Living in a Skid Row Tent: Alayna’s Story | Union Rescue Mission - mini documentary 

the case worker for alayna is real, a hug can go a long way. God bless her

I went to Job corps at 17 until 21, kept me from being homeless and got my GED and job training. They should tell more homeless kids that option

Like I ALWAYS say: LA, warm weather, cold hearts

This was about 4 years ago. I wish we had an update on her and how the mission is doing. I get these recommended videos so late that I didn't even realize how much time had passed. I hope nothing but the best for her. 🌸

God bless her..she is so young please God help this woman.

you can feel the love hurt and concern in that ceo God Bless that mans work

I truly understand why she doesn’t want to sleep inside... I would not leave my puppy, wherever I go my puppy go as well.

This girl needs motherly love and someone to guide her, she is full of bad choices. God be with her. ❤

"I've learned a lot about life. It's not so much what you've been through, but it's how you respond." That's deep and will stick with me. I needed to hear that. I hope Alayna is well. She seems like a wonderful, capable young woman.

I think she choose not to take the cot because of her dog.

I feel for her. I wouldn't want this for my daughter.

I'm 79 and have had hard times but made sure I had a roof over my head and my kids didn't go without. I worked on some bad jobs. But now with the price of rent and food going up like it has I can see why people are homeless. My MA always said she felt sorry for the little ones coming into this world and now I see why. I now share a place with my son and his wife and son. On my SS I can't make it by myself. Bless you all God take care of you. 😇😇😇😇

Best of luck to you, young lady.... Nobody can judge you unless they're walked in your shoes.... God speed

I bet the reason she didnt take a cot was because of her 🐕....😢

It's a shame people do not understand? I am one of the lucky ones and am grateful, help with understanding, forgiveness and compassion to all.

And here we are invading Iraq, Afghanistan and trying to tell the world how to live.

This is a travesty...I was homeless for three years in Florida and I can relate to much of what she said. There is never a relaxing moment and just showering and eating takes planning. You are put in survival mode and your always in fight or flight mode. My father eventually took me in and helped me get back in my feet. I remember going in and sitting in a restaurant right after I left the streets. People were having normal conversations and eating family meals. It was a scene so out of the norm for me that I had an anxiety attack and had to leave. Three years later, with the proper psych drugs and support, I feel like a human being again. I want to pay it forward so I have begun volunteering at a nearby homeless shelter. I want every person to know that they do matter and they are not invisible.

I would like to know where this young woman is today in 2020

And $6 trillion spent in the middle east and countless Good young men lost for what..charity starts at home.

All this is sucking me in. Video after video. It’s got me in tears right now! I want to help so bad. Dear god please wrap your arms around all these souls and build them up and into a home 🙏 ❤️

49 blocks!!!!!! I never knew it was that bad.

I have been trying to help a homeless lady for a few years. She is a victim of domestic violence. Used to be an architect but then turned to alcohol. She later became a Christian and I met her at church. My husband and I helped her with some portion of tuition and she got a degree in theology. We also helped her to pay for a smartphone for a couple of years. But the reality is that she is trapped in a victim mentality disorder. People at church help her. She stays at their houses but she doesn’t work regularly. She works part time for a low wage and it’s not enough for her to get her own place. From time to time she calls and asks for money. Then she is on the streets sleeping in the park. Her kids do not talk to her. Her siblings too. She looks normal. She is intelligent but she is messed up. she thinks because she is a victim the world owes her. I do not see any effort from her to find the way out. I suspect she likes that people feel sorry for her. When one church figures it out she finds another church. Christians are kind people. Now she stays with elderly couple in TX. She called me a couple of days ago. She cried and asked for money. I told her that she is not a victim and I am not sorry for her because her situation is the result of decisions she took. She blames her parents, ex husband and blah blah. No responsibility for her own actions. And I told her that she is able to become independent, get a job, get her own place. She keeps whining. I pray for her. What else can I do?

Thank You Rescue Mission for helping people. May God truly bless you all.

