Union Rescue Mission
The shelter's cafeteria in 2023
Union Rescue Mission is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Union Rescue Mission
Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Union Rescue Mission is located in California
Union Rescue Mission
Union Rescue Mission (California)
Union Rescue Mission is located in the United States
Union Rescue Mission
Union Rescue Mission (the United States)
General information
Location545 San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Coordinates34°02′36″N 118°14′42″W / 34.0433°N 118.2449°W / 34.0433; -118.2449
Opened1994 (1994)
Cost$29 million
OwnerUnion Rescue Mission
Technical details
Floor area225,000 sq ft (20,900 m2)[1]
Website
urm.org

The Union Rescue Mission, commonly abbreviated as the URM, is a Christian homeless shelter in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest in the city[1] and the largest private homeless shelter in the United States.[2] The organization behind the URM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was established in 1891.

History

The United Rescue Mission was founded on December 4, 1891, by Lyman Stewart, a businessman who co-founded the Union Oil Company of California and Biola University. It was originally known as the Pacific Gospel Union and its first superintendent was George A. Hilton. During its beginnings in the late 19th century, it pitched temporary tents that served the homeless, later purchasing a permanent residence at 145 N Main St. in 1907. The property was bought by city officials in 1926 to build the Los Angeles City Hall, causing the URM to buy another building at 226 S Main St., nicknamed "The Mansion on Main Street".[1] The Main St. location was demolished and became a parking lot next to the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana.[3]

The mission supplied nearly half (42%) of all free meals provided by private charities in the city during the Great Depression. It opened its current 225,000 sq ft (20,900 m2) facility in 1994.[1] In 2005, many hospitals in the area, including one from Las Vegas, consistently dropped their patients on URM's doorstep. They justified their action by saying that "it [the URM] was the only place in Southern California with a concentration of patient social services like homeless shelters and drug and alcohol programs."[4][5]

The center suffered greatly during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a hundred positive cases and two deaths in just the first two months of lockdown. Space had to be limited to 550-600 people per night during this time.[6][7] However, the next year was more forgiving, as URM coordinated with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and even became a distributor of the COVID-19 vaccine.[2]

In 2020, Hudson Pacific Properties, a real estate investment trust, pledged $500,000 to URM as a part of the company's efforts to give back to the communities and combat homelessness.[8]

Facility

The building, which opened in 1994, contains a chapel,[9] library, playground, gymnasium, and a learning center with computers. It can shelter about a thousand people per night. The fourth floor contains the Bank of America Learning Center, which offers basic education on literacy, computer training, and high school diplomas. In 2007, an Internet café, the first one in Skid Row, opened on the first floor.[1]

Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education & Psychology operates a mental health clinic free of charge in the shelter.[10] Their Legal Aid Clinic also provides free legal services to the homeless.[11]

Leadership

The Rev. Andy Bales was appointed president of the mission in 2005 and became chief executive in 2007. He retired in 2023. [12]

Events

An annual tradition at the Union Rescue Mission is the deep frying of 300 turkeys to feed to the residents as a Thanksgiving meal. 600 residents will have a sit-down dinner, while the nonresidents will be given food outside.[13]

Actors from the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful joined a 5K run in June 2020 to help raise money for the mission.[14]

The Los Angeles Rams' Community Service Team, cheerleaders, and their mascot Rampage volunteered to prepare and hand out meals at the shelter in December 2018.[15]

The Victory Service Club was founded in 1942 and it helped support soldiers spiritually during wars. In 1980, the Bethel Haven Women and Family Shelter was created to combat the increase in the number of women and children in the homeless population.[1]

Hope Gardens Family Center, which opened in 2006 in the foothills of the neighborhood of Sylmar, is a 71 acres (29 ha) residence exclusively for single women.[16] URM also owns two thrift stores in Covina and Whittier.[1] The Angeles House, a facility for families, was opened in 2022.[2][17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Official website". Retrieved 2023-10-08.
  2. 1 2 3 Lehman, Mitch (2022-04-05). "Union Rescue Mission Has a Distinct Local Flavor". San Marino Tribune. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  3. ↑ Schave, Richard (2015-08-12). "Union Rescue Mission Walking Tour: 124 years on Skid Row – Los Angeles Visionaries Association". Los Angeles Visionaries Association. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  4. ↑ Broder, Ken (2014-06-03). "Another Hospital Pays $500,000 for Dumping a Patient on L.A.'s Skid Row but Admits No Wrongdoing". AllGov California. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  5. ↑ Casey, Forest (2015-03-08). "How Los Angeles Created Skid Row". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  6. ↑ "'Biggest challenge we've faced in 128-year history': Union Rescue Mission reopens under new restrictions since shelter's COVID-19 outbreak". ABC7 Los Angeles. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  7. ↑ Chou, Elizabeth (2020-04-21). "Dozens positive for coronavirus at LA's Skid Row homeless shelter, after all residents tested". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  8. ↑ "Hudson Pacific Properties Pledges $500,000 to Union Rescue Mission to Address Homelessness in Los Angeles". Business Wire. 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  9. ↑ Smith, Doug (2017-09-29). "L.A. County now has 58,000 homeless people. So why are there thousands fewer shelter beds than in 2009?". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  10. ↑ "Union Rescue Mission". Pepperdine University. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  11. ↑ "Legal Aid Clinic at Union Rescue Mission". Pepperdine University. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  12. ↑ Smith, Doug (2023-05-19). "The Rev. Andy Bales to exit Union Rescue Mission after 20 years serving the destitute and needling the powerful". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  13. ↑ Baldonado, Kim (2022-11-19). "Union Rescue Mission Frying Up Hundreds of Turkeys". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  14. ↑ Young, Candace (2020-06-15). "Bold & Beautiful Stars Share Photos & Videos From 5K Walk to Raise Funds for L.A.'s Union Rescue Mission". Soaps.com. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  15. ↑ "PHOTOS: Meal Service with Union Rescue Mission". Los Angeles Rams. 2018-12-18. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  16. ↑ "Hope Gardens Family Center Opens". Los Angeles Times. 2006-07-11. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  17. ↑ Diaz, Laura (2022-04-11). "Shelter opening in Los Angeles for families battling homelessness". FOX 11. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
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