Since 1973, Union Station Homeless Services has helped our 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 our neighbors.  

Union Station started in 1973, 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 pre-eminent homeless services agencies in the San Gabriel Valley and LA 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. We are celebrating 50 years of working in the community with volunteers, staff, donors, and clients to help house thousands of our neighbors,” stated Anne Miskey President and CEO of Union Station Homeless Services. “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, LA’s premiere food and beverage festival on the field of the Rose Bowl on April 2nd. 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.” 

To kick off the Anniversary Year, Union Station announced a 50th Anniversary matching gift challenge! For the next 50 days, every dollar donated will DOUBLE to help support our neighbors in need up to $50,000!  Log on to 50th Anniversary Matching Challenge.

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Union Station Homeless Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to providing permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives. Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, Union Station has been in existence for almost 50 years. Union Station is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families.  Recently expanding into El Sereno and Eagle Rock, we are the lead county agency for Service Planning Area 3 (SPA 3), coordinating homeless services in 36 communities, with a combined population of over 1.5 million across the San Gabriel Valley. Our mission is guided by the belief that everyone deserves a life of dignity and a place to call home.  For more information, visit www.unionstationhs.org.

With over 20 years of professional accounting, Liya Blackwood Carter joins Union Station Homeless Services as CFO to help guide the organization

Pasadena, CA September 20, 2022 – Union Station Homeless Services announced today Liya Blackwood Carter has been named Chief Financial Officer at Union Station Homeless Services. Blackwood Carter will be joining the organization’s Executive Leadership Team and will report directly to the CEO Anne Miskey.

Blackwood Carter has educational background in both law and finance and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Master of Science degree in Finance.  She brings 20 plus years of professional accounting and finance experience to the organization.  In addition, she has more than 10 years in leadership capacity in non-profit organizations focusing on serving vulnerable and low-income populations of adults and families with children, older adults, people with disabilities and veterans.

“Liya Blackwood Carter has deep non-profit financial expertise that will help guide us as our organization grows and we expand our services and geographic footprint leading up to our 50th Anniversary year,” says Anne Miskey, CEO Union Station Homeless Services. 

Blackwood Carter has extensive experience working with federal, state and local government funders, such as HUD, DHHS, VA, FEMA, LAHSA, LA County DMH, etc. She also served 4 years as Treasurer of the Board in non-profit organizations with the focus in education. In 2022 she became a founding Chair and President of a non-profit We Stand United Foundation, which focuses on providing emergency and disaster relief. 

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Union Station Homeless Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to providing permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives. Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, Union Station has been in existence for almost 50 years. Union Station is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families.  Recently expanding into El Sereno and Eagle Rock, we are the lead county agency for Service Planning Area 3 (SPA 3), coordinating homeless services in 36 communities, with a combined population of over 1.5 million across the San Gabriel Valley. Our mission is guided by the belief that everyone deserves a life of dignity and a place to call home.  For more information, visit www.unionstationhs.org.

Everyone seems to have a solution for homelessness but only those who are working in the field and who have experienced homelessness really know what will work and what will not. Join in for an open and frank discussion will address current headlines about criminalizing those that are unhoused, returning to old and antiquated systems that prefer fines and jail time to providing true solutions.

The upcoming Changing the Narrative Series: What Works to End Homelessness brings together four of the leading experts in the sector to share their insights and knowledge on Wednesday, October 26, 5:30 – 7:00 pm  Register to join the Zoom webinar here.

Anne Miskey, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services will moderate a panel of three experts to explore the successes that have been achieved in the homeless sector and why reverting back to old harmful systems will not truly end homelessness.

Eric Ares, Senior Manager of Homeless Strategy and System Change with the United Way of Greater LA
Eric Ares is the Senior Manager of Homeless Strategy and System Change with the United Way of Greater LA Home For Good Initiative (UWGLA). In this capacity he works with public agencies, service providers, community organizations, and people with lived expertise to create policy and system solutions that better serve the immediate service and long-term housing needs of people experiencing homelessness. Prior to joining UWGLA in 2018, he worked as a community organizer, service provider, and policy advocate alongside unhoused and/or extremely low-income residents in the Skid Row/DTLA community.

Gary Blasi, Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA Law
Gary Blasi joined the UCLA faculty in 1991 with a distinguished 20-year record of public interest practice. He was one of the founding and core faculty of the law school’s unique David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. He became a Professor of Law Emeritus in 2013. Since then, he has continued an active public interest practice, working with and for unhoused people, low-income tenants, children in substandard schools, low wage workers, veterans, victims of discrimination, and community organizations dedicated to social justice. Most recently, Professor Blasi co-directed a collaborative effort to create and maintain an on-line eviction defense tool that California tenants can use to prepare and file the court documents required to defend an unlawful detainer (eviction) case and to connect with other tenants.

Dorothy Edwards, Union Station Homeless Services LEAP; Enrichment Services Coordinator at Housing Works of California
Dorothy Edwards is a member of LEAP, Union Station Homeless Services’ Lived Expertise Advisory Panel and serves as the Enrichment Services Coordinator at Housing Works of California. Since 2015 Dorothy has been leading life skills and recovery groups as well as setting up activities and outings.  She also speaks at the national and local level changing how people see the unhoused and advocating for supportive housing as a CSH “Speak Up!” Advocate and a member of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) National Board Member.

Shawn Morrissey, Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Union Station Homeless Services
Shawn Morrissey brings extensive knowledge of the issues involved in addressing homelessness, with nearly 20 years of experience in the field of homeless advocacy, service provision and social justice with a focus on mental health and substance use disorders. As a practitioner of the Housing First model, Shawn brings to bear his experience and knowledge of the best practices and evidence-based models that are crucial to solving homelessness and creating stability and sustainability in these vulnerable populations.

“To truly meet the needs of the individual, we must also address and educate the public about social issues that are at the root of homelessness. Our call to action is encapsulated in the series name and is the goal of each session — Changing the Narrative,” stated Anne Miskey, CEO Union Station Homeless Services.

This is the ninth in the Changing the Narrative Series, a free educational series created by Union Station Homeless Services to deepen community understanding of homelessness and housing. Recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Most Innovative Awareness Campaign within the Los Angeles community, recordings of past webinars and resource guides can be accessed at https://unionstationhs.org/changing-the-narrative-series/.

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Union Station Homeless Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to
providing permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives. Headquartered in
Pasadena, CA, Union Station has been in existence for almost 50 years. Union Station is the San
Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and
families. Recently expanding into El Sereno and Eagle Rock, we are the lead county agency for
Service Planning Area 3 (SPA 3), coordinating homeless services in 36 communities, with a
combined population of over 1.5 million across the San Gabriel Valley. Our mission is guided by
the belief that everyone deserves a life of dignity and a place to call home.  For more
information, visit www.unionstationhs.org.