Rev. Andy's Blog
by Rev. Andy on Monday, August 23rd, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog, The Latest | 5 Comments
I first became aware of the idea to allow guests to participate in their eventual transition out of homelessness by paying a proportion of the cost of their program when I walked into the Door of Faith Mission in Des Moines, Iowa, over 24 years ago.
The Door of Faith was an interesting place, because it had been established by a man, George Holloway, who had himself experienced homelessness and missions for 37 years. He did not like what he had experienced, so he established a Mission that welcomed men, fed them extremely well to make them feel good and help avoid addictions, expected and enforced sobriety, allowed them to stay in all day or rest on their bunk when they were not working, and required them to either work or utilize their income to pay a portion of their own way, $6.00 per day back then, because he believed men would feel better about themselves if they paid their own way and carried their own weight.
This allowed for a good working model of a mission, as 1/3 of the operating revenue came from supporting churches, 1/3 came from individual donors, and 1/3 came from the men themselves, contributing to their own recovery. Everything good I learned about running a Mission came from George Holloway, a man with a 3rd grade education, and his successor, Chaplain EE Peters, who taught me how to love someone out of homelessness. My friend and mentor, John Perkins, the grandfather of Christian Community Development, also has reaffirmed to me that people feel better about themselves when they can pay even a portion of their own way and help themselves.
The only good additions that I made to the Door of Faith philosophy, were to invite people to chapel rather than requiring chapel attendance, and to gradually increase the fee from $6.00 the first month, to $7.00 the 2nd month, and $8.00 the 3rd and final months to gently encourage the men to move on to their own apartments as they became ready.
I brought this philosophy with me to Union Rescue Mission, but when I mentioned charging guests or allowing them to invest a portion of their income to empower their recovery, it was met with some skepticism, as it was a new way of thinking. I had just experienced what happens when you bring too many changes too quickly, so I dropped the subject for a few years.
However, during a staff town hall meeting, the idea came up again. A front lines staff person, concerned about long time guests who had a substantial income that they were frivolously spending while residing at URM for free, asked, “Why can’t we ask guests with a substantial income to participate by paying portion of the cost to reside here?” I quickly shared with them that I had thought of that before, and that we would explore it.
Understand, this question comes from a staff person who is not highly paid, who during this recession has, along with the rest of us, had their pay cut twice by 5%, no longer is receiving a match on their 401K, and is contributing a larger portion towards their health care benefits. Remarkably, even with all of this, about 65% of our staff also donate some of their earnings toward the operations of Union Rescue Mission. They not only give their time, talents, and energy, but some of their own income towards this work and the people they love. Why wouldn’t we explore allowing guests with substantial income to participate in their own recovery?
So, we explored the possibility over a number of months. I blogged about it, and we received fantastic feedback on comments to the blogs.
We met with local community activists who formerly experienced homelessness, and gained valuable insight from them. We developed from these discussions a pilot program of 25 beds and 25 beds (10% of our total guest beds) that would consist of a covenant relationship with some benefits in return for participation in what we have described as the Gateway Program. We ask for a commitment to sobriety, ask the guest to pay $7.00 per day – $2.00 to go into their own savings plan, and $5.00 to pay for their specific case management that will assist in empowering them to escape homelessness. In return, the guests are provided a foot locker for their bunk, their bunk is home to them all day long, they can access their bed and rest any time they like during the day, classes are provided, and they receive the more intense empowering case management that they are themselves investing in. All of the meals, health clinic, dental clinic, mental health counseling, legal clinic, utilities, and a host of other services continue to be provided for free because of the support of donors.
I need to say it again for clarity: the fees collected will be for personal savings and the guests’ specific case management. We launched it at first as voluntary, and we have had some volunteer participation, but change does not come easily. So next month we are going to move from 280 free guest beds on the men’s side to 255 free beds and 25 Gateway beds, and from 208 free beds on the womens’ side to 183 free beds and 25 Gateway beds. I personally hope that this program proves so successful that it grows from the inside out.
There is no question that these hard times have contributed to implementing this philosophy. We hope to work through these difficult financial times, and allow our guests to participate by investing in their own recovery so that we all come out better on the other side.
When we implement this plan for our families with an income residing in one of our private rooms, each family will participate by paying 30% of their income in a program fee, 10% will be put towards their savings, and 20% will pay specifically for the case management staff assigned to the families. This quite likely is the only way URM can continue being one of the only resources for housing single moms with kids, single dads with kids, and two parent families with kids including teen-agers and teen-age boys. Would it be wiser to close our 4th and 5th floors down due to a lack of resources or is it better to allow families with an income to participate, pay for their own specific case management, and keep the much needed resources available?
The single moms with children who participate in this program will be the first to have the opportunity to move to our beautiful Hope Gardens Family Center, a fantastic transitional housing facility which also requires participation in a program fee/savings program. I will ask the question again in closing – with the sacrificial giving by our donors and the dedicated selfless work of our staff, why wouldn’t we explore allowing guests with substantial income to participate in their own recovery?
