In particular, we appreciate the hard work of Pastor Phillip & Holly Wagner, Pastor Alex Jones Moreno, and the whole Oasis team for being out in the rain collecting food!

The Special Edition of “The Mission” newsletter is now available! Please click here to subscribe

We would like to ask you to please be an advocate for those who are experiencing homelessness, and consider contacting government officials to keep the Winter Shelters open year round.  The number of people walking through our doors has continued to increase; we don’t ever want to see the day when we have to turn someone away.  Keeping the Winter Shelters open would ensure that we would not have to.

Please go to http://youarethemission.org/advocate. We are asking people to send a pre-written letter to Governor Schwarzenegger to help keep these shelters open by declaring a State of Emergency.  Then, contact the LA City Council, LA County Supervisors, and Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA) to support our efforts. With your help, we can bring about a change!  Thank you so much for your support.

February has been a busy month for us at URM.  We hope you will take a moment to watch this video for exciting highlights on the events and challenges, including photos of our Hearts for Hope Fashion Show honoring Paris Hilton.

When you support us and share our message with others, you are helping to provide a better life for those who may otherwise be living on the streets of LA.  We cannot do what we do without you.

Blessings,

We chose to jump into this opportunity with our pubic benefits charity, not because it helps us earn extra money, or any other reason except that it helps us fulfill our mission: to embrace people experiencing homelessness.  It also helps us regionalize the solution to homelessness, the 4^th step in our 10 step plan http://youarethemission.org to end homelessness as we know it in Los Angeles.  We firmly believe that every region, city and neighborhood in Los Angeles County should provide services and housing to assist their own neighbors who are experiencing homelessness, rather than sending their struggling folks downtown to the mean streets of Skid Row; as I describe Skid Row, it is the worst man made disaster in America and we need to end Skid Row as we know it by regionalizing the solution to homelessness.   

It has been a joy to participate in these thoughtful, helpful Winter Shelters.  We’ve seen people arrive at our shelters just 30 minutes after being evicted from their homes, experiencing homelessness for the first time.  We’ve seen senior adults, adult males and females, young ladies running from abusive relationships, young unemployed people, and families with children. It has been an honor to be there to greet them with a warm cot, good meal, and a roof over their heads in their time of need.  The challenge and heartache is coming up quickly; the closing of the Winter Shelters is on March 15^th!  On that day, the armories close, funding runs out, and the cots go to a warehouse and the precious souls who do not connect with other hard to find services return to the streets.  It is hard for me to bear.  I grieve for days.  I already am grieving.   

The 7^th of 10 steps in http://youarethemission.org , is a call to keep the Winter Shelters open year round as a much needed safety net! There are more deadly things on the streets than just the bad weather.  Homelessness itself is deadly, taking decades off the life of an individual and doing devastating damage.

Why in the world would we close down this vital safety net? How can we send folks out to the streets who want to stay in a place that provides a roof over their heads and a connection with case management and vital services?  The Governor of California, during these extraordinary times, could declare a state of emergency, keep the armories open, and our city and county could team up with us and the other agencies running shelters to make sure that these 1600 beds stay open, and that our friends experiencing homelessness could be provided with a shelter long enough to get back on their feet.  It could cost as little as $1,000,000 per shelter to operate them at capacity(150-200 persons each night) for 1 year.   

For the sake of these precious souls, would you consider contacting the :

Governor: Click here for email form.

LAHSA: Click here for email form.

County officials: Click here for contact list.

City officals: Click here for email form.

Thank you!

 Andy B.

s

Please take a moment to hear from Sandra, the Glendale Winter Shelter Program Manager, on how great an impact the Winter Shelters are having on hundreds of people, some of them experiencing homelessness for the first time. Sadly, these shelters are only open from December through March of each year, which leaves many people asking “Where can I go?” in less than a month. We would love to see the Winter Shelters open year round, but are unable to do this on our own.

There are two ways you can help make a difference; first, you can advocate for the Winter Shelters by contacting the Governors office and local city officials to ask that National Guard Armories be opened year round, and that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority be more substantially funded. This way, the shelters in place can remain open wirh sufficient case management and support services to assist people experiencing homelessness in finding more permanent solutions. Secondly, you can donate to help support the costs of keeping these shelters running.

Please take a moment and hear from Sandra about our Winter Shelters

Blessings,

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (February 8, 2010) — The Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village was teaming with celebrities as the Hearts for Hope fundraising celebrity fashion show got underway on Saturday February 6^th presented by award winning designer, Tory Burch.  The star studded event was spearheaded by Alice Starr and a committee of people who have a profound heart for helping those experiencing homelessness.

