Tag Archives: andy bales

Sep 07 2010
2 Comments
homeless, Role Model, Union REscue Mission

It Came! and who should be a role model?

I am overjoyed to find @abales of @URM in my mail box at work today. It is a little like Christmas and I am super happy to be rewarded for dragging myself into the office today.

My happy dance and small shouts of “It came, It Came!” has prompted a somewhat steady stream of onlookers to my office.

After a few inquiries of “What channel is he the news anchor for” I explained that Rev. Bales is the CEO of The Union Rescue Mission http://www.urm.org/about/senior-leadership/rev-andrew-andy-j-bales.html and one of the people I admire – not for fame or success – but because of intent and purpose.

He has been a foster parent, raised 6 children and seems to care as much about the people on his staff as he does for the community that he serves.  His blog, www.urmblog.org/category/rev-andys-blog/ ,is one of my “Must Reads” whenever he gets around to writing in it.

As the mother of 1.5 children (until the end of January when this one is born) I have spent a lot of time thinking about Role Models.  How to be one for the children in my life  – and who my greatest and best influences are. Also, who do I want my children to think is soo cool that they want to take on personal characteristics of them?

For me, Social Media is some Geeky Goodness that  has brought a little bit of Christmas to my life every day. Not only do I know who I admire the most – I can “follow” them on Twitter. Then, I can keep up with them as often as they publicly make a move or decision – AND I can text them and interact. Also, I can see who they are following and see who inspires them in return.

 So – in order to inspire me and reach “Role Model” status in my book, a person has to have a clear intent to

  • 1. do good and
  • 2. be kind and
  • 3. be taking steps in constant pursuit of the good they have elected to work in.

This doesn’t mean you have to work with populations of people without housing , finances, or food.  In one of my previous “Hero of the Week” posts I  discussed a LAWYER of all creepy careers. Andrea made the cut because she wanted to use the law to heal wounds and swiftly address family issues without dragging the emotional trauma out for prolonged periods of time, although doing so would have benefitted her pocket book, it would not have ben true to who she wanted to be in this world.

I don’t think it is fair to make sports figures into role models. Kobe Bryant may well be the best hoopster of all time – but I would say that he is a man who needs a good spanking and personal cleansing of his soul. I don’t see many other redeeming qualities in him (other than he knows how to buy  a big diamond!). The same is true of actors. We pay to see them lie to us on stage and screen. We play “Let’s pretend” with actors so why would we want to emulate them in our personal lives where sincerity is key to intamate relationships and a greater understanding of self?

This year I have been inspired by more than my usual perfect trinity of O’Neals (Who – if combined would make the perfect man) , Ed, Tip and Shaq. (What?!?!? , I live in LA, I am a Laker’s girl!!!!)

I have found inspiration in friends and co-workers, and started looking for people who don’t just have a stated mission in life – but who are constantly working on achieving the betterment of self and their stated goals for good.

With that said – LOOK!!!!! My picture of Rev. Bales came and he is hanging on my wall!!!! Soo Awesome!

Tagged , , , , , ,
May 26 2010
Leave a comment
homeless

Hope Gardens is running out of hope.

Hope Gardens of Union Rescue Mission is about to close due to funding.

I am kinda freaking out. These are my people – homeless welfare moms and their children who have been abused and finally are able to sleep safe and find work and normalize their lives while in a safe and nurturing place.

34 moms and 74 children will lose the safe place they call home while preparing to be self-sustaining after living through Domestic Abuse.  Remember how I am always telling you that homelessness is a Women’s Issue – this is it in the flesh and YOU can help. 24 more FAMILIES were preparing to move from Skid Row to this shelter and now they can’t move in – and they will be joined on the streets by the current Hope Garden’s residents.

There is nowhere for them to go. The state budget crushed funding to Domestic Violence education for teens and services in general. As citizens, we are all living in an economic crisis and I am sure your every penny is accounted for and has a necessary expenditure planned for it.

Change your priorities for a week and see what you can Donate online  It is TAX DEDUCTABLE!

  • Get coupon happy this week  and buy the store brands so you can  donate what you have saved.
  • Skip seeing Sex and the City 2 or movies and donate the $10 to Hope Gardens – trust that your money will see more life changing drama than any HBO series!
  • Text “URM” at 85944 to donate $10 via your cell phone and reply “yes” when prompted
  • Hold off on your manicure for a week and donate the $20 to women who are holding on to their lives by the skin of their nails
  • Instead of a fancy dinner date – have a cheap date: picnic in the park, walk on the beach, a night in – and donate the savings to families having a date with destiny.

