Just Cause: Union Rescue Mission, www.urm.org.
What motivated you to begin volunteering with Union Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter? “My husband, Ryan, and I live in downtown Los Angeles, so the homeless community is personal. It’s literally right outside our front door. Our church has a program, Hope For L.A., which is all about serving the marginalized and homeless people in Los Angeles. They have a relationship with the Union Rescue Mission and that’s how we got connected to it.”
Tell us about the work of the mission. “They have a certain number of beds — people can come and they can sleep and eat and feel safe — but in addition to the beds, the entire community is allowed to come in. They can take a shower and they can get clothes and any time it’s over 85 degrees, they have a team that walks around and passes out bottles of water. They’re intentional about cultivating relationships with the homeless people and really trying to help them, not just with their basic physical needs, but they try to nurture them and get them to a place where they can kind of reclaim their life. I think what’s great about the mission is that they are always there. They’re such a source of unconditional love.”
What does your own volunteerism consist of? “The thing that we have done most consistently is showing up early in the morning and serving breakfast. The mission serves 10 meals a day every day. We’ll go in and we’ll prep and we just kind of do whatever needs to be done. Sometimes we’re serving on the line, sometimes we’re chopping a bunch of vegetables that they can prepare and serve later that evening, and then we’ll help with cleanup.”
Why do you think it’s important to give back? “There have been times in my life where I have certainly struggled, but had people that took care of me. If I have an able body and a mind and opportunities to do the same for other people, I feel like that’s really important. The homeless culture can seem frightening, but once you hear their stories, it makes you realize, ‘Man, they’re no different from me. Their circumstances are different, but I’m just a couple of poor choices or a couple of unfortunate circumstances away from being on the street, too.’ As many opportunities as we can find to relate to one another, understand each other and serve one another — that’s what makes us human, and it’s just the most fulfilling thing.”