The event honored two of the most recognized women that have had a personal impact on helping people experiencing homelessness, Socialite Paris Hilton and the courageously bold Leigh Anne Tuohy, the true life mother of adopted son Michael Oher, depicted in the movie “The Blind Side”. Union Rescue Mission CEO, Andy Bales, was all smiles as he presented Paris Hilton with the coveted “Heart for Service” Award.  A teary eyed Paris humbly accepted her award and replied “I have received lots of Awards but this one means so much more to me because it’s about being a humanitarian, something I am getting into doing more of this year”.  She expressed much admiration for the work of Union Rescue Mission and thanked the crowed of over 400 for coming out on a rainy Saturday afternoon to support the Mission.

All proceeds benefit the Union Rescue Mission’s Hope Gardens Family Center, a transitional and permanent supportive housing facility serving women and children.  

 Attendees included:

• Heart for Service Award recipients- Paris Hilton & Leigh Anne Tuohy
• Heart for Service Award Presenter- Union Rescue Mission CEO, Andy Bales
• Some Celebrity Committee members included; Jackie & Anson Williams, Roma Downey, Kathleen Quinlan and Rick Springfield
• Event Hosts – Kevin Dretzka and Stanley Gerlach Jr.

What do you look forward to on Valentine’s Day? Do you have any plans this year?  We asked some of our guests what they think about Valentine’s Day, and here’s what they said!

"This year, I'm giving my daughters a prayer and chocolate covered strawberries to show them I love them. But the true gift of giving is a gift from God." - Zane

"My favorite Valentine's Day memories are buying red roses and chocolates for my wife." - Eric

"My fiance better be taking me out, buying me a box of chocolates and a stuffed animal!" - Sharon

"I get a party at shool and we get to make Valentines to give to people." - Donovan

"This is the first Valentine's Day I'm actually celebrating in a really long time. I'm sending a chocolate rose, perfume and a CD to a girl I've been talking to and really like!" - Roderick

 

Another friend, Brennan Harvey, better known to all of us in Pasadena as Johnny Redbone, died last week of cancer.  I worked 10 years with Johnny, but was never able to help him get off of the mean streets.  Johnny did not get off of the streets until he entered the hospital this Fall, but he is off the streets now, and at rest, I believe, in the arms of our Loving Lord.  

I saw real heart change happen in Johnny’s life, even if his circumstances did not change and his addictions did not cease.  When I met him, he angrily called me, “White Boy!”, and told me that “you took our land!”  Johnny was Navajo, from Southern Arizona, and I remember defending myself by holding out my tan arms and sharing with him that my Great Grandmother was Cherokee.  That did not quell his anger at first. When I visited him in the hospital just a few weeks ago, his attitude had changed completely.  He called me “Pastor Andy” as we prayed together. 

There were some challenging, even humorous times.  I remember Johnny telling me that he had just been in court for public drinking.  He shared that the judge reminded him that this was his 76^th Public drinking charge!  Johnny answered, “Judge, every evening the folks in the houses around the neighborhood have a beer after dinner, and just because I don’t have a house to have a beer in, I get arrested!

I saw evidence of heart change over the years, in Johnny’s heart, and in mine.  One night, on Maundy Thursday, I was serving up front at church, and feeling some pressure to do things right on this Holy Night.  I watched Johnny walk in the back of the church, intoxicated, and I panicked!  What kind of scene would come of this!  I forgot all about my role as Pastor of Community Outreach, as advocate for people experiencing homelessness, about James Chapter 2:

James 2:2-5 (ESV)
² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”
⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

Fortunately, my friend Randy saw Johnny’s predicament, made room for him in his aisle, and sat with Johnny throughout the evening service.  Randy lived out James chapter 2!

After the service, Johnny arrived on my front porch adjacent to the church, and sat with me. “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed!” said Johnny.  My heart melted with a mixture of thanks and shame.  Thanks for Johnny’s response to the Gospel message, and shame at my panic.

That Sunday evening at our weekly bible study, Johnny prayed a prayer, “Oh Great Spirit, I am not the man I want to be! Help me become the man you want me to be!”

From that night on, Johnny no longer referred to me as White Boy, but as Pastor Andy, and it was always said with love. 

The last time I saw Johnny outside the hospital, he was waiting at the end of my driveway with a friend, Otis.  “Pastor Andy, I am hungry!  Do you have anything to eat?”  I quickly made 4 ham sandwiches, grabbed some crackers, cookies, and soft drinks, and gave them to my friends.  I gave Johnny a hug, with tears in my eyes, and told him how glad I was to see him. 

I imagine that as Johnny passed from death into eternal life, he was greeted by our Loving Savior, Jesus Christ, who hugged him at the entrance and said, “Johnny, welcome!  I am so glad to see you!