♥♥♥♥ Learn more

 http://www.urmblog.org/2010/05/24/critical-news-regarding-hope-gardens/

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7459872 - it made it on the news

Tagged , , , , , ,
May 13 2010
1 Comment
homeless, social media

Portnoy Please! (Aka I am a groupie)

@danPortnoy and @portnoymedia are not the name brand main stream names you think of when you think of Media Hype and Internet Chic… but only if you are really uncool.

So, throw on your parkas and jump into the freezer baby and check out Dan. (okay, I am uncool too – but you knew that – read on anyway)

 

I had been interviewed on many a podcast, but no one had ever talked me into LISTENING to one until I kept hearing about The Drop and finally broke down and listened. I laughed soo hard and talked back to my PC soo loudly that the Cubicle Farm (I mean my office) knew I was doing something bad…so now they listen too)

The common ground with both issues is how complex they are and how many intelligent people are working on these issues – the best part is that there’s room for you too! Please let me encourage you to get involved with either one and make it local – influence your network!  - Dan Portnoy on Human Traffiking (slavery) and The Homeless

He uses his nerdiness for good and not just to show up us less than tech-enabled. I found him through Hardlynormal and Rev Bales from the Union Rescue Mission. Look at http://www.thedroponline.com/invisible-people-tv/ . I think it is awesome when someone uses what they enjoy and what they are good at to make a change in the world.

So . . answer me truly – who do you admire that I may not have heard of yet?

Tagged , , , , ,
Apr 08 2010
Leave a comment
City of Los Angeles, clean up, fundraiser, homeless

Rev Andy at the URM

Someday I am going to meet @abales , Reverend Bales from the Union Rescue Mission. He doesn’t blog as much as I want him to – I guess he is a little busy and all, but it is so worth the read. therefore I am directly printing the link http://www.urmblog.org/category/rev-andys-blog/ .

Anyway, last night I had a dream and Rev. Andy was in it.  – I totally don’t hold him accountable for the following , but it was odd so I am sharing -My teeth were broken and I couldn’t speak in my dream and I was standing at an ATM machine outside the dentist office waiting for the dentist and trying to withdraw money to have my mouth fixed. I looked up and Rev Andy was riding backward down an escalator and Tweeting me (via twitter) at the same time.

He said that just because I couldn’t use my words today – I could still find ways to talk to the world about what was hurting me. At that point the ATM started printing out Travelers Checks that looked like napkins and an old couple behind me grabbed them and started wiping things down. 

They said that money is just like paper napkins and it could be used to clean up the world but won’t have any affect if there is no one pushing it around and using a little elbow grease.

Tagged , , ,
Apr 07 2010
1 Comment
homeless, kindness, shelters

57 kids homeless in Glendale CA

in 2009.  approximately 250 adults were homeless as well. The number of people served by the Winter shelter program in Glendale was almost double this year from last year.

A couple of times this season I went to The Winter Shelter. It is in the Glendale Armory (having it in Burbank caused a lot of NIMBY-ism) in the main ground floor room. Army cots are set up in rows, a television is in the corner and a couple of food tables are off to the side. When you walk in the door you are met by a friendly but firm security officer who searches your possessions for anything banned or harmful and then you are directed to sign in at the desk.

The process seemed smooth and occasionally eventful – just because any group of people will be unpredictable.  Some clients of the shelter are holding down jobs and sleeping there at night, others may or may not have eaten during the day, some are homeless for the first time and completely overwhelmed.  And almost every night a family or two…or three with children would come to the door and need separate shelter in motels or local shelters.

The Winter Shelter is a special kindness funded by many sources and  a program that often has no where to happen. When the armed services needs to gather the troops in the Armory – those who sleep there have no where to go.

No churches open up their sanctuaries, no temples offer space, and even an empty warehouse or unused office space can make a difference to those with nowhere to go.

Yes, some of the faces are the same each year – but many of them are new and hopefully many of them are also receiving outreach services from The Union Rescue Mission and PATH Achieve so that next year they will be self-sufficient and in housing of their own procurement.

It is possible, and it can be done. But it won’t be done if you have access or know someone with access to space and services but keep this need to yourself.

Speak up. There are 57 homeless children in Glendale that we know of. I promise you that there are well over a hundred. I know this because their parents are my clients.

Volunteer to serve in an outreach agency, ask yourself if you can cause any space to be available for shelter, and let us have fewer children seeking shelter next winter.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 46 other followers