Page 10 - Impact Report

OUR SOLUTION
HOPE GARDENS FAMILY CENTER:
WHERE MOTHERS, CHILDREN, AND SENIORS BLOSSOM
Hope Gardens Family Center is an oasis of hope on 77 acres
in the foothills of Sylmar, California. This transitional housing campus offers a sanctuary to single women and children who are experiencing homelessness and also offers permanent supportive housing for senior women.
Hope Gardens helps women transition from homelessness to independence within 12 to 36 months by offering long-term rehabilitation programs, services, and spiritual care. Precious women and children have a safe place to live while they receive counseling, training, encouragement, and the real help they need to escape homelessness forever.
HOPE GARDENS
A URM FAMILY CENTER
A BRIEF HISTORY
Hope Gardens is a former retirement community, called Forrester’s Haven. Union Rescue Mission purchased the property in 2005, and after a long legal battle with local neighbors and the City of Los Angeles, Hope Gardens officially opened in 2007.
Today, Hope Gardens continues to thrive as a place of miracles and new growth for mothers, children, and senior women.
I found a community of women who supported me, encouraged me, and believed in me.
RAMONA’S STORY
Ramona was born on Skid Row, already addicted to drugs in her mother’s womb. Her life only grew worse from there. As a teenager, traumatized and depressed, she ended up in foster care. After aging out of the system, she wandered lost, depressed, and overwhelmed with anxiety.
“By 26, I was homeless, with one child, another on the way, and I had no idea how to live life,” she says. Then she came to Hope Gardens.
“I found a community of women who supported me, encouraged me, and believed in me,” she says. “I had never experienced that before. Slowly, God started showing up in my life. He said, ‘Don’t give up. I’m here with you and you can do it.’ Today, thanks to Hope Gardens, I’m planning to go to college and start my life for real.”
SEE MORE STORIES FROM SKID ROW
Watch powerful stories of individuals who have found new life at Union Rescue Mission, visit urm.org/stories.
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