Helping out the Homeless in LA: A Dose of Volunteer Travel

As you all may know, I have done volunteer travel in Tanzania and Thailand with GIVE Volunteers, but this time it was a bit different. This trip was actually with my church over Boise State’s spring break in March 2024, and we partnered with Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. 

Union Rescue Mission is a Christian homeless shelter in the Skid Row region of Los Angeles, and every year, my church partners with them to have volunteers work in their kitchen. The URM serves men, women, and children with food, shelter, education, counseling, and long-term recovery programs. My group and I worked in the kitchen at URM and served the homeless people involved with URM as well as hearing stories from the URM people, which were very inspiring! 

In our free time, we also explored the Santa Monica Pier as well as the Griffith Observatory, and I have those included in this article as well! 

Day 1

Our first full day in LA was also St Patrick’s Day, but sadly we didn’t all wear green. I did, tho! But instead of the bars, we went to the Santa Monica Pier, which was near our stay, to explore and I finally got to ride a ride at Pacific Park! We only went on the West Coaster which was short but sweet! After exploring Santa Monica, my group and I also attended church with the people who hosted our accommodations for the trip. The rest of the day was chill as we had dinner at church, played volleyball with the members, and then got ice cream! We all went to bed early because while going over the schedule, we discovered we had to get up at 6 AM! The next three days we’d be volunteering from 8am-8 pm, but don’t worry, it went by fast every day! 

In my green shirt, haha! 

Day 2

Up bright and early at 6 AM, had breakfast and devotionals and then left for Skid Row at about 7:20, giving ourselves enough time to beat the LA traffic. Tip: Always leave super early whenever traveling in LA! On the way there, we all got a glimpse of downtown Los Angeles: tents flooding the sidewalks, graffiti, trash infiltrating the surrounding areas including the side of the road, and a lot of homeless people wandering around. I was not too surprised at the scene but it was still sad to see how a big chunk of Skid Row lives. But, the moment we arrived at URM the staff took us down to the cafeteria, which looked a lot like a high school cafeteria. Then, we were given a tour of the kitchen and went over volunteer expectations, and put on our hairnets, aprons, and gloves. Yep, we were lunch ladies for the time being! First day was mostly washing dishes, which I enjoyed a lot! It was also something I was used to having worked in restaurants most of my life. We also got a tour of the other parts of URM which included a library, a chapel, beds for the homeless, an office for the employees, and lots of Bible Verses on the wall! The staff at URM also gave us In and Out for lunch and cooked us dinner as well. 

Stereotypical Skid Row in one photo

Hairnet Crew! 

Day 3

Same as yesterday, we woke up at 6 am and left at 7:15 after breakfast and devotions. Threw on our hairnets, aprons, and gloves and started cracking eggs for breakfast prep. I got an Instagram story dedicated to that called “EGG-cellent work y’all!” LOL! This was also the first day we explored URM’s rooftop where we got to see Skid Row from above, which meant a lot of graffiti and trash but it was still nice to get some vitamin D. We also spent some time in the chapel listening to testimonials by URM members and there was one striking pattern: they all came from nothing but when they found God and URM, it changed their entire lives for the better. They all went through various experiences such as growing up in poverty in Belize, losing lots of family members in a short period of time, being a drug addict, etc… Those stories really inspired all of us and showed us that God is truly the answer to everything no matter what! Today we also had leftover food after serving the people sheltered at URM so we took the resourceful approach and handed the leftovers to the homeless people outside! Yesterday we reflected on how it was sad that we didn’t have an unlimited supply of food in the kitchen for everyone but today God smiled on us and gave us the opportunity to distribute it outside of the homeless shelter. In addition, the homeless people in LA were all very friendly and grateful for us and I always got the perception that they were dangerous and always under the influence. That could be because they get a bad rap that as I recently figured out, that they don’t deserve! 

Rooftop view, plus the sun directly in my face! 

Serving spaghetti to people in the street!

Day 4

Final day of volunteering, noooooo! The good news was that the staff at URM made sure we got the most out of our final day and had us start on cutting up chicken. What’s even better is when your hand fits inside the chicken, picture down below! But in honor of our last day, the staff gave us little goodie bags with candy and a URM magnet, and really appreciated us for helping out. There is always an endless amount of work needed to be done in the kitchen and not enough staff to complete it, so having volunteers really increases productivity! My church members and I are not the only volunteers URM has had, volunteers are always welcome and all you have to do is contact URM regarding volunteer opportunities. They would be more than appreciative of that! The URM staff also gave us their goodbyes and hope to see us next year, which I think is very promising. We hated to leave the URM staff to work the kitchen alone, but we hope that more people will be willing to volunteer and/or work there. Good news is that the trip is not over yet! 

My hand in the chicken! 

Us in the URM dining room with the staff! 

Day 5

Fuuuuuun day! The group and I got to sleep in an extra two hours and after devotions, we drove up to the Griffith Observatory where we saw the HOLLYWOOD sign out in the distance! Of course we got a picture there, and then went inside. There were also several buses at the Observatory, allegedly for elementary school field trips, already more interesting than any of my elementary school field trips! Anyway, the inside is full of space inspired exhibits and even an exhibit where you can weigh yourself and see how much you weigh on each planet! Hands down, that was my favorite inside exhibit. Afterwards, our leaders had a surprise for us which had me thinking it was going to be the Hollywood Walk of Fame but it was Korean BBQ instead. Still not complaining, though, it was really good! The restaurant is called Road to Seoul and the most interesting thing about it was that they brought us various pork meat trays where we would cook it on the grill at our table. Reminded me of the BBQ I had back in Thailand where we grilled our own meat! Road to Seoul is fittingly located in the Koreatown neighborhood in Los Angeles, an area definitely worth checking out! After lunch, the group and I went back to Santa Monica and despite it being cold in the late afternoon, we went for a swim in the ocean! Sadly, it is our last day and we leave tomorrow morning but this is a trip to remember for sure. 

Hollywood sign view!

My weight on Mars. So low! 

Found this cutie at Road to Seoul! 

My favorite photo of the group and me! 

Bottom line, this trip taught me that finding God is truly the answer to everything whatever you may be going through, and the homeless people in Skid Row are God’s people as well, and they deserve the support they need. This adventure also went by too fast but URM does a great thing by providing services to an area where it is needed. In addition, if you are in the Los Angeles area feel free to sign up to volunteer with URM by exploring these opportunities: URM Volunteer Opportunities!