Blessings,
Andy
by Rev. Andy on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 1 Comment
Last week during an interview with friend and writer for the LA Daily News, Troy Anderson, I shared that the challenge Union Rescue Mission is facing right now is far greater than the challenge URM faced during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Troy was startled by this statement and asked “Can you provide statistical data to back that up?” I replied, “Yes, I can.”
I quickly asked our URM historian, Liz Mooradian, to assist me in some research and did some checking of my own. We learned that there were 1.2 Million people in Los Angeles in 1933, and in our hall of history on our 2nd floor it states that in 1933, URM was one of few Missions in downtown LA, and we fed 42% of the free meals to hungry people in Los Angeles. That year, we provided 133,145 meals and gave aid (food boxes, job finding assistance, etc.) to 304 families. All of our history books show that we did not house families during the Great Depression, but housed only men. Families appear to have either turned to other family members or stayed in tents like my own father’s family did many times during that difficult time as shown in the picture below.
In 2010, there are 3.6 Million people in Los Angeles, or 3 times the number of people that there were in 1933. Union Rescue Mission served an astounding 1,284,687 meals, or nearly 10 times the number of meals that URM served during that difficult year of 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. And when you consider that unlike 1933, Union Rescue Mission is not one of the few Missions in downtown LA anymore, but rather the biggest one of many, the fact that nearly 1.3 Million meals came from URM alone, demonstrates how staggering the situation really is.
During the Great Depression, URM provided 42% of free meals available in LA and 2% of available beds. I am unsure as to what percentage of meals we are providing today, but we are providing nearly 10% of the available beds! Along with a 3 times proportionate challenge on meals, in 2010 URM housed several hundred families over the course of the year and as many as 94 families & 190 children on any given night.
Please hear the distress and familiarity of the words in our annals from the Great Depression:
After the depression, as after World War I, the financial situation was such that local churches were hard pressed to meet their own budgets and doors once open to the Mission (URM) for monetary appeals were closing.
Business failures increased the numbers of unemployed and distressed who looked to the Mission for assistance. Many who arrived in California thinking it a glorious land of promise found themselves penniless and alone.
The scope of the Mission’s work in those days was immense; no local church would have dreamed, on such meager resources and with so limited staff, of engaging in such a program.
The final URM note from the Great Depression Days is not necessarily an encouraging one, but one during this great crisis of 2007-2010 that I completely understand:
Mounting financial pressures came to the explosive point in July, 1936. With income insufficient to meet operating expenses and a $19,000 mortgage against the Mission properties, the Board of Directors voted to vacate the position of superintendent (CEO), and with this step Superintendent Eldridge’s services were terminated.
Now, please hear the distress in my words. Union Rescue Mission and our families and precious children living here and throughout the USA have never in history faced a greater challenge than the one we are facing right now. Children under the age of 18 now make up 54% of people experiencing homelessness!
Here are just a few headlines from around the country:
Family homelessness rising in the United States- http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4AB18I20081112
Shocker! More Families Are Homeless- http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/shocker_more_families_are_homeless
Increase in family homelessness impact children the most -http://www.examiner.com/x-25447-LA-Unemployment-Examiner~y2009m10d22-Increase-in-family-homelessness-impact-children-the-most
More Families Are Becoming Homeless-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/11/AR2009071102099.html
Over and above URM’s heroic efforts during the Great Depression, our team at Union Rescue Mission and I, with your help, have boldly stepped up to the challenge of welcoming every family who has come to our doors over the last 3 years. We desperately need your continued support. We are committed to making sure no child is left on the streets of our city. No child should ever suffer from the devastation of homelessness. My father did, and the pain of that experience stayed with him and he shared it with me in his final days while he was on his death bed. He told me that at the age of 4 he hung onto his Dad’s neck for his life as his Dad jumped on a freight car to move to California. He had several homeless experiences when he was 4, 9 and 14. He is pictured below, at age 14, standing outside of his “home”, a tent in Azusa Canyon, California. He lived in tents, garages, sheds, even cars and freight cars at times.
My dad’s eyes welled up with tears every time he discussed the pain and embarrassment of being homeless. I believe his pain is a part of what drives me. I see my Dad in each and every one of the precious kids who we are honored to serve here at URM. Please continue to support us so that we can continue to step up to the need and welcome each person who comes to us.
Much love, Andy B.
by Rev. Andy on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 6 Comments
I have to admit, this is the 1st day in over 5 years when I was not eager to come into work at Union Rescue Mission. My eyes welled up with tears as I drove up to my parking place this morning. Tears streamed as I signed the severance checks and good-bye letters to 11 of our faithful co-workers.
As I write, there is a man on the streets of Skid Row outside, deeply troubled, and yelling at the top of his lungs about the circumstances of his world. This morning, I completely understand his anger.
This is the letter that each of our departing heroic co-workers received this morning:
It is with great sorrow that I let you know that due to necessary budget cuts; Union Rescue Mission has been forced to remove your position and end your time as an employee of Union Rescue Mission.
