Central City East/Skid Row Heights : Downtown Los Angeles

As a child i remember being at a skating rink.....roller skating. There was a huge screen on one of the turnaround walls and videos-music videos were being shown on the screen. A huge roar went up as Michael Jackson's Thriller video was shown and many children stoppped to watch the video. This was a mostly white hick town in east Texas and color did not stop the white folks from being fans. Michael Jackson helped to create a better and closer world. I know that many of his songs have touched me and have helped me in my life. You will be missed.

to learn more go to: The ASHÉ Foundation Partners with TMM On June 24th, Hollywood icons and athletes, Tom Arnold, Kenny Lattimore, Brandon Fobbs, Howard Hewett, Essence Atkins, Claudia Wells, Jonathan Bennett, Teddy Riley, Niecy Nash, Antonio Cromartie, Harry Smith, Ananda Lewis, Saxophonist Mark Allen Fenton will perform, and others will join The ASHÉ Foundation as they wash the feet and place clean white socks and adequate shoes on the displaced and disadvantage men in the courtyard of The Midnight Mission located at 601 South San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Clergy leaders, Pastor Barry Lyons of Living Waters of the San Fernando Valley, Pastor Charles Humphrey of Hope’s House Ministries and Rev. John W. Miller of Community Lutheran Church of Los Angeles along with several members of their church, will also be on site to lend a hand to this day of service. "Homelessness has always been my number one platform,” says ASHÉ Executive Director Dion Fearon....

Sitting in the dining room it is hard not to be at awe with the grand diversity found at the Midnight Mission in Downtown Los Angeles . The Midnight Mission provides many services for people. Many people sit and eat and talk about their sobriety and about how they are getting their lives together. It has been very impressive to see the amount of gay men who are in the program. This month the Midnight Mission highlights one of these men on the front page of their website. Not to say there isn't the feeling of homophobia when one is in skid row. It is every where, but the tolerance that is fostered at the midnight mission is being accomplished. Lindsey , who is on the front page of the Midnight Mission website, is an example of what can happen when we take into account the different lives that are affected by the kindness of strangers. Lindsey and many like him at the Midnight Mission give me strength and the courage to continue to support this oasis for the disenfranchised in a par...