Urban Connection

This past week, the Urban Connection bid a bittersweet farewell to two of our regulars, Billy & Michelle, who have recently secured housing that will get them off the streets and on the road to a better life.

For someone without a solid network of family and friends, it doesn’t take much to end up on the street. One missed paycheck, one lost job, one injury, and suddenly things begin to spin out of control.

…having gotten what he came for (an accurate diagnosis and appropriate medication), Robi is ready to go home.

…on his granddaughter’s first birthday, he had come home with a cake and a doll for her, only to find an empty apartment. His daughter was gone, and she’d taken his granddaughter with her. “I became depressed, lost my job, and started living on the streets.” he said. “I came to Los Angeles to live with some friends, but as soon as I ran out of money, they kicked me out.”

…while he slept, Jose had all of his belongings stolen from him: his duffle bag, his clothes, and even his bus pass. Jose nearly broke into tears as he told us “I borrowed 62 dollars from a friend to buy that bus pass. I needed it so I could go out and look for a job…”

I used to be addicted to crack cocaine… I used it every single day. At the time, I was abusing alcohol as well. Today, by the grace of God, I’m clean. I’ve given my life back to God and repented for my sins.

“They just want me to mess up so I can spend the rest of my life rotting in prison… but I won’t do it.”

Our senior case manger, Antonio, recently sat down to talk with one of our guests, Manuel Huerta.
Manuel is a very humble man from Mexico. In 1990 he came to the United States to try and find work so that he could support his parents back home. His father’s income came from selling snow-cones on a [...]

One of our goals at the Urban Connection is to celebrate the success stories of Skid Row, to publicize the things that are going RIGHT for individuals and families in our neighborhood. Today we learned about one such story.
Michael Branch, a former Skid Row resident, stopped by today to talk. Michael lived on the streets [...]

The wheelchair blessing department has been working overtime the last few months at Urban Connection: first, we were able to help Billy coordinate the delivery of his new electric wheelchair, and this past week we were able to help Jaime Torres find a replacement chair as well!
Jaime was born in Kern, California, but was brought [...]