Our Board of Directors gave us a mandate to present a balanced budget, and after a couple of attempts, we finally did. Although I was thankful that we could save Union Rescue Mission and keep Hope Gardens open while presenting a balanced budget, I was deeply anguished over what this meant for you and other valuable members of our team.
This round of reductions is the one that hurts the very most. We had to go painfully deep in hopes that this will be the final round of lay-offs. We have to release employees who have not only done their job, but employees who have performed their duties very well. We have had to let go of cherished former graduates, grads who we are very proud of, from our very own URM program who have been doing a very good job. This really hurts, and what hurts the most is how this affects you and your family. I personally apologize that this has happened on my watch. I have spent many sleepless nights, including last night, trying to figure out another way. I am so sorry.
Thank you, for your diligent efforts. Thank you, for sharing your time and talent with our guests and staff. Thank you, for your personal sacrifice, taking the pay reductions, losing your 401K match, stepping up to help with your benefits, and still showing up every day to give your best. This decision is not about you or your performance, but is all about the economy and the difficult times.
Your sacrifice and efforts will not be forgotten. Your story and commitment will forever be written on our wall of history, part of the group that stepped up in 2007-2010 to serve even 3 times the need that URM experienced during the Great Depression. Unfortunately, this Great Recession continues to challenge us and has led us to this heart-wrenching decision today.
Union Rescue Mission and I will be praying for you and hoping for nothing but the best. You are always welcome to stop by, visit, and perhaps volunteer. We will always welcome you as an honored guest.
Friends, please keep each one of these, our precious former co-workers in your prayers. Keep URM and our guests in your prayers. One of the ways that I made it through the weekend, barely made it through the weekend, was to not only grieve this loss, but to also thank God that somehow in His grace and goodness he allowed URM and Hope Gardens to continue on, and He allowed you and I to keep our jobs during this difficult time. Know as well, that receiving this letter means that you have done a remarkable job during this difficult time and that you are absolutely essential to the ongoing operations of URM and Hope Gardens Family Center. Please take time to grieve, but take some time to give thanks as well.
We will hold a Town Hall after Chapel today to de-brief about these difficult budget decisions and how to proceed this next fiscal year.
Bless you, Andy B.
by Rev. Andy on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 2 Comments
I believe that advocates for people experiencing homelessness have made a big mistake in taking sides in the Housing First struggle, pushing for an either/or approach to responding to and ending homelessness in the U.S.
This news article from Columbia, South Carolina also spells out the problem:
Columbia Phasing Out Backing of Homeless Project
By ADAM BEAM, McClatchy Newspapers
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Columbia is phasing out its support for Housing First, the program that places the chronically homeless into permanent housing scattered throughout the city.
The program, which began in 2007, is operated by the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and the Columbia Housing Authority. Its contract expired in June but was renewed for another year.
But with a shrinking budget, council members have asked Housing First officials to begin looking elsewhere for the $247,166 it takes to run the program.
Housing First was a shift in the city’s homeless strategy, focusing on placing the homeless in private, permanent housing around the city instead of concentrating all of its homeless services on one comprehensive shelter.
But Housing First targets the chronically homeless, defined by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development as people who have been continuously homeless for a year or more or who have had four instances of homelessness in the past three years. It does not serve the larger temporary homeless population – folks who find themselves suddenly homeless after a job loss or an accident.
For that reason, the city has begun shifting its money back to a homeless shelter-based approach.
It continues to operate a $500,000 winter homeless shelter and has agreed to contribute $250,000 to the Midlands Housing Alliance, which is building an $11.7 million homeless center. Council members say they can no longer afford the money it takes to place Housing First’s clients into permanent housing.
“We’d love to, but you can’t serve as many people with Housing First,” Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine said. “We still have an obligation to provide the winter shelter.”
While Housing First is expensive, it avoids one of the major pitfalls of homeless services by not having a homeless shelter. Instead, clients are placed in apartments evenly divided among the city’s four council districts. That’s a big selling point for local residents, who often oppose homeless shelters near their neighborhoods.
Most homeless services operate by first providing homeless people with job training, health care and mental health counseling before the ultimate goal of transferring them to permanent housing. But Housing First is the opposite, providing the permanent housing first, followed by the other services.
“We actually find that by providing housing first, you end up with people being clean and sober and people with employment and people with income and people with health care,” said David Parker, University of South Carolina’s director of research and assistant professor at the Department of Medicine who runs the Housing First program.
Since its inception, Housing First has placed 54 people into permanent housing. Of the 54, the average time they were homeless is eight years, Parker said.
The Columbia Housing Authority works to place the clients into permanent housing and train them on how to live in a house.
“The first person we moved in was 15 years on the streets. He doesn’t know how to clean an oven,” said Nancy Stoudenmire with the Columbia Housing Authority. Currently, the program has 20 people in apartments throughout the city. Thirteen of them are paying a portion of the rent, Stoudenmire said.
Eight clients have successfully transitioned out of the program into independent housing, Parker said. They include a woman whose Housing First apartment was originally furnished by another local nonprofit organization.
