Stories from Skid Row: Angel's story - The Way Home

This month, I wanted to share Angel's story. From trying to stay off the streets by living in a car with his family to being placed in permanent housing, this young man. Watch Angel's Story.

"I've been here at the Mission with my mom for about a month. Nobody knows I'm here; none of my friends are aware. I feel like I would be judged, or people would ask too many questions that I wouldn't want to answer, so I'm considering keeping it to myself. When we were living in our old apartment,
my mom lost her job, and the rent became too expensive, so we left. For a while, we couldn't find a place, so we had to sleep in the back of her truck. One thing people often overlook about homelessness is how challenging everyday tasks become: finding a place to sleep, something to eat, and a place to take a shower. I would be in the back of the truck doing homework while using my phone's hotspot. It was very, very challenging when you don't have a home."

There's no doubt that affordable housing is a significant issue in Los Angeles, with hundreds of thousands of units in short supply. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even people walking around with a voucher from LA County have a hard time finding an apartment where the landlord will accept it. It's a very difficult process, which is why having a safe, stable place to stay while searching for housing is crucial. So we keep saying yes. We never say no, and that has led us to fill not only our fourth floor with families but also to extend to our fifth floor, chapel, and gym.

We're overwhelmed with families, but because of your support, we always say yes, and we never say no.
Thanks to your assistance, we've been able to help more families like Angel's find shelter, transitional housing, and assist them in securing permanent housing.
We could not do this life-changing, life-transforming work without your prayers and support.
Thank you.

Andy Bales
President/CEO