Latest news with #UnionRescueMission
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Andy Bales was back at work the day after losing his only leg. Now he's riding RAGBRAI
HARTLEY— Few things slow down Andy Bales. Bales has made a career of working to solve tough human issues, including combating homelessness on Los Angeles' Skid Row, a neighborhood with Los Angeles County's densest concentration of people experiencing homelessness. And he's done so despite challenges that would strain the most determined social crusader. It was in LA on a hot day in 2014 that the Iowa transplant, then president and CEO of the Union Rescue Mission, waded through garbage with an already injured right leg while handing out bottled water to people in need. He contracted a flesh-eating infection that ultimately required doctors to amputate his lower leg in 2016. Then, in 2021, doctors had to remove his left lower leg, "beaten up" from carrying his weight, a condition worsened by complications from Type 1 diabetes. The Los Angeles Times reported Bales was back to work the day after his second amputation. And despite his medical struggled, from 2017 to 2019, accompanied by his wife Bonnie, he made annual bike rides from Los Angeles to the state capital, Sacramento — a 500-mile journey — to raise funds for the mission. Now back in Iowa to run the Children and Families Urban Movement in Des Moines' River Bend neighborhood, he continues to display his resolve and grit as he rides his second RAGBRAI. Just before 11 a.m. Sunday, July 20, Day 1 of RAGBRAI 52, Bales, 66, sporting a blue CFUM jersey, cranked his hand-powered recumbent bike into Hartley, the meeting town midway between Orange City and Milford on a nearly 73-mile journey. He'd endured stiff headwinds and an aching backside, but said he was otherwise looking forward to the second half of the day. 'He's a very giving person' The CFUM team, made up of him and wife, is seeking to raise $10,000 for the children who attend the organization's summer and after-school programs. Bales has spent decades aiding children from underserved communities and people experiencing homelessness, starting in Des Moines, his hometown, at the Door of Faith recovery center, today part of Hope Ministries. "I've just always had a heart for the underdog, the vulnerable, the struggling," he said. "I just cannot bear a child going hungry or someone spending the night on the streets... either wet or hot streets of LA or the cold streets of Des Moines. My heart won't let me leave people in that condition without an offer of help." In 1999, Bales and his wife packed up their van to move their young family to Pasadena, California. Andy Bales, in an early sign of his determined character, said he set out to "solve LA's homelessness crisis." A few years in, Bales was hired to run the Union Rescue Mission. Considered the oldest such organization in Los Angeles and one of the largest in the country, the Christian nonprofit provides shelter and food to adults and children in the Skid Row neighborhood. "My heart was really with the people on the streets," he said, adding that was why he took the challenging job. His wife said his faith-driven devotion to families and children has always been a part of him. "He's a very giving person," Bonnie Bales said. "Just doesn't know a stranger." 11 years later, returning to RAGBRAI with a mission More: New head of Des Moines children and family nonprofit grew up like many kids he now tries to help Aching to spend time with their grandchildren, the couple returned to the Des Moines metro area in 2024. Bales, who said he was unprepared to retire, took the job as executive director of CFUM, which supports children and families in the River Bend neighborhood by providing meals, after-school programs and educational opportunities. The organization marked its 30th anniversary of formal incorporation in 2022, but its roots date back more than 50 years to 1968, when its Breakfast Club program started providing meals to those in need. The Baleses' first RAGBRAI was in 2014. They didn't anticipate repeating the trip — "we're not getting any younger," Andy Bales said. But 11 years later, the duo, who now reside in Clive, felt the pull to return to the ride as a vehicle to spread the word about CFUM. For Bales, his group's mission with the children in Des Moines is the same as Union Rescue Mission's in Los Angeles: "to do whatever it takes to make sure they have a successful life." Bales said Sunday he'd already raised $1,000 of his $10,000 goal. In addition to the organization's summer program for children, the funds will aid an after-school care program that the organization plans to expand to Moulton and Madison elementary schools this fall. "It's not that I just have 10 grandkids," Bales said, "I really feel like the 130 kids at CFUM are my adopted grandkids. … I just want to keep doing what I can to make lots of kids comfortable and happy and have hope and think about possibilities for a very bright future." Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government and Polk County reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@ Follow her on X at @vbarreda2. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 'Heart for the underdog': Andy Bales raises awareness of Des Moines nonprofit Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
5K raises money for organization helping to combat homelessness in Los Angeles
Union Rescue Mission hosted their 'Just Help 1' 5K Run/Walk at Griffith Park on Saturday morning. Saturday's event, the 8th annual edition, raises money for individuals and families experiencing homelessness across L.A., organizers said in a media release. 'Participants will run, walk or cheer as every step supports URM's transformational programs, shelters, meals and long-term recovery services for those in need,' URM officials said. KTLA 5's Erin Myers spoke to Union Rescue Mission CEO Mark Hood just as the 5K officially kicked off on Saturday morning. L.A. City Controller: Immigration raid protests cost taxpayers over $30 million 'It's just a great event…it's a way to not only raise awareness, but 86 cents of every dollar that comes into this event goes back to transforming lives, getting people off the street and helping them find their way home,' Hood told KTLA. 'It's such a crisis…there are more homeless people in Los Angeles County than any other county in the United States by far. It's a big problem, but I'm very happy [to say] we are a solution.' According to the 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, the L.A. County homeless population was estimated to be 73,512. The data also indicated that the City of Los Angeles had a homeless population of 45,252. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