“She was so grateful to that nonprofit for (buying the furniture) – she basically made a donation that would cover furniture for somebody else’s apartment,” Parker said. “We get to see a completely different side of homeless people than is often publicized.”
As for the future of the program, Parker and Stoudenmire say they are trying to find grant money to keep it going, including pursuing funding from the Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program.
If it is able to survive, Parker said Housing First also would help out other homeless service providers in the area.
Read more here.
————————————————————————————–
I recently saw an opportunity for HOME funds to come down from the Federal Government to LA County, and in the description of the funding it mandated that these funds can only be used for Permanent Housing Opportunities.
At a time when we are facing the biggest need ever, and I mean the biggest need in the history of Union Rescue Mission’s 119 years, even bigger than the Great Depression, this restrictive description of the funding was difficult to hear. Let me first describe the need. In 1933, there were 1.2 million people residing in L.A., and URM fed 133,000 meals. Last year, there were 3.6 million people in the City of Angels, and we fed 1.25 million meals! That is a 3 fold proportionate increase in need and services, and we are just 1 of many missions/shelters today, rather than being one of the only ones as we were in 1933!
We ourselves are struggling with how to divide our resources. Do we move all of our resources to our Hope Gardens Family Center or keep all of the resources at our downtown URM emergency response? Do we let public officials cry out Housing First only, move all resources to provide permanent supportive housing for the 20% of people experiencing homelessness who are the most chronically homeless and away from the 80% who are episodically experiencing homelessness or who are experiencing homelessness for the first time?
It may be an easy public policy decision to move all of the resources to Housing First only, but when you are on the ground, facing a tsunami of families with children, including one little 4 year old guy named Dorian, who is struggling with a terminal illness, it is a bit more difficult to make the decision to close the shelters/emergency responses down and move the resources to building only a few permanent housing units compared to the vast need. It is like picking a few drowning victims out of an ocean full of need.
If the full truth be known, in that 80% of people experiencing homelessness, there are many who, if their needs go unmet and they are denied emergency services, will in fact end up as the chronic homeless people of tomorrow. Studies show that the adults experiencing chronic homelessness today were the children who experienced homelessness and poverty a generation ago. They were sick twice as often, their self-esteem was hurt, they fell behind in school, they were in and out of foster care, and they became our chronically homeless people. That means that our children today experiencing homelessness will be our chronic homeless adults of the future, unless we quit the either/or approach and take a common sense, aggressive Both And approach like Union Rescue Mission’s own You Are The Mission 10 Step Initiative to end homelessness.
As Columbia, South Carolina realized, you can’t turn your back on the multitudes to help a few, but I believe that unlike Columbia, our decision needs to be to step up and provide the much needed help of permanent supportive housing for the few, while still doing everything we can to address the needs of many, and not let one precious human being experience the brutality of life on the streets.
To read more about this subject, check out this article by Ralph Da Costa Nunez, “One Size Does Not Fit All”
As always, I welcome and appreciate your feedback.
Blessings,
by Rev. Andy on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 6 Comments
A few weeks ago on this blog I explored the options of having people experiencing homelessness pay part of their own way when they come into a Mission or agency for assistance.
I am going to reprint the former blog, share the comments, and after that, I am going to share how you all helped us arrive at what I believe and hope is an excellent path! Thank you!
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:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-08-21/news/bloomberg-charges-the-homeless-rent/
“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!
19 Responses to “Resources, Responsibilities and Rescue Missions”
- Myles Rose says:
April 29, 2010 at 6:09 pm
When this is shared via the facebook button the link does not direct to this page, something breaks. Perhaps it is just a timing issue?
- Robin Vestal says:
April 29, 2010 at 6:18 pm
It’s tricky; If you decide to charge rent you might have a system where a portion is set aside to help people save to get into housing.
Obviously you don’t want to charge someone who has no source of income but everyone should contribute to their own well being so I dont’ think it’s completely unreasonable for the working homeless.
- Andy Bales says:
April 29, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Thank you, Myles. I have forwarded your alert! I appreciate the help. Robin, thank you for sharing your perspective. I also believe a savings plan is important. I really appreciate you weighing in!
- Tweets that mention Resources, Responsibilities and Rescue Mission’s | Union Rescue Mission — Topsy.com says:
April 29, 2010 at 6:27 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rev. Andy Bales, Dave Mahanes and Union Rescue Mission, Myles Rose. Myles Rose said: RT @abales: RT @urm Resources, Responsibilities and Rescue Mission’s http://bit.ly/cOPgDk [...]
- Kristin says:
April 29, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I appreciate the opportunity to weigh in on the question of whether or not to charge a fee for mission guests. I am in full disagreement with the idea that mission guests pay a fee for their stay. That defeats the purpose of the many hardworking families and adults who stay at the mission in hopes of saving enough money to one day leave and live independently. What about the homeless who do not have jobs? They will have to continue to sleep on the cold cement because they don’t have the means to stay in a shelter that was originally built to support them? I have been donating to the mission for years and will no longer support the mission both financially and with hard goods if the mission decides to switch over to the philosophy of “paying rent.”
