Union Rescue Mission 5k Hits Fundraising Goal with Help of 'Average Joe'

Perhaps the success of the Union Rescue Mission’s first 5k Walk fundraiser held on Saturday (June 2, 2018) can not be fully gauged by the half million dollars raised (so far) by hundreds of participants, but by the increased level of community involvement.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

The walk helped the Christian organization that tackles homelessness to move from tapping solely into the rich and famous for funds to inviting the “Average Joe” to be part of the process. A process that includes a leader and partners with epic dreams.Union Rescue Mission CEO, Rev. Andrew Bales told Together LA earlier in the week, before the 5k, that the course had to circle LA Live three times rather than having to force businesses on another planned route to shut down for a few hours.Sponsors at the event’s start and finish line manning booths in between the Staples Center and Microsoft Theater included financial giants like Wells Fargo, Costco, and Herbalife, but there was also a prayer tent hosted by a small Downtown LA church.A Christian musical group dubbed “The URM Band” led those awaiting the start of the walk in worship and the atmosphere was filled with joy amongst a backdrop of iconic symbols of financial power. The irony was not lost in the small sea of Average Joes.TLA’s interview with Bales below reveals some of the dynamics of homelessness in the city and the Mission’s plans for the future.Together LA: Let's start with the 5K. How did the 5K idea come about?Rev. Andrew Bales: So the vision I had was while walking from wherever to Skid Row and back. Richard Newcomb, our board member has helped other groups do successful 5Ks. In fact, he does a 5K every year in New Orleans that he does in honor of his dad.And so years ago, I wanted to do a mud run or something like that and the idea didn't go over well with our team at that time. But, when Richard came on our board a few years ago and then we had a partner in this idea, we finally had the courage to try to pull it off. So, it really came from Richard and I and his vision for Union Rescue Mission to have a event where the “Average Joe” like us can participate rather than showing up and spending a lot on a ticket to a gala.TLA: So, prior to this 5K what was your major fundraiser for URM?Bales: It's been our Hearts for Hope fundraiser for Hope Gardens, our site for families out in Sylmar. And we did it for many years at the Four Seasons Hotel. [The fundraiser] started as a fashion show and then became like an entertainment night. The last one we had was at the Beverly Hilton and we actually had Angela Bassett as our emcee (or host) for the night.Our most successful event ever was this Sports LA event at the Hilton three or four years ago where we raised 4.3 million. It wasn't an URM-hosted event, but we were the beneficiaries. Then, we did our 125th anniversary fall gala at the Beverly Hilton. So, most of our big events have been, you know, kind of expensive.TLA: If you were to have a dream list fulfilled in regards to your ministry what would that be or what would you like to see happen?Bales: Well, we're busy trying to pull off some of our dreams right now. We're putting up a sprung structure in our back parking lot.TLA: I'm sorry, what's a sprung structure?Bales: A sprung structure is heated and air conditioned and it's more like a permanent tent. It's not really tent, but it's like one of those things that people put up to set up a driving range or you know, or hotel puts out for a reception area.It's a inexpensive, quick way to respond to the need and it's going to be for 136 single ladies, it's going to be in our back parking lot (in the city) because of what we're doing. The city was encouraged by the Urban Land Institute to model something like we're doing and to put four sprung structures in every district, 15 districts of the city. But they've chosen only to do one at this point. We hope that by us doing our sprung structure that we inspire others to get to that point where we have four in each district by the end of the year, that we put a roof over 13,000 people. I know we need to do more than that, but, but at least that's a start.And then we also are putting up a satellite [facility] in south LA County that'll be like a mini Union Rescue Mission, about 80,000 square feet for 80 families. It will be for 320 total people, so that people in South LA don't have to come to Skid Row for help. They can go to South LA. We already have Hope Gardens out in Sylmar for over 60 families, moms and kids, and also 24 senior ladies in permanent supportive housing. And what we want to do is have regionalized services in each area of LA County, decentralize Skid Row so that people in every part of LA County can, you know, if they lose their home, they can go right in their own neighborhood and get help and neighborhoods will help their own neighbors so everybody doesn't have to come to the mean streets of Skid Row.Then, I would like to create affordable smaller homes. There is a way to do 3D printing, concrete homes that have a bathroom, kitchen, 660 square feet for $10,000 each. And so I, I'd really like to create some neighborhoods of affordable housing that any income could afford to own. So, those are some of the dreams that we have.TLA: Where would the land be for the homes?Bales: We have some land. We have 77 acres out in Sylmar and then we have a donor who has 80 other parcels that I've been trying to get a hold of. And then, perhaps we have to go as far as Palmdale and Lancaster. The city owns many parcels of land and the Metro Rail owns lots of land.TLA: How, how has your relationship been with the city? It must be pretty good.Bales: Pretty good. However, they can't fund us. They won't fund us. City and County won't fund us because of our faith. But we have helped model what needs to be done. If you were to call the county 211 number and say, “I'm a dad and mom with three kids,” they'd say the only place to go is Union Rescue Mission. So, they know what we do and respect us and count on us to come through. We never turn away a family with children who comes through our door. We never turn away a woman, a single woman who comes to our door. Rarely would we ever turn away a man. Every night the police call me and see how many bunks we have open and I will never tell them that we have no bunks. So, really we never turn away a man either and that makes us a very unique mission. We're the only rescue mission that welcomes single men, single women, moms with kids, dads with kids and two parent families with kids.TLA: In a video recently released to promote the 5k you mention how the situation is pretty grave. It's gotten worse. What would you tell just the average person that looks at the homeless situation, sees that it looks pretty hopeless. How do we address the homeless situation?Bales: If we all work together, we could be like New York City, that puts a roof over 95% of the people experiencing homelessness and is embarrassed about the 5% that are still on the streets. And it's really an all out, all hands on deck, emergency approach. If we were like that, we would see a different city and we'd live up to be in the City of Angels.In LA, we only put a roof over 25% of people experiencing homelessness and we leave 75% out on the streets, which is destroying and devouring those people. We come up with a lot of excuses. I mean, you know, like the weather is good so people come here. That is an absolute myth and an absolutely false excuse. The majority of people on the streets of LA are Angelenos, longtime Angelenos. You can die from the weather on the streets. We know people who've died on the streets of LA. So there's really no excuse not to act now.Even the excuse that many Christians use, you know, "The poor you'll always have with you." But the problem is they're not finishing the verse, “The poor you'll always have with you, so be kind to them every day." Jesus in that verse is quoting Deuteronomy 15. It says, "The poor you'll always have with you, so be kind to them everyday and lend them a hand and lift them out of poverty." It's an action verse, not an excuse verse, and we turn it into an excuse like the homeless you'll always have with you. Well, that's not what needs to be communicated.We could live in the city where not one precious human being lives on the streets. And I would love to be part of making that happen in Los Angeles. That would really be the ultimate dream for me. That before I'm gone from this earth that we didn't wait for heaven to address the situation of homelessness here on earth.PHOTOS: URMOn the Webhttps://urm.org/Note: The deadline for the matching challenge gift to help men, women, children, and families on Skid Row overcome homelessness and begin new lives of hope has been extended to June 30. Go to URM's website to donate.

