Here in Los Angeles, in the shadow
of the down town sky line,
is a place called Skid Row.
It is the center of homelessness in this city.
But even here on Skid Row, there
are beacons of hope.
There are people doing amazing things to help.
Today I'm gonna visit one of those places.
We're going to Union Rescue Mission
which is on Skid Row.
Probably gonna be super hard but
we're gonna do this together.
Here we go.
Hi, how're you doing?
- Good, how are you?
- I'm Kelly.
- Nice to meet you. Well welcome
to Union Rescue Mission.
- And like how many people live here?
- Well right now, we're about 1300 people.
- Oh Geez.
- And we only have 800 beds.
And so we started with the gym.
The families were just around the edges.
And now there's so many mattresses,
it's taken up almost the entire gym.
So right now, our emergency services are huge.
- And just the demand for, the need.
- The need.
- There you go.
So how did you come here?
- Well, I'm an addict so, I've been
clean for almost 14 years.
So I was at a bus stop, I know right!
- 14 years, my gosh. That's amazing!
- Thank you.
So I was at a bus stop and I seen
a guy waiting for the bus early in
the morning and I was probably up
for a couple of days in my addiction,
and I just wanted to be normal like him.
And go to work everyday and be there
with my kids.
- Yeah!
- So I got arrested, I went to prison,
I was out of chances and so I
was gonna do some time.
And when I got out, I met folks
here that were willing to give you a second chance.
And they gave me a job, and I
started very humbly in the janitorial department.
And now I work in the public relations department.
- What a success story.
- Thank you.
- Yeah!
- I love my job but my best part of
my day is when I get to go home.
I get to hear "mommy's home".
Best part of my day, honestly
my kids are my absolute pride and joy.
I never take for granted that
I get to be present in their life.
You know. I get to go to their graduation,
I get to be there for their birthdays,
because there were days when I didn't.
When I was arrested I missed every
single one of their birthdays.
And I don't do that anymore. You know.
- Okay.
Everything's fine, I'm not crying.
Everyone please welcome Alexandra
from Union Rescue Mission.
And I wanted to ask you actually,
how is your family? How are you doing?
- They're great, my kids are amazing.
You know, after 14 years clean,
they know that their mom is back.
So that's amazing.
- Yes, that's awesome.
My day at Union Rescue Mission
didn't end there, take a look.
In addition to all the wonderful things
that the Union Mission does, they
have also partnered with an organization
called 'Worthy of Love'.
Together, once a month, they throw
a birthday party for all of the
children with birthdays that month.
All right, all right.
- We're here!
Look at the big birthday party!
- My Gosh!
- I want my party like this.
- Kelly! How are you?
- Nice to meet you!
- How's everybody feeling?
- Some of these kids have never had a birthday party.
Tonight we're gonna give them
something that they'll never forget,
And they'll cherish forever in their hearts.
Are you ready? Lets bring it in guys.
- One, two , three
- [Everyone] Worthy of Love!
- Can I do you? Are you gonna do me?
Yes girl!
Ready?
- So cute!
- My husband right now is so scared,
cause I want this puppy.
Are we gonna go sing? Lets go sing!
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear everybody, y'all
Happy Birthday to you.
- What? Oh my god!
Oh my god!
- Make some noise for yourself one more time.
- All right, so now Kelly has
something for all of you guys.
- Well we wanted to bring something
not just for the birthday kids.
So, we heard that everybody was maybe
interested in some backpacks, some
school supplies and some cool stuff.
So, every kid here is getting one.
Not even if it's not your birthday!
You're gonna get one.
Man this day was so crazy cool.
I thought when I came here, I
was gonna be far more emotional but
it was so much more inspirational.
Everybody is worthy of love and its the
most beautiful message, I'm so
happy to be a part of it.
- (Everyone) Worthy of love!
- It's really, really cool.
Your mom was a social worker right?
She worked with Salvation Army?
- Yeah!
- What'd you learn from her?