When he said we all need to work together to make sure not one precious human being is suffering on the sidewalk. I felt that. Brought tears to my eyes because he's so right. No one deserves this.

Continue to guide this group to helping people off the streets. Its the first step to a caring and peaceful world. I swear this is what God was asking of us and he will return.

It smells so bad down on Skid Row. My church and I made over 600 burritos. 300 cupcakes. And brought water. We went tent to tent and gave it to the Homeless. There are elderly people living on the sidewalk. Skid Row is blocks and blocks of people living in tents.

She seems like such a sweet soul ): I just wanna give her a hug

God bless her, and all the people in skid row, everyone has a story and a trauma, a reason of why, how they end up there.

Most these homeless in California are from other states. I've talked to service providers from both the bay area and southern California.. and they have been telling me how other states encourage their homeless to come here! Now the rich cities in California are sending their homeless to the central valley where we dont have the adequate resources to help them. It's a sad situation and getting worse by the day!

I am so ashamed to see this in the USA.

I live in LA, trust me, you’ll feel no glitz and glamour, the atmosphere is dark and ominous from all the death and broken dreams

This makes me thankful for my life and my struggle

Thank God for URM and the work of Rev. Andy Bales and his staff for what they do for those in LA Skid Row.

An absolute tragedy... it is incomprehensible that so many are suffering in one of the richest country’s on the planet.. my prayers are with all these people🙏🙏🙏

broke my heart...or rather rebroke it. I cry when I see this...anyone who is a homeless person.

She is such a beautiful young woman. I pray she gets off the streets and stays off and makes a good life for herself that she deserves.

I volunteered at the midnight mission. Such a rewarding thing to do. I wish I could help more but California is so expensive.

We have a very small percentage of homeless where I live in Ohio. I have seen documentaries where people will not go to even emergency shelters when it is 30 below zero. Some have been so severely abused as children, etc they do not trust anyone. Most say if they take their tents down and their belongings inside, they are all stolen by morning. There are no locked facilities or place to store your stuff. That is all she has. This is probably why she stays on the street.

“It’s not what you’ve been through, but how you respond”. So true!

What a wonderful woman She is. Everyday bringing Gods hope to these women. I saw the Union Rescue Mission featured on Fox News with Harris Faulkner. Dr Ben Carson Secretary of HUD toured the area and promised funds are on the way. I bet we can all afford something, $1, 5 or whatever. This is God’s work here. Thank you Union Rescue Mission

Bless you for helping these people.

Wow, what he said about NY homeless vs LA knocked me about! You certainly don’t have tent cities in NY or a Skid Row like California has!

What truly breaks my heart is seeing those little toddlers and kids out there living like that. I feel bad for everyone out there, but seeing those little babies surrounded by such chaos brings me to tears 😢

God bless her. I hope she gets to safety. She deserves a good life... She just needs support .

ENOUGH RICH AND FAMOUS PEOPLE CAN HELP

This is the real American dream. This is really sad. My dream is waking up from this and finding human beings not living like this in America or any other place on this planet.

Alayna god bless you girl..may god bless u with everything you need housing clothes food& ppl that love& care about you..love you& here's a HUG🤝

I am so happy God put this mission in the heart of the CEO. This mission is serving an honorable purpose. I pray many will give for it to continue and enlarge so that homeless can't live on the streets, nor even have tents on the streets but a dignified place to live.

Its amazing to me that you have all these people living like this in LA right under the nose so to speak of all those Hollywood actors/actresses who are so quick to donate to 3rd world countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Don't get me wrong that's great. But w that said maybe we should ya know take care of our homeland first then maybe extend help to the rest. But I dono that's just 1Mans opinion.

Thank you!! Bless you!!

I asked God to help guide this young woman, her eyes reflect the warmth of her soul...may God watch over you on your journey...the greater truth...we all agree before we came here to what we wanted to experience and learn from...we would have learned nothing living in the Garden of Even,

WOW GOD BLESS YOUNGER PEOPLE MAKE ME CRY 😢 HOW THEY DESTROY THEIR LIFE ❤️🙏😢I have 2 children 28 and 27 and 3 grandchildren GOD BLESS THEM

Alayna is well off for Skid Row, she has a nice tent in a good location that might sound like nothing but some people have nothing just the clothes on there back.

