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Union Station Celebrates 50 Years With Gift-Matching Challenge

First published in the Jan. 26 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.

Since 1973, Union Station Homeless Services has helped the most vulnerable community members rebuild their lives and end homelessness.
This year, the organization is celebrating 50 years of working in the community with volunteers, staff, donors and clients to help house thousands of the community’s unhoused neighbors.
To kick off the anniversary year, Union Station announced they will be initiating a gift-matching challenge. Thanks to the generosity of the James J. and Sue Femino Foundation and the M.A. and Josephine Grisham Foundation, for the next 50 days, every dollar donated will double to help support those in need ― up to $50,000. To give a gift, participants can visit to ushs50.funraise.org.
Union Station was started by a local faith group who were upset by the reality of people in their community living on the streets. After a few years as a faith-based program, the group formalized as an independent, legally constituted nonprofit organization in 1984, with its own board of directors and full-time staff. In the early years, the organization was primarily focused on providing emergency supportive services such as meals and shelters.
Today, Union Station has grown to be one of the preeminent homeless services agencies in the San Gabriel Valley and L.A. County, with a thriving agency of nearly 300 staff members working to permanently house individuals and families.
“This upcoming year is a special time for Union Station Homeless Services,” President/CEO Anne Miskey of Union Station Homeless Services. “We are celebrating 50 years of working in the community with volunteers, staff, donors and clients to help house thousands of our neighbors. This is also an opportunity to look forward to a time when all our neighbors have a safe and healthy home, and our communities value the humanity and dignity of everyone.”
Several events are planned throughout the year to celebrate the agency’s continuing impact in the community. The first big event is Masters of Taste, L.A.’s premiere food and beverage festival on the field of the Rose Bowl on April 2. Join everyone on the 50-yard line to celebrate 50 years of service in the community. Get your tickets at mastersoftastela.com.
“Our current homelessness crisis has been generations in the making,” said Jesse Torres, chair of the Union Station Homeless Services Board of Directors. “And it will take all of us, working together, to address the systemic causes that lead thousands of people to lose their housing every year. We look forward to using our milestone year to engage, activate and empower our community to take action to end homelessness.”

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