- Well, my whole life is kind of
what my mom instilled in us, that
your job is more than that, you know?
It's more than just getting a check.
It's about what you can do to help people,
help people around you.
And it's kind of been instilled
in my comedy and I've worked with
a group myself in the Skid Row called
School on Wheels, are you familiar with them?
Yeah, I love them.
They do after school programming,
and help and guidance for homeless
kids who are at risk.
And it's one of the most things
I'm proud of being a part of.
- That's incredible but, how are things
going down at the Mission right now?
- You know, the number of families are
increasing, the number of tents are increasing.
It's truly a homeless epidemic.
But at Union Rescue Mission, we
were able to help over 6200 precious
souls, of that 1300 being kids.
2700 of that being women, so we're
definitely a safe haven for families.
What Kelly's not telling you is
that she donated a computer lab
for our families.
- (Clapping And Cheering)
- This is truly such a blessing for our families.
We never turn away a woman or a child.
So, to have this computer lab, it's
gonna be such an important resource
for our families, for them to have
their life transformation and success.
So we truly are so grateful Kelly.
- Oh, of course!
Rosalyn and her daughter Dajanay, currently
live a Union Rescue Missions woman's facility.
They're in our audience, thank you so much for being here.
I really, really appreciate it.
- Hi Kelly!
- Rosalyn, how did you end up at Union Rescue Mission?
How's that happen?
- I was homeless for a while.
Predominately residing with my sister,
she was wrongfully evicted.
And so yeah, and so we were on the streets.
I was living in my car.
I had to scramble to find places
for my kids to sleep because I did
not want them sleeping in a car.
My sister told me about the Union
Rescue Mission and I was skeptical
at first, I mean, it's Skid Row.
- (Kelly) Yeah!
- So I was scared, I slept in my
car for a few days.
When I ran out of options for my kids
to sleep, that's when I went down there.
- All right Dajanay, what was it like for you,
when you showed up there?
What was that whole experience?
- I was scared.
I didn't like the environment.
Um, me and my family, we kinda like
kept to ourselves, we didn't want
to talk to anyone, you know.
My mom, she was stressed, you know.
She wouldn't show it but I knew she was hurt.
But as we got used to it, we made
a lot of friends, we did more activities.
My grades have been getting way better,
they were bad before but they've
been way better now.
- It's a really cool thing that you know that too.
You look at your mom and you know she's
hurting, you know it's ...
One second.
It's gonna be good.
It's just a really important thing
that you know that she's working
so hard for you.
I need a minute.
I just love when people are even in
like a situation that's really hard,
you're thinking of others.
We need so much more of that cause wow.
Okay. On a positive note.
Rosalyn I hear that you, like a dream
of yours is to open up a foster care.
Which I think is gonna make me cry more
because it's a really nice thing.
Is it, has that always been a dream?
- For quite some years.
I've taken interest in um, kids
with autism and special needs children.
So I wanna open up my own foster home,
being that I can no longer physically bear children.
I think that would be a great thing.
And that's where the computer lab
comes in to play because now I can
take my child development courses online.
- Oh that's awesome!
- Thank you!
- Bringing me to tears but it's
interesting that you said that though
because actually Alexandra, you're
going for a college degree, right?
- I am.
- Yeah?
- I'm going to community college right
now to get my degree.
My mom came to this country for
a better life for her kids.
So, it really breaks my heart
that she never got to see that.
Um, but, I wanna do it so that, not just for
myself, but to make my mom proud.
- Well, I did hear about, I know that there
was a program at Pepperdine that you
were really in to.
And we talked to our friends at
Pepperdine, and guess what?
Once you finish your final credits,
they're guaranteeing you admission to their
Bachelor of Science and Management program.
- Oh my god! Yay!
- I'm elated for you!
Woo, I'm so excited!
- Thank you.
- And I would love to help y'all out,
thank you so much for coming on today,
and sharing your story.
It's a very hard thing, to share
your story sometimes.