It’s pretty depressing being homeless,” Terry says, but you can tell his simple statement hides a lot of pain.

Before joining our program at the Orange County Rescue Mission, Terry had been living on the streets for three years. But he’d been an alcoholic long before that. “All I wanted to do was drink,” he explains. “Even when I was first married, I drank. It just got worse and worse. I was obsessed and didn’t care about anything.”

Drinking cost Terry his job. Then his wife walked out. “She said she’d had enough of my drinking. She was all I had, but she couldn’t take any more. She just left. We got divorced. We were married three years.” Three months later, Terry was homeless.

“Homelessness is tough,” he remembers. “Cops harass you. I took cans and bottles from dumpsters and recycled them for fast-food money. Maybe I’d go to a soup kitchen. But sometimes I’d go two days without food and just drink. “Drink to live, live to drink. That was me,” he says. “I hate even talking about it now. There was a strip mall in Garden Grove that didn’t have any security,” he continues. “I’d sit in an elevator and drink until I passed out. Early in the morning I’d take off. I was down and out, but I did it to myself.”

Through it all, however, Terry held on to one thing. “I was a backslidden Christian, and I always wanted to come back to the Lord,” he says. “I really became convicted about how I was living. Like the prodigal son, I wanted to come home. That’s when Terry came to us, and asked to join our program.

Today, Terry lives at the Village of Hope. “I’m strong in the Lord and putting on the armor of God every day,” Terry says now. “I don’t have the desire to drink any more. I’m learning about diabetes and how to take my insulin. And I want to go to school and get a skill. All the jobs I had before were janitorial. I don’t really have any skills. “When I was on the streets, I always knew I could change, but alcohol had me,” he continues. “‘You cannot serve two masters,’ the Bible says. Alcohol was my master then. But now my master is Jesus Christ.”

Your support made this possible. Terry is grateful for you this Thanksgiving, and so are we. Thank you for helping change lives!

Jeff went from lies to addiction to suicide attempts,
but now says, “God has restored my sanity.”

You’ll never know what it’s like until that door slams shut and you can’t get out,” Jeff says sadly. “I really wanted to reach for that cop’s gun and just shoot myself. I spent that Christmas in the psych ward.”

It was the low point in Jeff’s dizzying fall from success and happiness. Just a few years before, he says, “I was spending money like it didn’t matter. I had a nice job. Didn’t drink or do drugs. Went to church. I could fly my brother to Minnesota for Christmas with the family. It was good.”

The next year, Christmas wasn’t so nice. Jeff had moved to California for a new job, and the pressure was getting to him. Only he knew he had lied on his job application, claiming qualifications he didn’t have. It was only a matter of time until his boss discovered the lie. But before that could happen, Jeff suffered a devastating workplace injury, shattering his leg and shoulder and leaving him unable to work. As quickly as that, his high-living lifestyle was a thing of the past. Facing not only physical pain but also the demons of his lies and lost lifestyle, Jeff developed an addiction to painkillers. That was when he tried to kill himself and was locked in the psych ward.

By Christmas 2007, a place opened for him at the Orange County Rescue Mission. “Here, where people really pray, this is real,” he says. “I know God has restored my sanity. It was not in my nature to be a dope addict. That wasn’t what God intended for me.” He continues, “Every day, I grow a little bit more. Someday I hope to be able to tithe in someone else’s life the way people here have helped me.”

You can learn a lot from statistics, but they can also be distracting, and even discouraging. For example, Orange County’s 2007 point-in-time study of “sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons” reported nearly 35,000 incidents of homelessness in our community last year. Of these, the largest proportion involved families with young children. In fact, 12 percent of the sheltered homeless in the study were children. “Thirty-five thousand” is a big number; 35,000 people needing help sounds like an insurmountable problem. How can one person possibly make a difference when he or she is faced with a bad economy, high food prices, and 35,000 “incidents of homelessness”? And yet ... Your support of the Orange County Rescue Mission — powered by God’s grace and in partnership with other caring people — is doing exactly that every day. That’s what makes it possible for you to provide a hot, nutritious meal for a hungry adult or child for just $1.48. When you give generously to the Orange County Rescue Mission, you are making a difference — one adult, one child, one family at a time. Thank you for your compassion and generosity.

