rachel Tweet and their group for all their work and joy they brought to the women and kitchen of URM last week.
When Pastor Kelly DuPree of Faith Community Church in West Covina was praying about how to serve people staying in their local winter shelter, he came up with a project called “Hope and Soap”. Basically, the plan was to assemble hygiene kits and hand them out to people on the last day of the shelter. Not only would they hand out the products, but also offer “hope” by providing rides to URM and a place in one of our life transformation programs.
Volunteers from Faith Community helped to pass out over 140 kits, and met 6 people that wanted a ride to come down to URM! Wanting to do more than just provide a “hand-out”, Faith Community partnered with us in a way to do just that – they showed people love and offered them an opportunity to change their lives. Thanks so much to all the great people from Faith Community in West Covina who helped to bless many people this week at the closing of the Winter Shelters.
If your church or organization is interested in partnering with us in any way, please contact Jeremiah Johnson, our Church Relation Representatives at 213-248-1043 or jjohnson@urm.org.
We knew this day would come but it doesn’t make it any easier – the closing of the Winter Shelters. Tuesday night was the last night of shelter provided to our friends in West LA, Glendale, Culver City, and those taking part of the extra cots in our Downtown location.
Although the closing of these temporary shelters brings with it fear, sadness and a lot of questions – Where will I go now? What will I do? – we wanted to do something to show these precious people we care even as we are forced to close the doors to the places they have been calling home.
Please take a moment to watch this video of the last day of the Glendale Winter Shelter.
