Two thousand years ago, Jesus served a meal to his 12 closest friends that changed the world. Today, for $1.84, you can help serve a meal that changes a life. Over the next several weeks leading up toEaster, we expect to serve more than 100,000hot meals to hurting and hungry men, women,and children.
That’s why we need your help this Easter season to not only help provide the many meals we will serve, but to give people shelter, safety, and the real help needed for life transformation. Skid Row is filled with many men and women who feel hopeless and are dying on the streets, but life change IS possible. It happened to Kenneth, who decided in 2008 he didn’t want to panhandle, beg for food, or sleep in the rain anymore. He had spent half his in prison for crimes committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs. His poor choices caught up to him and he ended up living on the streets, struggling with depression, paranoid schizophrenia, asthma and more.
When he came to URM, he dropped a lifetime of baggage he’d been carrying and turned into a new person. He found a new relationship with God, and now has hope for this life and the life beyond. As he says, “There are a lot more people like me who need Union Rescue Mission. This place needs to keep prospering so they can help more people like me.” Help that often begins with the simple, caring act of providing a meal.
We hope that you will give generously to provide the hurting people on Skid Row a second chance this Easter season. Your gracious support will provide hot meals, safe shelter, and the long-term help people experiencing homelessness need to transform their lives forever. Please, click here to give generously today.
Graduation is something we celebrate three times a year with the men who have successfully completed the Life Transformation Program at Union Rescue Mission. Every one of these men have fulfilled the many requirements of the year long intensive course.
The program aims to transform lives, through the teaching of life skills, stepping through recovery, and instilling the knowledge and love of God. Men complete hours of Bible study, physical exercise, counseling, anger management, and other training. Graduation is the time where transformed men stand before everyone with the realization of their self-worth and a great sense of security through a new trust in God.
As part of the commencement ceremony, Dr. Robert Flores, President of LIFE Pacific College, shared a message as the graduation keynote speaker. His message focused on God’s gift of second chances and challenged the graduates to above all else, remain focused on God.
Twenty-three men recieved diplomas and were given celebration for all their progress and dedication. Chaplains, guests, and program directors prayed over our men as they will now continue into new lives as newly empowered men for God.
Union Rescue Mission celebrates with every new graduate and is thankful to everyone who continues to make this program possible!
Marlyn has been coming to winter shelters for three years and is grateful to be back at the Glendale winter shelter this year. He is currently trying to rent rooms as a landlord, but has found it a very unstable and a financially unfruitful endeavor.
Marlyn has struggled with homelessness for much of his life. He is very grateful for the help he receives at the Glendale Winter Shelter; the generous provision has given him a few months to save his money in an effort to escape the vicious cycle of homelessness.
After the shelter closes, Marlyn says he will most likely spend his nights riding the bus back and forth, or try to get some rest in a park, sleeping on the grass.
The Glendale winter shelter is one of four shelters providing local assistance for people experiencing homelessness. Please visit our website for more information or donate to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness.
Sisters Jazmine and Aundria are two returning volunteers of the Glendale winter shelter. They first heard about the winter shelter efforts though their local church and came the next day to offer their help. Having gone through tough situations of their own, they both know what it feels like to need help. This connection with the guests gives the sisters a reason to keep coming back and doing as much as they can for the shelter.
“I like to help people and this is the perfect place to help people out a lot,” says Jazmine. In addition to preparing and serving dinner, they gathered unused clothes from home and donated them to the guests. The donated clothes, as they pointed out, can now be seen being worn by guests all around the room.
Over the past months they have connected with the guests and become close with many. “When they see us come in to serve, they all get really happy,” said Aundria.
Check back tomorrow to hear of another story from the Glendale winter shelter. If you are interested in being a volunteer, like Jazmine and Aundria, click here for more information.
This upcoming Sunday we will be celebrating with the graduating men of our Life Transformation Program. Three times a year Union Rescue Mission hosts a graduation ceremony for those who have completed the year-long program of transformation and recovery.
During chapel on Tuesday a few of our soon-to-be graduates stood before their fellow program members and gave their testimonies.
We are looking forward to standing alongside our graduates this weekend as they receive their program diplomas!
Steven has been coming to the Glendale winter shelter for about a month. Originally from Oklahoma, he moved to Los Angeles in November to pursue his dream of acting.
Getting infected with staff infection while at downtown shelters, he moved to Glendale to try and find a new place to call home. Steven has been dealing with drug addiction since he was only sixteen, when his parents got divorced. He knows that his struggle with drug addiction has played a part in why he is now experiencing homelessness. Fortunately, Steven is soon to be enrolled in a program, and the shelter is providing him meals and a roof in the meantime.
“Acting is where my heart is, and if I need to be homeless to find it, I am going to push through my troubles.” Steven is grateful to be given the provision of the winter shelter, knowing he would have little alternative otherwise.
Many more people like Steven have stories to share of their changed lives and perspectives as a result of the Glendale shelter. Check back tomorrow to hear of another guest finding their way home through the provision of the winter shelters.
Paul, orginally from Liverpool, England, is well known at the shelter for his kind personality and noticeable British accent.
He first came to the Glendale winter shelter on a very rainy night about a month ago. Wanting to avoid spending the night outside in the rainy weather, Paul came across a woman who took him to the armory. Finding the people very kind, Paul continued to come nightly to the shelter, always eager for a bed.
Paul is working with staff members to try and find housing that will provide him a comfortable situation after the shelter closes on March 15th.
Many more people like Paul have stories to share of their changed lives and perspectives as a result of the Glendale shelter. Check back tomorrow to hear of another guest finding their way home through the provision of the winter shelters.
It’s hard to believe March is already here – this year is going by so quickly! Things are remaining busy at URM and Hope Gardens. To hear about all the happenings this past month, please click above to watch the February update.
While the need for URM’s services has increased, our giving has dropped. If you are able to give a gift of any size, please consider donating to us today. We are grateful for your support.
Blessings,
Andy Bales, CEO
P.S. If you would like to receive my daily Easter devotionals through Lent, please go to urm.org/devotional to sign up.
Karolyn and her husband come nightly to the Glendale winter shelter from Pasadena. This is her first year as a guest to the shelter, but she said this quickly became her home.
“To me the Glendale armory is a place I can truly say is a home away from home,” she speaks. She praises the supervisors and the overall feel of the shelter saying, “it is peaceful, quiet, and clean.”
She and her husband are praying to God, as they both know that after the shelter closes they have no other place to live. “I appreciate this place and I am so blessed to be here, I will really miss it when it closes.”
Many more people like Karolyn have stories to share of their changed lives and perspectives as a result of the Glendale shelter. Check back tomorrow to hear of another guest finding their way home through the provision of the winter shelters.
This is Al’s first year as a guest to the Glendale winter shelter. “I spent a year sleeping on the ground before this place,” he says as he expresses the joys of having a bed to call his own.
Al speaks of his family, being one of many children to a once wealthy family in Pasadena. He tells of the misfortune that came upon his family and how it affected his own life. The downturn with his family caused him to lose all sense of self-worth. However, the shelter has caused him to start believing in himself again, wanting to improve himself and his life.
“I really appreciate this place,” he says, “Thank you for letting a person of my caliber come into such a wonderful place like this.”
Many more people like Al have stories to share of their changed lives and perspectives as a result of the Glendale shelter. Check back tomorrow to hear of another guest finding their way home through the provision of the winter shelters.