Imagine Thanksgiving alone on the streets...

For many homeless people, one of the worst things is being separated from their family, friends, church and community. Just when they need it most, everyone and everything that gave them a sense of belonging has disappeared. The feeling of loneliness and abandonment can be crushing.

Now imagine how much worse it is during Thanksgiving and Christmas, the most family-focused holidays of all. Even more than hunger, it’s this powerful longing for someone to call family that brings people to our door during the holidays. When they arrive, your partnership, and the love and compassion it demonstrates, have a transforming effect on them. And all for just $1.48 per meal! By God’s grace, that’s all it costs to provide an entire meal for a hungry man, woman or child.

Will you help us provide warm meals ... provide community ... provide home ... for individuals and families who need these things so badly this holiday season? As you can imagine, the rising cost of food, outrageous gas prices, and more and more foreclosures in Orange County mean this Thanksgiving is shaping up to be one of our most demanding ever. We really need your help. More to the point, your neighbors really need your help. Whatever you can give, God will bless! Please do what you can today.

As the Economy Hits the Skids, Your Gift Is More Critical Than Ever

A self-taught computer guy, David did well work-wise, but didn’t do so well in relationships. His third marriage was crumbling. He was depressed. Then, at work, he got a manager in trouble. Suddenly all his performance reviews rated him unsatisfactory, he got the worst assignments, and he felt he was getting set up to be fired. He was. By that time, his wife was sick of the “drama and depression.” She cleaned out the bank account and kicked him out. He was sure he would get work, but the economic conditions didn’t work in his favor.

Finally, he took the only job he could find — playing karaoke at an unsavory bar. David, who doesn’t drink, smoke or take drugs was looked on with suspicion by the patrons. But he was desperate. He was shocked at how quickly his life had fallen apart. He was renting a couch in a drug den to sleep on, and had to eat at a food kitchen three times a week. He got so depressed he considered suicide.

Then things got worse. The bar dropped its karaoke business. At rock bottom, God stepped in. A friend from San Diego he hadn’t talked to in 20 years offered him a place to stay while he looked for work. But at each interview, he ran into the same sabotaging question, “So, what have you been doing for the past few years?” He didn’t have a good answer. Then his friend got laid off and lost the apartment. David was back on the street.

He came by the Orange County Rescue Mission for a meal. Pastor Joe told him what he tells so many men, “You don’t need a job, you need Jesus.” David joined the program, and sure enough, his spiritual renewal changed his whole life. He began learning to listen to God’s voice. He prayed about his job search. At the next interview, when he was asked, “So, what have you been doing?,” David decided to tell the truth. “I’ve been homeless. It’s hard to find a job when you don’t have an address or phone. But I’ve fixed those problems now, and I’m back out there.”

These are tough times for people like David. Soaring gas prices. Food costs skyrocketing. Many are becoming homeless for the first time, and find themselves unable to cope. David found hope in the first meal he had at the Mission. So will many others who come to our Mission this holiday season. Please do what you can to help feed and care for hungry and homeless people who don’t know where else to turn. Thank you for keeping the Mission doors open for those who need us most, especially right now.

Loan Leblow and her16-year-old son, Jeffrey, share a common interest as volunteers at the Orange County Rescue Mission. During the working week Loan, a very intelligent and purposeful person, is employed as Assistant Airport Director of John Wayne Airport. She came to hear about the Mission five years ago when Jeffrey returned home from school and said that his teacher had asked the class to look for a volunteering opportunity in the local community. They spent some time thinking about how they could use their gifts as volunteers before Loan suggested she could utilize her love of cooking. Her son readily agreed that it would be wonderful for them to cook for people in need.

Loan had previously heard of the Rescue Mission through her work for Orange County, and also from numerous newspaper reports about the work of the founder, Jim Palmer; she has always had high regard for the organization and it's vision. She used the Internet and the Mission's Web site to check on the available opportunities and completed an online application form. Loan was more than delighted when she and Jeffrey were accepted as volunteers to cook meals in the Santa Ana men's shelter; she is continuing this service at the new Village of Hope facility.

