Happy Thanksgiving: Union Rescue Mission Labels LA 'The Homeless Capital of America'

Thousands of homeless people are showing up to Los Angeles’ Union Rescue Mission Thanksgiving week. Last Saturday alone, Union Rescue Mission hosted 3,100 homeless people; an average of 800 people sleep there every night. Rescue Mission CEO Rev. Andy Bales told the Christian Post, “The City of Angels is now called ‘The Homeless Capital of America.’ Skid Row has the greatest concentration of homelessness in all of the country. Half of our folks are women and children, which is the trend around the country that families are the greatest population of homeless people.

Volunteerism has been strong, said Bales – so strong, in fact, that the Mission had to turn some people away. Nonetheless, the sagging economy has meant a tremendous upsurge in Los Angeles’ homeless population.