Andy Bale, the director of Skid Row's Union Mission in Los Angeles, has never seen this before: In just the last few weeks, he has admitted a half-dozen two-parent families, many of who have lost their homes to foreclosure. Bale says the face of Skid Row's homeless is changing quickly.
Because of unemployment and foreclosures, more and more families are seeking assistance from the last place they ever thought they would: a homeless shelter. And as reporter Gloria Hillard found, desperate circumstances are sending people to one of the most desperate places in America, a neighborhood where thousands of homeless congregate, Skid Row in Los Angeles.</s>GLORIA HILLARD: Colin Coquiza(ph) has been in his new job as hospitality director for a little more than a month now.</s>Mr. COLIN COQUIZA (Hospitality Director, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles): You know, sit down and interview our guests as they come in and get them a sense - get them comfortable...</s>GLORIA HILLARD: It's a position for which he's well-qualified. For 15 years, he worked in guest relations at a five-star hotel in Beverly Hills, a world away from here. This is the Union Rescue Mission, located in the heart of Los Angeles' Skid Row.</s>Mr. COLIN COQUIZA (Hospitality Director, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles): So, you can imagine my - the adjustment I had to make mentally from, you know, who's your guest from, you know, Rodeo and Wilshire Boulevard to Skid Row. I always say God has interesting sense of humor.</s>GLORIA HILLARD: Coquiza came into his new job at the Union Rescue Mission after first coming here with his wife and three-year-old daughter seeking shelter. A recent business venture had failed. At the same time, the townhome he was renting was foreclosed on.</s>Mr. COLIN COQUIZA (Hospitality Director, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles): Stayed in a motel for about two weeks. That pretty much tapped out everything we had in savings and then, you know, it was, where do we go from here?</s>GLORIA HILLARD: Coquiza is not alone. Calls to six other shelters in surrounding areas report a 40-to-50 percent increase in families seeking assistance. Gary Blasi is a UCLA professor of law and poverty attorney. He has worked with the homeless for 30 years.</s>Professor GARY BLASI (Law, University of California-Los Angeles): I think we are probably headed into the worst situation that we've ever seen. I think increasingly, when you see two-parent families headed into homelessness, it's entirely a matter of the economy and their having exhausted every other possibility.</s>GLORIA HILLARD: Andy Bales, the director of the Union Rescue Mission, says for those families, a homeless shelter is often the last resort. When I spoke with him, the workload had taken a toll on his voice.</s>Reverend ANDY BALES (Director, Union Rescue Mission): Often, people turn to family until family gets worn out or gets in trouble themselves, or people go to a hotel or an apartment until their resources run dry.</s>GLORIA HILLARD: He says the biggest challenge facing the Union Rescue Mission today is meeting the need, just as it did during the Depression.</s>Reverend ANDY BALES (Director, Union Rescue Mission): We want to live up to our history by stepping up services to the many families that are going to be coming our way now.</s>GLORIA HILLARD: Bales is in the process of converting an administrative floor to rooms that will accommodate 39 two-parent families. There are currently 38 single-parent families at the shelter. Newcomers navigate the halls with their eyes cast down, embarrassed to speak about their situation. Children seem more resilient, appearing from around corners wide-eyed, a new toy in hand. There are few destinations here - the cafeteria, the day rooms where TVs flicker, and the chapel, where every seat is occupied.</s>Reverend ANDY BALES (Director, Union Rescue Mission): When you're facing homelessness for the first time, it's a scary situation. You don't know what's at the end of the tunnel.</s>GLORIA HILLARD: Shelter Director Bales says the biggest challenge for the newly homeless is finding the courage to try again. For NPR News, I'm Gloria Hillard.