Union Rescue Mission’s First 5k Walk To Fight Homelessness; WATCH Heartbreaking Skid Row Video

Union Rescue Mission's First 5k Walk To Fight Homelessness; WATCH Heartbreaking Skid Row Video

Homelessness is devastating communities nationwide, but nowhere more than in Los Angeles, said organizers of the Union Rescue Mission's inaugural 5k Walk to Fight Homelessness planned for Saturday, June 2."We now have more than 58,000 men, women and children living on Skid Row and throughout Los Angeles County each day," URM said. "For more than 126 years, Union Rescue Mission has provided safe shelter, meals, long-term rehabilitation programs, education, counseling, medical services and encouragement to help our neighbors escape homelessness forever. But with the skyrocketing increase in women and children on the streets, we need your help!"Organizers said, "This is your opportunity to turn your compassion into action. We would like to invite you to join us for our inaugural 5k Walk to Fight Homelessness. Proceeds from the walk will go toward the continuation of our life-saving programs and services to help those experiencing homelessness find their way home."Union Rescue Mission (URM) is one of the largest missions of its kind in America — bringing help and hope to men, women, and children experiencing homelessness in Downtown Los Angeles, the organization states on its website. URM was founded in 1891 by Lyman Stewart, president and founder of Union Oil Company. George A. Hilton served as the first superintendent of the Mission, originally known as the Pacific Gospel Union. During those early days, URM took to the streets in gospel wagons to offer food, clothing, and salvation to the less fortunate. Over the years, URM has continued and expanded its efforts to feed both the body and the soul, helping individuals and families break the cycle of poverty and achieve self-sufficiency.URM states that its mission is to embrace people with the compassion of Christ. The organization's Guiding Principles are to serve God, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and:

• We will serve the whole person in mind, body, and spirit
• We will always serve others with humility
• We will treat all people, who are created in the image of God, with dignity and respect
• We will meet, or exceed, the expectations of those we serve
• We will actively find new ways to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us
• We will be truthful and accountable in our work together
• We will do what we say we will do
• We will intentionally look at new and innovative ways to do our work
• We will share our expertise with others

The walk begins at LA Live and travels through the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.Date: Saturday, June 2nd, 2018Location: LA Live / Staples Arena, Los Angeles, CARegistration Fee: Free!On-Site Walk Registration: 8:00 am PSTWalk Start Time: 9:30 am PSTParking: Structure parking is available in the West Garage(Lot W - Enter on Chick Hearn Ct.) for $15 a carPublic transportation is strongly encouraged.Event Website: https://urmwalk.rallybound.org/For public transportation information, please visit LA Live's Visitor Center:www.lalive.com/visitor-center/public-transportation

‘Same Kind Of Different As Me’ Rises Above Protests, Slogans on Racism

The closest I’ve come to experiencing the pain of racism is when I was called “commie” by several of my fellow junior high classmates during the Cold War period of relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. (Russia).However, that somewhat public ridicule and humiliation was mostly the result of youthful immaturity and social ignorance. Some of that may have even been passed down by the taunters’ ignorant parents.The emotional pain, if only lasting for a short time, experienced by this Los Angeles-born child to Eastern European parents who escaped communism, not embraced it, is faintly related to the sin of racism, but nowhere near the black experience in America.While most of the buzz about the movie Same Kind Of Different As Me by Paramount Pictures and Pure Flix releasing on Friday revolves around issues of homelessness, there is also an aspect of this true story that can’t be missed — racism.It is not only the way the film so vividly captures Denver Moore’s (played by Djimon Hounsou) deep pain as the result of living through racism manifested in all ways, including physical, that makes the movie a must-see, but it is the way a solution to the problem is presented that goes way beyond slogans and protests.Below are parts of the obit published by the Dallas News after Moore’s death on March 31. 2012.

Denver Moore was a feared warrior, hardened during his 22 years living on the streets of Fort Worth. He was the baseball bat-packing alpha male of the homeless when Ron Hall, a Dallas art dealer, started trying to befriend him in 1998......Mr. Moore was an unlikely candidate for 20th-century prophet.Born in rural Louisiana, he grew up with an aunt and uncle on what amounted to a plantation in Red River Parish. He never attended school and labored for credit he used to buy necessities at the company store.He was roped and dragged by the Ku Klux Klan when he was a teenager for helping a white woman change a flat tire on the plantation, Mr. Hall said. He vowed he would never speak to another white woman or trust a white person.In 1960, Mr. Moore hopped a freight train to Fort Worth, where he lived for a few months before moving on to Los Angeles.Several years later, he returned to Louisiana, where he was convicted of armed robbery in 1966.Hungry and living in a hobo camp, Mr. Moore attempted to rob a bus driver, using a rusted revolver that had no cylinder. He threatened to kill the driver but left when the man said he could not get the change out of the bus till.Mr. Moore was arrested, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, known as the Alcatraz of the South. He was released in 1976 and returned to Fort Worth.In 1998, he met Mr. and Mrs. Hall, who had been volunteering for a couple of weeks at the Union Gospel Mission, looking to find the man in Mrs. Hall’s vision. One evening, as they were preparing to serve a meal, a fight broke out as the homeless men left a chapel service.