I don't wish skidrow on anybody..I skateboard through there and came out with no skateboard..😭

Hi Alana ... This is Michelle from NJ. We met at the WHH. I hope you are doing good by now. I’m praying for you!

I use to volunteer at the union in 2013 and as a 2 time combat veteran I was horrified, not because of the poverty but the fact it was in America.

I do appreciate the compliment but I buy sports coats at Men's Wearhouse when on sale for around $100 or buy one get one free and my pants on sale at Costco. I've never ever even bought a full suit or Tux for a special event in my life for more than $300. Thanks for watching and weighing in, though. Blessings, Andy B

This is heartbreaking. I pray that God would make an impact on these people's lives and they would overcome poverty and addiction. 💔🙏

I can tell Alayna is a good person who happened to have bad decisions in life I hope you get out from the hard situation you are in, hugsss

Those case managers are frickin awesome.

“Everybody thinks it’s fun down here because you have access to drugs and alcohol”. That statement she made says it all

I live in North East Italy and, I swear, I'm totally shocked by this video! 😳 I could not imagine this kind of situation in LA! Nowadays poverty is a reality in my country too, but fortunately not at this level. I really hope these people will have a second chance 🙏

GOD BLESS YOU YOUNG LADY. I pray that you get off the streets. 😍😍😍

I was homeless for four years babe and I have now got my own place I have been it six months you will get what you want I will pray for you you're very brave and you ate right you do deserve better than this good luck

I don't know why the government, city council, assemblymen, can't do something about this problem. This is unacceptable in any city in this country, totally unacceptable. I'm from NYC, and there's no way our mayor, assembly, or city council would ever except this. Not to say we don't have homelessness in NY, but never to this magnitude, and sleeping out on the street, with tents, NEVER. I don't no any other city that would allow this!!!

*My goodness I just saw a video blog where people are showing off how they live extraordinary lives and then I landed here, showing off people never think that this can happen to them one day a life can change from rich to poor?*

AWWW THAT MADE ME CRY WHEN THE WOMEN HUGGED HER AND GAVE HER A HUG ❤

How touching, the people in this City are Humane. Amazing people.

She chooses to be out there and has a lot more than most out there. There's some really sad cases out there, people with nothing at all and nobody

Thanks Union Rescue Mission Great Video!You People really have a heart!Everyone in s quick to blame for why there is a problem but few will actually help to solve the problem.Hopefully with this information out now people will wake up and realize that homelessness can happen to anyone.When I was a kid my family went homeless for a little while because our house had caught on fire.We did get another home a few months afterwards thank god and a lot of the times we were able to get a hotel room thanks to the Red Cross.I come from a family with 6 kids and 2 parents of course so a hotel room wasn’t very comfortable either.Drug treatment and job training would help a lot of these people I would think also!I remember when we wasn’t able to get a hotel room also and we all slept in My fathers Van tough times that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

to the men and women who support these homeless individuals - you are true angels. To those lost souls out there, God speed and I hope your safe

Oh I thank God for this place and all the places around like this! Oh this touches my 💙! I pray for all!! Please change hearts in LA and all over our world!

Alayna, You deserve a better life. I hope you move on soon.

Bless you I'm so sorry life lead you here .✝☮💜Hope you find everything you wish for .🌹🌹♦♦♦♦♦

Keep FIGHTING ALAYNA And Dont Give Up..I WAS HOMELESS For a Year and a Half my Wife also For about 8 MONTHS..We Lived ina SHELTER For 6 Months Cuz We COULDN'T get Pre-Natal care on the STREET and We Made the Best of IT..We Did Make it OUT of the HOMELESS Living SITUATION and that Was 10 YEARS AGO and We've been Keeping OUR Heads Above the HOMELESS Water Ever SINCE...Keep Positive..Know Its HARD..Keep the LIFE Fight Alive and You Will Make it OUT✌✌✌

God bless those people they're helping. God bless those people who need the help.