- Andy Bales says:
April 29, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Thank you, Kristin. I really appreciate you speaking up! Thanks for taking the time and for sharing your passionate response!
- Kristin says:
April 29, 2010 at 9:44 pm
You’re so welcome Andy. I truly appreciate what you are doing for our community. You are making such a difference in so many peoples lives.
- Roddy Rose says:
April 30, 2010 at 10:25 am
Speaking as someone who has benefited the from the Rescue Mission, I believe that there must be some accountability on the part of those who have an income of 1000. As an apprentice in the internet cafe I see the same faces day after day and month after month. It becomes grievous seeing people get a check on the first of the month, then they are broke after a week or so. Some of the men were at one time in the program but left on their own, only to come back busted and disgusted. Right in front of them is an opportunity to get help(including managing their money. The whole point is that unless one surrenders they will continue on the same cycle and get the same results which unfortunately will be negative results..
I know because that used to be me until I surrendered.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
- Andy Bales says:
April 30, 2010 at 10:34 am
Thank you, Rod and all. This dialogue is very helpful. Wow!
- Michael Bond says:
April 30, 2010 at 9:09 pm
When I heard about the organization charging $125/month, I was told the price included only a cot with a dirty blanket at night and no bathroom facilities of any kind. People were being told to go across the street to the Midnight if they felt the urge at night. What I was told sounded like a total ripoff of relatively defenseless people; it also sounded illegal to me. Of course, if the URM charged people, facilities would be provided and I assume meals as well, so the URM charging doesn’t bother me. Instead, it seems more like a tactical decision: will it help or hurt in the struggle to get people off the streets permanently? And it sounds like it may deserve a trial to see whether it works.
- Andy Bales says:
May 1, 2010 at 8:33 am
Thank you for sharing Michael. This input is all very helpful. I hope more people weigh in with diverse views. Blessings
- Mary Setterholm says:
May 2, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Hi Rev Andy. Perhaps the naming of the program is critical as it should reflect a covenant perspective rather than ‘taking from’? ‘Free rent’ should not be interpreted as a program of entitlement if, for a season, the service of ‘free rent’ saved a life. That said, at some point, dignity is not realized if one side does all the work: the binary system of elitism/impoverished would seem to be re-inscribed or replicated in an act of well meaning charity. it seems the plan of savings and money management, similar to debtors anonymous might work well.
been there, on the underside, so i speak from continued recovery. blessings!
- Andy Bales says:
May 2, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Mary, your thoughts are powerful and right on. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. Bless you!
- steven varga says:
May 4, 2010 at 3:51 pm
i appreciate everything the mission has ever done for me thank you
- Terrence says:
May 4, 2010 at 4:37 pm
I feel that guests who can afford to contribute for their Services should do so. It will help them gain self-respect and In turn earn the respect of others.
- Jerry Thacker says:
May 7, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Hello Reverend Randy Bales:
First of all, I would like to thank the Union Rescue Mission for letting me welcome Jesus Christ into my life and saving it more than once! The Union Rescue Mission has always been available when I needed help the most! Thank you!
Many homeless people want to work, but the self-image they carry within themselves does not allow them to have the confidence that is required in getting a job these days. If the mission could show proof that they actually found a job and walked the person in need to the job site for his or her first day and then the person said that they would rather not work, then there is a possibility that I could see your point. Three days to get a job? Some people need three days to let their feet heal?
I am just writing you this letter to ad my voice on this matter. I already know how qualified the Union Rescue Mission’s staff (all great people) are. I even know that you have already considered the options that I mentioned, but I need pratice in helping others.
Thank you,
Jerry Thacker
yarnwinters@yahoo.com
Pacific Standard Time
- Benjamin says:
May 11, 2010 at 9:57 am
30 percent to the Mission, 30 percent to their savings account and 40 percent in there pocket. Most important, they’re getting three meals, showers, beds, medical, dental and counseling for that 30 percent.
- Akiliah Manuel Mills says:
May 11, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I lean towards the percentage system Benjamin suggested. A “Program Fee” implies that case management, housing advocacy and life skills training will be offered. These are great services but require staff. I am curious if the mission will hire ample staff, particularly for the men to ensure case management for guests can be accomplished and effective? If so, I see no hindrance. If not, I think it should be called “rent”.
- Brenda Mitchell says:
May 24, 2010 at 11:11 am
I propose that those individuals who do have income contribute (at a small percentage of their income, even if it is 10%) to the mission, as a matter of assisting to keep the resources of the mission available for all who desperately need its services. The small contributions from the many would be a way of acting in solidarity with those who could not contribute and could also work in concert with a savings plan to be fully accessed at the time of an individual’s departure. Those who are experiencing homelessness are often the most “in touch” and compassionate with others in the same difficult circumstances, and often wish to assist, in my experience.