So, as the story is beautifully told in the movie, we are witness to the the most powerful weapon against hatred, ignorance, despair, evil, and social injustice. That weapon is love, and not the love of the world, but the love of a relationship with God through Jesus. We see love blast through real-life racism.[ictt-tweet-blockquote hashtags="" via=""]In 'Same Kind of Different As Me' we are witness to the most powerful weapon against racism.[/ictt-tweet-blockquote]Practically speaking, the hope and solution demonstrated in this movie come from a relationship with God and relationships with others.This is not a “bible-thumping” movie, however, it is a movie that clearly re-emphasizes what the Bible already says:You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. — Luke 10:27Put away your pre-conceptions of “Christian” movies. Put away the distractions of a world gone mad and go see Same Kind of Different as Me.One more thing. Please realize that you can be part of the solution by simply going to see this movie with a friend.Need more of a nudge? Read this: What If We All Made the Same Kind of Difference?

4 Pastors Get Real About the City – Together LA Pop-Up

It may have seemed like a daunting task to figure out what’s broken in Los Angeles then offer a simple solution.But that’s not what four Christian leaders from various parts of L.A. set out to do during a panel discussion at Philosopher’s Cafe in Santa Monica on a recent June evening. Co-hosted by Together LA, the panel — Broken City – Is there hope for Los Angeles? — began with moderator Steve Snook of Metro Church giving a heads up to the direction the discussion will go.

MICHAEL MATA

Together LA- Michael Mata on Koreatown, Los Angeles from One Ten Pictures on Vimeo.

Skid Row: Not By Bread Alone

The homeless on LA’s Skid Row are in desperate straits, but giving them more food will not solve their problems

Editor's Note (World Magazine): This article includes disturbing and graphic descriptions of homeless life in LA’s Skid Row.On a warm Friday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row, the acrid stench of fresh-spilled blood stung the congealed odors of fossilized urine and unwashed feet. A man whom locals call Turban stabbed three individuals, leaving a half-mile trail of blood and screams until police officers shot at him six times.

BY SOPHIA LEE

Ronald Troy Collins heard the shrieks from the store he manages at the corner where Turban stabbed his first victim—then his second, and then the third (all, including Turban, survived). Collins knows Turban as the guy who sells cigarettes on the streets, relatively harmless until the day he smoked spice, a synthetic marijuana that regularly sends people to emergency rooms. As sirens blared and the police swarmed over in cars, bicycles, and helicopters, Collins prayed, “Oh Lord, help him, help them, help us.”Such savagery doesn’t surprise Collins, who calls it “another normal-day event in Skid Row.” It only made news because the police shot a man. As someone who’s lived homeless sporadically for 35 years and is still homeless, the 50-year-old Collins has witnessed a multitude of base acts in Skid Row: that deranged, reeking man with an unzipped fly who harasses women with his exposed crotch; drug sale transactions right outside of drug-rehab facilities; spontaneous combustions of shrill arguments and brutal fistfights; public urination and defecation; sex between men and men, women and women, even some bestiality. “There are no rules or regulations down here, nothing! A modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, pretty much.”I’ve also heard locals refer to this 11,000-resident territory as “Devil’s Den,” “man-made hell,” and “where people go to die.” If LA is the homeless capital of America (see “Homeless on the streets of LA,” April 1) , Skid Row serves as its junkyard, collecting the rusting heap of issues that encompass the city’s homelessness crisis.... READ FULL STORY AT WORLD MAGAZINEPhoto: Edward PadgettLA Pastors’ Bottom Line: We Want to Help the City That We Live In

Jewelry Company The Giving Keys Employs LA Homeless

Jewelry company The Giving Keys offers hope, strength by employing the homeless

Last Sunday's Closer, NBC’s Morgan Radford visits the Giving Keys factory in Los Angeles, where the company is helping people transition out of homelessness and offering a chance at redemption.

On the Web:

The Giving Keys - A Pay It Forward CompanyPhoto: The Giving Keys Facebook page

Broken City: Is There Hope For Los Angeles?

