Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Shelter officials seeking more aid
Winter site that houses the homeless has seen a sharp rise in visitors this year, leading to the need for additional resources.
By Nalea J. Ko
BURBANK — Burbank winter shelter officials are requesting further resources to meet the needs of an explosion of families needing assistance.
“Our numbers are much higher this early in the season. We’ve had more families show up in three days than we had in the entire 3 1/2 months last year,” said Andy Bales, chief executive of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission.
Bales said the number of two-parent and single-parent families requesting help from the organization is increasing. As the holidays roll around, he and fellow officials are seeking money, food, hotel vouchers and volunteers, among other things.
“It’s the economic situation — foreclosure, unemployment,” Bales said. “I think it’s just the start.”
With an annual budget of more than $19 million, the Union Rescue Mission runs four winter shelters, but resources are quickly waning.
“We could use all the help we could get, especially with our vouchers being used for hotels. We’ll soon be out of vouchers and having to use donations to put families in hotels,” Bales said.
The shelter, housed in the National Guard Armory, takes only single men and women, while families are diverted to hotels in the area. About three families have been placed in hotel rooms through the program as of this week. Hotel vouchers are distributed through the Los Angeles Housing Authority.
“It’s a sign of the times.” Bales said. “It’s the worst it’s been in my 23 years of working in the area of homeless.”
In addition to finding hotels for families in need, organizers are also looking for a temporary shelter to house residents when the National Guard conducts training at the armory in January and February.
About 40 residents at the Burbank winter shelter were relocated over the weekend to facilitate National Guard training exercises. The relocation was only temporary, and residents returned Monday to Burbank, but some residents ended up being displaced when they decided not to move.
Originally, residents were scheduled to be sheltered in the Burbank Salvation Army during the training exercises. At the last minute, guests were bused to the Union Rescue Mission’s downtown Los Angeles shelter.
Some residents were upset by the change and decided not to stay at the alternative location in the downtown shelter’s gym, said Gale Madyun, program director of the Burbank winter shelter.
“We lost a lot of the people in the move,” Madyun said. “It’s very upsetting because a lot of our guests, they come from this area [downtown Los Angeles], and they didn’t want to go back. The Burbank arena allows them an opportunity to be in a small location to try to get settled and feel some security.”
The shelter in the National Guard Armory, barring the weekends when training is scheduled, is set to open in the evenings from Dec. 1 to March 15.
“We knew from the start that the National Guard had training on some particular weekends through the winter shelter. So we worked with the mayor to find an alternate location,” Bales said.
The city’s winter shelter will likely relocate again for three days in January and February. City officials and shelter organizers have yet to secure a facility.
“I hope it doesn’t happen every month,” Bales said. “The mayor is probably working on that. If we have to, we’ll go back to downtown.”
Mayor Dave Golonski said he plans to speak with the Union Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army to make sure no one is left out in the cold.
“We’re certainly working with them,” Golonski said. “And we are hoping we can find a local solution.”
“I would certainly encourage everyone to help out this holiday season,” Golonski said. “There are a lot of opportunities to do that.”
“Our numbers are much higher this early in the season. We’ve had more families show up in three days than we had in the entire 3 1/2 months last year,” said Andy Bales, chief executive of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission.
Bales said the number of two-parent and single-parent families requesting help from the organization is increasing. As the holidays roll around, he and fellow officials are seeking money, food, hotel vouchers and volunteers, among other things.
“It’s the economic situation — foreclosure, unemployment,” Bales said. “I think it’s just the start.”
advertisement
“We could use all the help we could get, especially with our vouchers being used for hotels. We’ll soon be out of vouchers and having to use donations to put families in hotels,” Bales said.
The shelter, housed in the National Guard Armory, takes only single men and women, while families are diverted to hotels in the area. About three families have been placed in hotel rooms through the program as of this week. Hotel vouchers are distributed through the Los Angeles Housing Authority.
“It’s a sign of the times.” Bales said. “It’s the worst it’s been in my 23 years of working in the area of homeless.”
In addition to finding hotels for families in need, organizers are also looking for a temporary shelter to house residents when the National Guard conducts training at the armory in January and February.
About 40 residents at the Burbank winter shelter were relocated over the weekend to facilitate National Guard training exercises. The relocation was only temporary, and residents returned Monday to Burbank, but some residents ended up being displaced when they decided not to move.
Originally, residents were scheduled to be sheltered in the Burbank Salvation Army during the training exercises. At the last minute, guests were bused to the Union Rescue Mission’s downtown Los Angeles shelter.
Some residents were upset by the change and decided not to stay at the alternative location in the downtown shelter’s gym, said Gale Madyun, program director of the Burbank winter shelter.
“We lost a lot of the people in the move,” Madyun said. “It’s very upsetting because a lot of our guests, they come from this area [downtown Los Angeles], and they didn’t want to go back. The Burbank arena allows them an opportunity to be in a small location to try to get settled and feel some security.”
The shelter in the National Guard Armory, barring the weekends when training is scheduled, is set to open in the evenings from Dec. 1 to March 15.
“We knew from the start that the National Guard had training on some particular weekends through the winter shelter. So we worked with the mayor to find an alternate location,” Bales said.
The city’s winter shelter will likely relocate again for three days in January and February. City officials and shelter organizers have yet to secure a facility.
“I hope it doesn’t happen every month,” Bales said. “The mayor is probably working on that. If we have to, we’ll go back to downtown.”
Mayor Dave Golonski said he plans to speak with the Union Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army to make sure no one is left out in the cold.
“We’re certainly working with them,” Golonski said. “And we are hoping we can find a local solution.”
“I would certainly encourage everyone to help out this holiday season,” Golonski said. “There are a lot of opportunities to do that.”
Save/Share
 |
 |
|
| Winter shelter opens doors | Heart study IDs smoking |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of burbankleader.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
Not registered yet?
RSS