First, let me say a huge “Thank You!” to all who read this blog and had the courage and took the time to weigh in! You really helped us. Everyone’s opinions helped shape a new policy for us, especially former guests’ opinions. We met with Myles, General Jeff, and Don Garza as well, and that was an amazing and enlightening meeting. We also spoke to our guests here.
I have to admit that one of the comments above that really spoke to my heart was Mary’s, “Hi Rev Andy. Perhaps the naming of the program is critical as it should reflect a covenant perspective rather than ‘taking from’?”
This, as well as the meeting with General Jeff, Don Garza, Myles Rose, and my past experience at the Door of Faith in Des Moines, Iowa, and our staffs and guests’ collective wisdom and experience, helped us develop a new program, all voluntary rather than mandated, called Gateway Transitional Program.
Initially limited to 25 men and 25 women, our Gateway Transitional Program is designed to bridge the gap between our Emergency Guest Program and our 12-18 month Life Transformation Programs. Features and benefits include:
- A 6-month covenant relationship with a commitment to sobriety.
- Attendance of classes in money management, job interviewing and job preparation, conflict resolution, assertiveness and time management.
- Group activities and motivational rallies specifically for Gateway Program participants.
- A dedicated bed in our men’s or women’s dorm complete with a footlocker for valuables.
- Hours/curfew will be tailored to the specific needs of each participant, and their bunk area will be considered their space and they will be allowed to rest or study as they can.
- Participants will contribute $210 per month to Union Rescue Mission. $60.00 of this contribution will be placed in their own personal savings account. The remaining $150 fee will be used to offset the cost of the Gateway Transitional Program.
Our guests are excited about this new opportunity to move out of the cycle of homelessness, and we are launching this month! Thanks for taking time to consider, for weighing in, and for truly helping us shape a program that really is a mutual covenant to help our guests and our Mission. Bless you! Andy B.
by Rev. Andy on Saturday, June 26th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 10 Comments
June 25, 2010 | 2:40 pm
Officials at Union Rescue Mission said Friday that they had raised sufficient funds to keep open Hope Gardens, a transitional housing center for women and children in the foothills of the San Fernando Valley.
“I’m feeling great relief,” said Andy Bales, chief executive of Union Rescue Mission. “We’re planning a celebration next month at Hope Gardens.”
Like many nonprofits, Union Rescue Mission has been hard-hit by the recession. Demand for the organization’s services, which include a downtown shelter, has increased 45% in the last two years, Bales said. But by late May, donations were down 21% from last year.
Unless the organization could raise $2.8 million by June 30, the end of the fiscal year, officials feared they would have to close Hope Gardens, which offers homeless women and children a tranquil atmosphere in which to rebuild their lives.
On May 24, Bales issued an emergency appeal for donations through his blog, Twitter, Facebook, text messages and snail mail.
He said key support came from individuals such as Scott Minerd, a managing partner at Guggenheim Partners, who provided $1 million in matching contributions.
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and he’s really stepped up,” Bales said. “But it’s not just been the big gifts. It’s been other people stepping forward with what they can that has helped get the matching funds.”
The target was reached Friday morning with a $250,000 gift from the Louis & Gladyce Foster Family Foundation, he said.
Bales sent out a celebratory Tweet: “Thanks 2 you http://urm.org has received $2.9 Million towards $2.8 Million goal 2 Save Hope Gardens!”
The next step is to develop a plan to ensure the center remains financially viable, Bales said. All employees have already accepted two 5% pay cuts, and eight people were laid off, Bales said. The organization is also appealing for long-term support from Los Angeles County, which pays for security, counseling and other services at the site.
– Alexandra Zavis
This was the news story last week as you, our donors put us over the top in our fundraising efforts to save Hope Gardens Family Center and keep precious moms and children from returning to the mean streets of Skid Row. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!!
31 days ago I feared for the worst as I drove home late one night after a Board of Directors meeting at Union Rescue Mission downtown. I contemplated the fate of not finishing well, retiring in disappointment and disgrace, believing that I might be viewed as a fellow who tried hard, but failed. It was not a new feeling to me. 6 years after I handed off the reins of Good Samaritan Urban Ministries in Des Moines, Iowa to a capable new leader and committed Board of Directors, this coalition of 120 churches that I had helped form from ground up and nourished for 10 years closed the ministry and sold the property that we had not only renovated for over 140 previously homeless families, but also battled gangs and crime to provide a peaceful helpful setting for those families. When I left, I underestimated the continued need for building relationships and the heavy weight of debt that eventually did the ministry in. That decision that was made to close haunts me to this day, and during our battle to win Hope Gardens, opponents of Hope Gardens brought it up and stuck it in my face and it felt like a knife in the back.
So here I was again. Our services at URM were up 45% over the last 2 years, and giving had fallen off by over 21%. We were looking at a $4.4 Million shortfall for the budget year that ends June 30th, and there was talk of selling this beautiful place that we had fought so hard for in a 21 month, $1.9 Million dollar legal battle, including 34 neighborhood meetings (beatings), that culminated in a remarkable 6 hour Planning and Zoning Hearing victory!