Create more bike lanes, make the streets safer, fix potholes, and oh, by the way, reduce poverty were the top recommendations from Southern California Public Radio listeners when asked what issues they wanted Eric Garcetti to tackle during his first term as Mayor of Los Angeles back in 2013.Other recommendations on issues listed among the Top 7 by KPCC in its #DearMayor initiative included, lower the cost of parking tickets, preserve the entertainment industry in L.A., keep Metro’s expansion on track, and don’t cut the arts programs in schools.But what if what is broken or needs fixing in Los Angeles goes beyond basic infrastructure issues? The answer to the following question may be obvious, but can a mayor really fix this city?Is it at all possible for a government official to address even more serious problems that seem to permeate this town?In his post, Homage To LA, City Of Broken Dreams, poet and author Boris Glikman, writes:

The smell hits you as soon as you step out of the air-conditioned airport. You feel the residue, the fallout of broken dreams hitting your palate. The charred remains of incinerated hopes mix with the omnipresent smog and invade every pore of your being…...Every delusion gets hunted down and taken care of in this town: the delusion that one is special and unique; the delusion that one has singular and extraordinary talents; the delusion that one is in possession of insights into life that the rest of the world lacks and that one is privy to truths that no one else can access; the delusion that one is destined for greatness; the delusion that one is a genius whom the world doesn’t appreciate; the delusion that one will find a soul mate meant just for them and whose love will save them…...the delusion that a lucky break will come to you in the end; the delusion that somewhere some person, angel or god is working on your behalf, trying to help you with your journey through life and is looking after you; the delusion that one is protected by fate and special luck from bad things happening to them; the delusion that there will come a day when one will begin to live happily ever after; the delusion that one will find meaning in one’s tribulations and that one’s struggles will be justified in retrospect; the delusion that it all will turn out well in the future…

You may want to read more of Glikman’s homage, but it’s pretty depressing, isn’t it?So, what can we make of L.A.? We know it was once a “promised land” of sorts for all sorts of people. And we know a lot of promises have not been delivered.

Broken city

Issues in Los Angeles are not just about bike paths and celebrity stars, either. Issues that should take priority are an elevated homeless population, an alarming violent crime rate, loneliness in a mobile, commuter town that’s wider than any canyon, a hub for sex trafficking, a haven for the addicted, and a depot for the discontent — see L.A. Riots, Occupy Wall Street/City Hall, Trump Protests, and protests in general of all varieties.According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the city is home to 45,000 gang members, organized into 450 gangs. Among them are the Crips and Bloods, which are both African American street gangs that originated in the South Los Angeles region, as stated in Wikipedia. Latino street gangs such as the Sureños, a Mexican American street gang, and Mara Salvatrucha, which has mainly members of Salvadoran descent, all originated in Los Angeles. This has led to the city being referred to as the "Gang Capital of America."With a census-estimated 2017 population of 4,042,000, it is the second-most populous city in the United States (after New York City) and the most populous city in the state of California, also as stated in Wikipedia. It is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking 224 different identified languages. Ethnic enclaves like Chinatown, Historic Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Tehrangeles, Little Tokyo, Little Bangladesh and Thai Town provide examples of the polyglot character of Los Angeles.Challenges abound. All of us, together, need to ask and discuss...

Is there hope for Los Angeles?

In many cases, L.A. is still an amazing place where people do incredible things, including service for others. However, with a critical eye, it’s easy to see that many parts are broken. I’ve named a few social issues already.Together LA has made an effort to tell the stories of hope for the city, first, in hosting a conference a couple years ago, and secondly, on TogetherLA.net, since the new website's start in February.Next, we will try answering the question of whether there is hope for L.A. by way of a panel discussion with the theme you may have sensed already while reading this article — Broken City - Is there hope for Los Angeles?The panel is scheduled to take place at Metropolis in Santa Monica on Philosopher’s Cafe night on June 15 at 7:30 pm. Pastor Steve Snook of Metro Church will moderate the panel that will include urban leaders talking about the tough issues and the possible solutions. The event is free and everyone is invited.

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Let’s continue the discussion!>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<UPDATE: Since the publication of the article above, the 4-part series on the panel discussion and videotaped comments from the pastors has been published at TLA. The series links are below.4 Pastors Get Real About the City – Together LA Pop-Up Part 1 (Michael Mata)Urban Church Planter: First, What Does the City Need? Part 2 (Cedric Nelms)‘Beautiful’ Westside Striken with Spiritual Poverty a Unified Church Can Cure – Part 3 (Steve Snook)LA Pastors’ Bottom Line: We Want to Help the City That We Live In – FINAL (Brannin Pitre)