SHERIFF LEE BACA KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT LOS ANGELES MISSION GRADUATION

Formerly Homeless Men and Women are Honored for Successfully Completing Rehabilitation Program.

August 12, 2005 --- The Los Angeles Mission welcomed Sheriff Lee Baca as keynote speaker at a quarterly graduation ceremony Friday night. The event celebrated formerly homeless men and women for their completion of the Mission's 13-month rehabilitation program. Each was presented with a certificate of completion. Several graduates received a special medallion for earning their GED from the Los Angeles Mission's Urban Training Institute (UTI).

"This event really tells the story of what the Los Angeles Mission is doing every day," said Marshall McNott, the president of the organization. "We serve more than 400,000 meals a year, and provide nearly 100,000 nights of lodging.. But our real calling is to help men and women like tonight's graduates find a renewed purpose in life, and to help them develop the skills to live their lives as productive citizens again. Most all of them came to us addicted, broken people, and now they are physically and spiritually renewed."

The Los Angeles Mission's UTI program focuses on learning and re-learning. Students at UTI are required to spend 2 hours per day in classes to either complete their GEDs, or to build on what they already know. Classes available include computer repair, parenting, Bible history and many other topics. Students also spend time re-learning what it takes to function in society. The program teaches the students how to care for themselves, as well as how to interact with those they live and work with.

This is the first time Sheriff Baca has spoken to a Los Angeles Mission Graduating Class.

Students graduating from the Mission program will go on to a transitional housing program known as Work Start. For the next 12 months they will be provided housing and counseling services as they search for jobs and begin work. Most of their earnings are put into savings accounts, so they can have sufficient funds to get into apartments or other housing at the end of that period.

"All of our services are offered free of charge to our students and guests," McNott noted. "We are blessed with the ability to provide for them through generous donations from thousands of Angelinos. The Los Angeles Mission has never taken any government funding for our rehabilitation and educational services."

Baca commands the largest Sheriff's Department in the United States. He supervises over 15,000 sworn and professional staff. The Sheriff's Department is the law enforcement provider to 41 incorporated cities, 90 unincorporated communities, 9 community colleges, and hundreds of thousands of daily commuters of the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Rapid Rail Transit District.

Baca is also the Director of Homeland Security-Mutual Aid for California Region I, which includes the Orange County. Region I serves 13 million people.

For over 50 years, the Los Angeles Mission has served the people of Hope Central (known as Skid Row), providing emergency services such as shelter, food, clothing, as well as professional medical and dental services. In addition, the Los Angeles Mission also offers long-term residential rehabilitation programs including education, job training/placement, transitional housing and counseling.