The worst part of all, I knew that if we closed Hope Gardens, before I could retire in disgrace I would have to have to be the one to tell the moms and children now living in peace and safety, that they would have to find other housing or return to URM surrounded by Skid Row and some of the meanest streets in our country. I was not sure my heart could take it, but I knew that I would have to carry it out.
We reached out to the County Board of Supervisors for help and shared that without their help, not only would we be unable to move 24 more single moms and their children to Hope Gardens, but we would indeed have to vacate the 34 families now residing at Hope Gardens. We are still waiting and hoping for continued support.
I wrote a plea letter that I promised would be a once in a lifetime request, and based on my health, I truly meant that. We sent the letter to our donors, posted it on my blog and shared our need through texts, emails, twitter and Facebook.
A kind donor and KKLA Radio Hosts Frank Pastore and Reba Toney provided a powerful radio thon that helped us passionately get out the word and we raised close to $70,000.
I drove to Santa Monica on May 24th a tired, broken, fearful yet hopeful man and met with our friend Scott Minerd. He had called and asked me what we needed to save Hope Gardens, and I shocked him by saying that we needed $2.8 Million by June 30th to have any hope of saving Hope Gardens. He told me a sweet story of how he wanted to bring his friends dog for a walk around Hope Gardens, but the dog had died of cancer. Tears welled up in his eyes as he told me that his friend had gone to the pound to find another dog, but the dog he picked out was mean, and he left the dog at the pound. Later that day the pound called his friend and said that the mean dog would be disposed of in a few hours since he was not adopted. Before he finished I knew what this huge hearted man was going to tell me. Scott was now owner of that once hurt and aggressive dog, and he had named her grace, because she was saved by grace!
I asked Scott, no I begged Scott to allow us to honor him as our 2010 Hero 4 Hope. He was not keen on the idea, but said he would consider being the Hero 4 Hope if it would help. Before I left, this giant of a man with an even bigger heart told me that he would provide a gift of $250,000 that would be a challenge gift asking for others to match. He gave me a hug, and assured me that we had to do everything possible because, “we cannot let Hope Gardens close!” I began to feel hopeful that a miracle was coming!
When we honored Scott as the Hero 4 Hope, we surprised him by having a partner of his who had flown in from Chicago say a few words. Scott was surprised, but he had a bigger surprise for me. He said, “I had a dream last night. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and in the dream I matched up to $500,000 of whatever was given at this event today!” I was amazed, but Scott was not done. “Beyond that, I dreamed I would match any single gift of $250,000!” I really began to have hope! When that gift was matched by wonderful friends of the Mission, Scott said, “I did not tell you the rest of the dream. I dreamed the 1st $250,000 was matched and I offered a second match of $250,000.” Not only did my faith grow at that moment, but I knew that indeed we were experiencing a miracle of love and that there was great hope for the moms and kids at Hope Gardens Family Center.
Like Scott, thousands have responded in their own special way. A formerly homeless friend named Don who now has a home and has completely rebuilt his life became a monthly donor; a colorful builder of amps and guitars for premiere artists around the country, Myles, reached out to his network of friends, and you all gave what you could. Pastor Steve Faubion of Calvary Church Pacific Palisades presented us with a check for $25,000 from the church and shared that when the mission was hurting, they were hurting. In addition the children at Calvary Christian school raised over $5000 when they were told they could wear jeans to school for a $10 donation! Early last week we were getting close when Pauley Perette, star of the top show on TV, NCIS, and a volunteer at Hope Gardens contacted me and said she wanted to help save Hope Gardens! She joined twitter, something she had opposed for a long time, and with the help of a friend she posted a Youtube video asking her friends to join her in saving the most beautiful place on earth, a place where previously homeless moms and kids live a life of peace and hope. We gained a huge amount of momentum from Pauley. It was remarkable. Friday morning, June 25th, just 31 days after launching what seemed like an impossible attempt to raise $2.8 Million, a check for $250,000 came in from the Louis and Gladyce Foster Foundation, 1 week after the Foster family lost their wonderful matriarch, Gladyce at the age of 90. She and her husband had given the cornerstone gift for our URM downtown building, the largest Mission in the US. Amidst their sorrow, they took the time and shared what they had putting us over the top, to $2.9 plus and counting!
Instead of having the dreadful task of relocating families, we are planning a celebration in the near future to praise God and thank each and every one of you who took part in this miracle!
I am trying, but I can not possibly put into words how thankful I am for this miracle that has transpired through you and friends like Scott who had faith, and more than that, had love for precious moms and kids. I broke into tears as I shared my joy with the Chairman of our Board of Directors that I don’t have to finish my career of ministry as a failure, and much more than that, hopeful moms like Angel, one of my Facebook friends, and her children do not have to leave the peace, safety and hope of Hope Gardens Family Center. Here’s what she wrote to me last night on Facebook:
“Thank you guys and thank our Heavenly Father – i will be giving prayers of thanks until the day i have to leave hope gardens! God bless and keep you all that created, support, and run these programs for us and our kids!”
by Rev. Andy on Friday, June 11th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 1 Comment
People sometimes wonder why I am so passionate about people who are experiencing homelessness. I have to admit I don’t always fully understand my compulsion to be big hearted and compassionate. All I know is that I cannot not respond to people who are struggling, and I have never met a person experiencing homelessness who I have not instantly felt an enormous amount of love for.
