When I came to Union Rescue Mission a year ago, I had no self-respect and no dignity. I had lost everything that mattered to me. I was a broken man — with a lifelong secret.
I was just 6 years old when a teenage girl sexually molested me. When I told my parents, they didn’t believe me. The whole experience left me so traumatized, I started to stutter. And I’ve never been able to stop.
All through school, I got into fights because of my speech impediment. But when I turned 18, I discovered crystal meth — and I felt a rush of power and liberation I’d never experienced before. I didn’t care how I talked or what anyone thought of me anymore. From that first line, I was hooked.
Over the next 18 years, I got married, had three kids and held all kinds of jobs — and I lost every one of them due to my addiction.
My wife threatened to leave me many times, but I was always able to manipulate her into staying. I disappointed her time and again.
I wanted to change. I wanted to be the husband and father she believed I could be. I even went to rehab. Twice. But nothing worked. As long as I held on to my secret, I could not control my addiction.
By July 2010, I was no longer working, my wife and kids had finally left me, and I was losing my mind. One day I woke up on Skid Row, where someone literally took me by the hand and led me to Union Rescue Mission. That day I gave my life to God. In the Mission, I went into counseling, and for the first time, I started talking about my molestation, shame, and years of stuttering. I cried like never before. In time, I forgave the girl who did that to me and forgave everyone who never believed me. And I forgave myself.
Today, I have been sober for more than a year. God has given me back my dignity, self-respect, and even my wife and family. I no longer live in shame — even my stuttering has decreased.
As I head into 2012, I am a new creation in Christ. And my New Year’s wish? I’m going to college to learn how to help at-risk youths deal with their struggles and addictions. But mostly, I just want to stay clean and be the best husband and dad I can be — for the first time in my life
Many of our Skid Row neighbors have little hope that their lives will be different in the coming year. In our present economy, how can they hope for something better to come?
Yet throughout our Mission in downtown Los Angeles, and among our families at Hope Gardens — hurting men, women, and children are gaining the skills, courage, and strength they need to hope again. That’s what your gifts mean — hope, as a strong foundation to start their lives over again. Thank you!
Your gift will provide shelter, warm clothes, hot meals — and hope for the New Year.
So I urge you, please send the most generous gift you can today. Thank you!
Since California’s economy tanked in 2008, the number of people seeking help at Union Rescue Mission has swelled to epic proportions, while our income has fallen to frightening levels. And economic experts predict 2012 will only be worse.
For three-and-a-half years, we tried to meet the needs of everyone experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles and it almost took us under. It’s painful to admit we can’t help everyone. But, we simply don’t have the resources.
That’s why, as we head into 2012, we are determined to focus only on what we do best — helping people who truly want to change their lives through the power of Jesus Christ, by helping folks who want to heal past wounds, get sober, find jobs, and re-enter society healthy and whole.
We won’t save everyone. But we know that hundreds of folks who come through our doors every year will live exceedingly better lives than when they first arrived. I believe that when we do our best, and our guests do their best, God performs a miracle. I expect to see a lot of miracles in 2012.
Please take a moment to view this month’s Story From Skid Row.
15-year-old Maurice dreams of being a pilot someday, but his dream seemed far away last Christmas when his family had no place to live. See how Maurice found a new home at Hope Gardens and how his dreams are taking flight.
Watch and hear the powerful testimonies of how Marty overcame a $300 a day drug habit and how Alex found strength to fight for her children through URM’s Life Transformation Program. Both were ready to give up on life. But now, through the power of the gospel and the loving efforts of the mission, both Marty and Alex have discovered that their lives are worth another try.
I hope you will take a moment to listen to the story of Michelle — the eldest of 5 children who lives with her mom and siblings at Union Rescue Mission.
Skid Row is no place for women and children. While it’s safe inside the walls of the Mission, it’s dangerous outside. That is why we work so hard to get them out as quickly as possible to safe places like Hope Gardens or our Project Restart locations.
As we near the end of our fiscal year, I hope you will consider giving a gift to help children like Michelle.
Homelessness is hard for anyone experiencing it. But it’s especially hard for single dads with kids, two-parent families with kids, and families with teenagers.
I hope you will take a moment to watch the above video of such a family. Ralph and his son, Tokoyo struggled with homelessness for five years after Hurricane Katrina robbed them of everything. Thanks to our caring supporters though, this precious family was given the chance to start over.
Union Rescue Mission is the only mission in Los Angeles County that offers help to single men, single women, single moms with children, single dads with children, two-parent families with children, and families with teenagers.
On behalf of every mother, father, son, and daughter here at the Mission, thank you for your compassion.
I am always grateful for friends like you who support the Union Rescue Mission to end homelessness in LA and transform lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who gives us hope that new life can come from death.
Please take a moment to watch this short video of Walter, one of our graduates, speak on what Easter means to him. No matter what the circumstances, Jesus has the power to save.
Every winter, the four additional shelters we run as part of the Winter Shelter Program allow us to reach people that may not otherwise know of our services, not know that someone cares, or who might even be sleeping on the streets with nowhere else to go. Thanks to these shelters, many people are able to stay safe and warm while gaining access to all the resources available for them to get back on their feet, just like Jeff who you will meet in this video.
Please take a moment to hear about Jeff’s story and how he has found hope in helping the people at our Glendale Winter Shelter who are in the same situation that he was just over a year ago.
As our pouring rain floods LA, people experiencing homelessness are being inflicted with flu, pneumonia, and hypothermia, even perhaps death.
Every night this winter in LA County, tens of thousands of men, women, and children are forced to seek shelter in garages, warehouses, cars, parks, and on city streets.
That’s why EIMAGO, a Union Rescue Mission’s subsidiary, works with LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) throughout the area to offer thousands of exhausted, desperate, and hopeless people a safe haven. We serve approximately 1,800 people, like Jonine featured in this video, the most basic of care every night.
We hope you will take a moment to watch this video on our life-saving winter shelters. Please also consider making a special year-end gift today to help precious people in need this winter.
Blessings,
Andy Bales, CEO
PS. Thanks to a generous friend, your gift between now and December 31st will be doubled up to $250,000.
Each night, an average of 145 kids call Union Rescue Mission and Hope Gardens Family Center home. And thanks to help from friends like you, we have rescued over 1,800 precious children from living on the streets of Skid Row in the last 2 years. Kiera is one of these adorable children. We hope you will take a moment to watch her tell the Christmas Story in her own words!
No one deserves to suffer the devastation of homelessness, especially during the holidays. Thank you for your continued support in helping us serve each and every person who comes to our doors.
