Union Rescue Mission

Claudia Peschiutta BURBANK -- Everything from a framed photograph of Detroit Piston Grant Hill to a boxing glove autographed by Evander Holyfield could be no more than a telephone call away today. An on-air auction on Radio KIEV-870 AM's "Marino in the Morning" show will put sports memorabilia, weekend getaways, restaurant gift certificates and other items up for bid. The event will help raise money for the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. The auction will be held from 6 to 10 a.m. Last year's auction raised about $15,000, a figure the station hopes to outdo by at least $5,000, said Dave Armstrong, KIEV vice president and general manager.

GLENDALE — The search is on for a new winter homeless shelter site after a state official Wednesday said the National Guard Armory in Burbank, which has hosted the program for the past two years, would be unavailable for at least a year. The Glendale Armory on Colorado Street has been offered up to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which administers the emergency winter shelter program, as an alternative site, Sgt. Major Lawrence Ellsworth said. The confirmation came on the same day that homeless service providers met with Glendale and Burbank city officials to discuss the most recent winter shelter program, which has taken some political heat after a group of Burbank residents complained about its effect on the neighborhood.

A tall man leaned against the fence outside, taking a long drag from his cigarette. Inside, a group of older men huddled around a big screen, while others pulled crisp white sheets from a large plastic bag and folded them over collapsible, Army-style cots. “Come Monday, they won’t know what hit them,” said Zip Pearson, a homeless man who calls himself the winter shelter’s only “super volunteer.” “These people don’t spell the word ‘homeless’ the same way you do. A lot of them don’t associate it with drugs and alcohol.

CITY HALL — Burbank officials Thursday warned that the winter homeless shelter near Bob Hope Airport that serves an average 107 transients nightly may be rejected next year unless swift efforts were made to address neighborhood complaints. The warning came two weeks after the Burbank City Council grilled representatives of the shelter’s operator, the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, on several apparent mishaps and neighborhood nuisances, including loitering and public urination, which were supposed to have been avoided with the “bus in, bus out” approach.

WINTER SHELTER CLOSING REPORT The City Council on Tuesday will hear a closeout report from representatives of the Union Rescue Mission concerning the winter shelter, which came under fire when neighbors of the National Guard armory at 3800 Valhalla Drive complained about loitering and drug and alcohol use. Carrie Gatlin, vice president of government relations and special projects for the Union Rescue Mission, will present the report, which...

CITY HALL — County officials have contracted with Los Angeles-based Union Rescue Mission to again operate this year’s homeless winter shelter at the Burbank armory, less than a year after a last-minute push to host the shelter there forced community dialogue over the city’s role in homeless services. The commitment comes three months earlier than it did last year, when county officials were scrambling to find an alternative to the Glendale National Guard Armory, which had hosted the tri-city area shelter for more than a decade but was unavailable amid major renovations.

CITY HALL — Residents blasted the City Council on Tuesday for continuing to support the operation of a winter homeless shelter near Bob Hope Airport after police discovered four sex offenders had stayed there. Council members responded with firm criticism of shelter operator Union Rescue Mission for being misleading about its previously stated policies of screening shelter residents and prohibiting walk-ins to prevent homeless people from walking through the community surrounding the National Guard Armory, where the program is taking place.

BURBANK — The Union Rescue Mission that runs the winter homeless shelter at the Burbank Armory plans to appeal to city and state officials soon for increased shelter aid, expecting a Depression-scale increase in homelessness. “We’ve been speaking out to public officials, but I don’t think anybody is quite ready to see the gravity of this,” said Andy Bales, chief executive of the Union Rescue Mission, which runs a number of shelters in the Greater Los Angeles area.

The homeless winter shelter in Glendale has avoided a budget shortfall after the Burbank City Council approved $16,410 for a local outreach coordinator. EIMAGO, a subsidiary of the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles, also asked Burbank to help cover the cost of transporting homeless clients to the National Guard Armory in Glendale. "There are limited services available to the homeless in [Burbank]," said Carrie Gatlin-Siqueiros, vice president of government relations for the Rescue Mission.

BURBANK — A group of passionate residents filled a public hearing Thursday to argue that the city’s winter homeless shelter caused loitering and drug and alcohol use in the neighborhood, while others insisted the shelter provided a needed service to a new class of homeless hit hard by the recession. About 100 neighbors of the winter shelter converged on the Fire Training Center to speak directly to the City Council and shelter directors and to articulate concerns about the safety of the area.

WINTER SHELTER FINAL REPORT 2008-09 The council heard a final report from representatives of the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles regarding the winter homeless shelter, which came under fire when neighbors of Burbank?s National Guard armory at 3800 Valhalla Drive complained about loitering, drug and alcohol use and sex offenders wondering into their neighborhoods. Neighbors of the armory took the meeting as another opportunity to voice their displeasure with certain members of the council as well as representatives for the shelter?

BURBANK — City officials and neighbors of the National Guard Armory, which for the past two winters has hosted a homeless shelter, breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday after learning that the armory would be unavailable for at least one year. The National Guard plans to deploy both military units operating out of the Burbank armory to the Middle East this summer for about one year, Sgt. Major Lawrence Ellsworth said last week. Activated armories are unavailable to the public.

GLENDALE — The search is on for a new winter homeless shelter site after a state official Wednesday said the National Guard Armory in Burbank, which has hosted the program for the past two years, would be unavailable for at least a year. The Glendale Armory on Colorado Street has been offered up to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which administers the emergency winter shelter program, as an alternative site, Sgt. Major Lawrence Ellsworth said. The confirmation came on the same day that homeless service providers met with Glendale and Burbank city officials to discuss the most recent winter shelter program, which has taken some political heat after a group of Burbank residents complained about its effect on the neighborhood.

A tall man leaned against the fence outside, taking a long drag from his cigarette. Inside, a group of older men huddled around a big screen, while others pulled crisp white sheets from a large plastic bag and folded them over collapsible, Army-style cots. “Come Monday, they won’t know what hit them,” said Zip Pearson, a homeless man who calls himself the winter shelter’s only “super volunteer.” “These people don’t spell the word ‘homeless’ the same way you do. A lot of them don’t associate it with drugs and alcohol.