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Los Angeles was a very different place in the early twentieth century. Much of the area was verdant, virgin territory of uncommon beauty. The city had barely 320,000 inhabitants in 1910. But Los Angeles was already wrestling with a modern urban problem: homelessness. In 1914, Tom Liddecoat opened Midnight Mission on downtown’s Skid Row. His aim was to feed the homeless and provide them with shelter and a chance at a fresh start.
Fifty years later, Midnight Mission was one of the first organizations the fledgling Norris Foundation supported in 1964. Now, almost one hundred years after its founding, the purpose of the mission has never changed, but the population it serves faces new challenges (such as drug addiction and HIV infection) and its services have broadened. In addition to providing food—three meals a day, seven days a week, to anyone in need—and board, the mission offers drug and alcohol recovery programs, job opportunities, life skills counseling, opportunities for GED certification and higher education, medical care, legal services, and more. The mission is one of the most efficiently run homeless centers in the country, kept spotlessly clean, managed by individuals who have been through the program, and where each guest is treated with empathy and respect.
One of the most successful institutions of its kind, Midnight Mission always has been supported entirely by contributions from the general public. Norris Foundation’s funds are used for general operating support, as they have been since 1964. Having long made do with a tangle of buildings, the mission has outgrown its present facility. A capital campaign to build a new facility of 90,000 square feet (compared to their current 33,000 square feet) is underway to more than double the number of people the mission presently serves and to further expand services to address critical, yet unmet needs.
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