Marci Miller Gives Back: Daytime Actress On Union Rescue Mission, Hope For L.A., And Helping The Homeless

Marci Miller plays Abby on Days Of Our Lives. Despite getting a big break on daytime TV, she has remained humble and focuses on giving back to the community. Recently, the soap opera actress talked about helping the homeless through Union Rescue Mission and Hope For L.A. She explained to Soap Opera Digest that after hearing their stories, it turns out the homeless are not that much different from everybody else.

Union Rescue Mission is a Los Angeles homeless shelter. Miller and her husband, Ryan, live downtown, where is a large homeless community. To Ryan and Marci, it is personal because it is literally outside their front door. Their church also has a program called Hope For L.A., which they have become part of in order to give back to others. The church program helps the marginalized and homeless community in the area. Hope For L.A. has a relationship with URM, which is how the Days Of Our Lives actress got involved.

Marci Miller said the mission allows people to come in, eat, shower, get clothing, and feel safe. If it is over 85 degrees outside, a team will go out and give bottles of water. The organization isn’t just about taking care of the physical needs of the homeless. They also try to help them in more long-lasting and positive ways, too.

“They’re intentional about cultivating relationships with the homeless people and really trying to help them, not just with their basic physical needs, but they try to nurture them and get them to a place where they can kind of reclaim their life. I think what’s great about the mission is that they are always there. They’re such a source of unconditional love.”

When volunteering, Miller and others will arrive in the morning to serve breakfast. The mission serves 10 meals a day and volunteers will either be on the line preparing food for later meals in the day, or cleaning up.

Giving back to the community is important for several reasons. For Marci Miller, she recalls struggling at times in her life. However, she always had somebody there to help her. Paying it forward, she is physically and mentally able to do the same for others now. She explained that even though the homeless culture can be scary, they are not that much different from everyone else.

“The homeless culture can seem frightening, but once you hear their stories, it makes you realize, ‘Man, they’re no different from me. Their circumstances are different, but I’m just a couple of poor choices or a couple of unfortunate circumstances away from being on the street, too.’ As many opportunities as we can find to relate to one another, understand each other and serve one another — that’s what makes us human, and it’s just the most fulfilling thing.”

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Other Days Of Our Lives stars help their communities, too. Arianne Zucker (Nicole Walker) is the co-founder and president of Arrow-Heart Mission, which is a youth adventure camp in Idaho. The organization is planning on creating three more camps in other states. Zucker’s former co-star and real-life boyfriend Shawn Christian (Dr. Daniel Jonas) is in charge of marketing and branding. The purpose of the camps is to help teens make good decisions, build character, instill confidence, and develop critical thinking skills. All of that is done through a challenging outdoor adventure.

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What do you think of what Marci Miller said about the Los Angeles homeless community and giving back?

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