When asked what benefits she derived from her volunteer service, Loan replied, "I get an enormous sense of achievement in providing good customer service to the residents. Customer service is something we are very focused on at the airport, it's also of key importance at the Rescue Mission in recognizing the dignity of the people living there. I also enjoy trying out new recipes and extending my existing cooking skills. There is a fun atmosphere in the kitchen and I get the opportunity to meet so many interesting people."

Has the experience impacted Loan's understanding of homelessness? She commented, "Yes, I get a better understanding of the scale of the problem and that is hard to do when you just look at the wealth demographics of Orange County." "I consider it a privilege to be involved, with Jeffrey, in the work of the Rescue Mission in giving so many homeless people a route back into a regular pattern of life."

Of volunteering for OCRM, Loan says, "I want people to know that they can use the skills they have gained in the workplace, their home or elsewhere to benefit the community and those who are less fortunate than themselves." "The Orange County Rescue Mission has given me the opportunity to learn new cooking skills and use my existing ones in a really productive way. I never realized how different it is to cook for a large number of people instead of just my family. In my case, there is immense satisfaction from providing excellent customer service and helping other people."

A message from Executive Chef Mitch Rubin

The people coming through our doors now are not the stereotypical homeless people — shopping cart and long beard. This economic downturn is hitting many middle-class people, as well as the poor. That means we may get triple the number of people coming here this holiday season. That’s distressing news when you consider that giving declines around Easter, and by July, our pantry is usually bare!

Please, we need FOOD. And we need volunteers. If you can help, bless you. Not only do I want to feed everyone who comes to the Mission, I also want to be able to fill food boxes for poor working families on the edge of homelessness. It breaks my heart to look at the despair and desperation in their eyes. These are families like yours or mine — just in a bad situation. Please help us feed all the moms with kids, old men, lost young men and families who need food and a bit of compassion this holiday season.

“The Orange County Community Foundation has been called the “center of gravity for philanthropy” in Orange County. The foundation was established in 1989 to “foster a culture of giving, improve the quality of life in Orange County, and provide an enduring source of support for the community”. Over the years, the Orange County Community Foundation has worked to connect donors and nonprofit organizations to meet pressing and emergent human service needs, granting more than $100 million dollars to local, national and international needs.

In partnership with donors, the foundation has provided charitable support to various programs of the Orange County Rescue Mission, including the House of Hope, Village of Hope Transitional Housing Program, and Operation OC. The Rescue Mission has received foundation funds to assist homeless veterans and their families move from poverty motels to stable housing, to help women and children trapped in cycles of violence and despair flee abuse, and to give shelter, clothing, food and counseling support to disaster victims.

In the first quarter of 2008, the Orange County Community Foundation provided grants totaling $20,000 to help with the cost of the wildfire relief efforts spearheaded by OperationOC, a disaster recovery program operating under the Orange County Rescue Mission

The Orange County Community Foundation, through the charitable desires of donors to make a difference in the lives of others, has strengthened the ability of the Rescue Mission to more effectively serve the “least, the last and the lost” and to remain responsive to needs that arise out of disaster. We extend our sincere appreciation to the Orange County Community Foundation’s staff, board and family of donors who impact our community in such a vital and enduring way.

Mike, a student at the Village of Hope, tells his story in his own words. Thanks to your help, he is overcoming a lifetime of adversity and pain.

At Christmas, 1975, my mother was shot and killed. I was just out of high school. Someone we knew, a friend, shot her and my foster brother. The guy only spent three years in prison.

For the first 10 years or so, I thought I had turned the whole thing over to the Lord. But the anger and pain caused me all sorts of problems in my life. I never talked to anyone about it. It was years later I found out my sister had hidden in the closet when the shooting happened. She was there. Now the guy goes to the same church she does. She sees him in the corner.

I wanted to kill him. Last year, I just couldn’t do it on my own anymore and I turned my anger over to the Lord for real and came to the Orange County Rescue Mission for help. I know the Lord’s time isn’t my time. “Vengeance is mine,” He says. He knows what’s in that man’s heart.

Last Christmas, I helped hand out presents here at the Mission. Being here is a good thing. It’s helping me get closure on my mom’s death. I’m looking forward to this Christmas. That’s sort of a new thing for me. Just this week, I was finally able to get a tombstone for my mother. It’s in my caseworkers’ office right now. We will put it in place pretty soon.