Clever video. Make you cry then donate at the end.

God bless that young lady and here dog to

God bless you, Rev Bales and the URM for what you are trying to do for these people and our city. Why oh why?

they won't let her in with the dog I bet. she has a big heart.

Keep your chin up darling, it's going to happen for you soon and when it comes grab it with both hands, bless you.....

How heartbreaking to see this in my nation. The richest most powerful nation ever known and this is how we let people live. Many of those people need mental health help. Others just made bad decisions but you should not be punished your whole life because of mistakes you have made.

Alayna is so beautiful and sweet. I feel for her, praying things get better 😔

It is just as sad, just as bad if anything its even more heartbreaking to see Skid Row in person 💔

so many ppl with millions of dollars while there are a lot ppl in the streets GOD will bring his justice

This breaks my heart 💜 because I was there because of circumstances beyond my control it was horrible.

She’s not a victim of anything other than her own choices

Very sad situation for homeless people. God bless you.

I believe truth without love is distorted truth. None of us are perfect? How about you?

LORD Have MERCY. THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS. SAD. Just UNBELIEVABLE.

She seems like such an awesome person to I hope she got housing and went to school she's a good person she deserves the best in life

Thank you for sharing and praying for all people to be kind to one another

This is heaetbreaking!!

I live in Atlanta. I’ve seen homeless/drug addicts walk around...my goodness...Is this America????

Bless her heart. Her case worker is amazing. She truly wants to help other

It's not so much what you've been through It's how you respond This spoke deep to me..those words are so wise.

I was homeless twice in Los Angeles during the 80's but it was no where near this bad. The Northridge quake threw me over to Phoenix. Homelessness has increased 170 percent since the actor became President. We bail out other countries an spend billions of dollars on death and destruction, while this becomes a third world country. The situation is getting worse here as well. This is deplorable! Have made videos on this issue with hope it will wake people up.

The bf that told her to sell her virginity really sounds like a winner. Why would she do that? Looks to me like she isn't very bright and is easily influenced.

I genuinely wish I could help resolve the homelessness problem in LA 😭 these are good people who are suffering mentally and they don't deserve it.

When I was a college student I used to go down to Skid Row in 2003. I went to Biola University and every week students and I we would and bring one of our meals that was donated from our meal plans. We try to pack as many calories as we could in them and then we'd deliver them but it wasn't just delivering meals we would actually sit down and talk with people. Wasn't afraid of the homeless because I served with my family and a soup kitchen where my church would go every Friday. We actually were low-income family so after we serve the homeless we would also eat in the back of the kitchen because we didn't want the homeless people to feel uncomfortable with us eating. There is only one time I sat down to eat and it was when my classmate came in with his family. The area I grew up in was Hispanic Latino and black and the school but I attended there were few white kids but not many. I knew what it was like to feel hungry every night. Welfare just isn't enough to make sure that your kids are eating enough. And when you're on welfare and your mom works they cut your benefits so there's even less. So one day I said Mom can I go sit with that family over there because that's my classmate she said okay Meg no problem. It's actually I went to serve them and I had a fifth plate and I asked if I could sit down with them. When he saw the explain it made him feel more comfortable. What was really interesting was he used to bully me. I never felt angry because Jesus said love your enemies and do good to them. I told him I said my mom's a single mom and there's four of us and every Friday we here. I said my mom's assistant manager and we come with our church and my mom and all four of us including my little sister who's 7 helps. I'll never forget that but I thought you know after the 90s I thought things would get much better know they've only gotten worse. How is it that a state like California can't and poverty I mean really? Start with people who aren't addicted to drugs and alcohol. Families that are down on their luck. I know people have to want to get off drugs and alcohol. I understand that so many that don't do drugs and alcohol do you know they may smoke cigarettes and they may not even smoke that.