This love explains a lot of my passion, but I also have a special understanding of the predicament that people experiencing homelessness face.
I saw it the other day, a man, standing on the corner, lost, alone, troubled, frustrated, pounding his cane on the sidewalk and yelling at the top of his lungs at no one in particular. He had no power to fix his mental illness, change his current state of homelessness, or even reach out to anyone for help. To those like me passing by, he appeared dangerous, and no one came to his aid.
His state took me back just a few weeks ago. I arrived home and dinner was ready on the stove. I received a call from a news reporter that a grandmother and grandson were living in a tent in Burbank and in need of assistance. I went to race out the door, and my wife said, “Eat your dinner!” I said, “I don’t have time, I have to go!” and headed out the door without eating.
I arrived at the library, connected with this sweet grandma, and encouraged the strong young man, who was a football phenom in high school and hoping to get into a local college football program. We waited a bit for the URM van to arrive, and then loaded them up to head to our Project Restart program on the 5th floor of Union Rescue Mission.
I felt encouraged that we were able to help, and headed to my car for the ride home and dinner. I am a diabetic, and I felt my blood sugar go low, and became shaky. I turned off my insulin pump, sat down in my car, recognized that I was too shaky to drive, found some Fritos and ate them, sat for a minute, then realized it wasn’t enough. I was in trouble. I started to have muscle seizures. It took me a bit, but I got out of my car and headed for the front door of the library for help. But I didn’t make it. I collapsed onto the ground in the dark parking lot, skinned up my hands and worse yet, broke my cell phone. I thought, “I am finished.” I somehow put my phone back together, after a struggle, dialed my wife amidst the convulsions, and spoke in a sporadic broken way to her that I needed help. She somehow figured out that I was at a library in Burbank, but there are 3!
A few people drove by, saw me convulsing, but did not stop. Out of nowhere, a good Samaritan, maybe a guardian angel, came up to me and asked if I needed help. I told him I was a diabetic, and he brought me a Krispy Krème donut. Someone else held me while I struggled and poured orange juice down my throat. They saved my life! I don’t remember the call, but I guess my son called me some time during this struggle, and I told him which library that I was at. A fire truck and ambulance arrived, picked me up, treated me with a jolt of glucose, got my sugar level up to a dangerously low level, and took me to a hospital. My wife met me at the hospital, and boy was I in trouble for missing dinner! I now have a picnic basket in the back seat loaded with enough snacks to feed everyone on Skid Row!
When we encounter people who are alone, helpless and struggling, we can respond one of two ways. The first is to ask “what will happen to me if I get involved?” The second is to ask “what will happen to them if I don’t get involved?”
I am so thankful for people who ask the second question and take the time to reach out and rescue others. Thank you, for being one of those who rescue!
by Rev. Andy on Monday, May 24th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 5 Comments
Dear Friends,
Thank you for taking time to read what I promise is a once-in-a-lifetime letter from me. Our last board meeting was the most grueling meeting I have experienced in my 32 years of ministry and nonprofit work. Everyone was kind and supportive, but the circumstances are alarming and battered my soul.
We have increased our services by 45% over the past two years in a valiant attempt to step up amidst the continuing economic crisis to meet the needs around us. To make matters worse, this fiscal year our giving is down 21%. This is a devastating combination! We have cut expenses in every area, including pay reductions and the layoff of eight faithful staff members. We have also developed a sustainability plan that will strengthen us in the long run, but it will not fill the immediate gap in our funding and get us through the next few months.
I must share with you that unless we raise $2,800,000 by June 30, we will be forced to close the doors of our Hope Gardens Family Center — a proven life-changing and life-giving environment for women and children.
This would be crushing news for the 24 additional families we are preparing to move from Skid Row to Hope Gardens. And it would be devastating to the 34 moms and 74 children and each of the 23 senior ladies who have escaped homelessness and are living a life of hope.
Closing Hope Gardens would be my worst nightmare…I am not sure my heart could take watching the precious women and children gathering up their belongings and moving out of the oasis of peace, safety, opportunity and hope we have fought so hard to provide.
If you would join with the tens of thousands who will receive this mailing and give a gift of $100, $50 or any amount you can spare, we can avert this crisis. Please help us keep these precious women and children from returning to Skid Row. Thank you for prayerfully considering this life-giving gift.
Your co-worker in Christ,
Andy Bales
by Rev. Andy on Thursday, April 29th, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 20 Comments
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;
http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-08-21/news/bloomberg-charges-the-homeless-rent/
“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!
by Rev. Andy on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010, Filed Under Rev Andy's Blog | 4 Comments
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.
