Your compassion is helping a woman who has suffered so much pain and abuse find healing and new hope.

For 12 years, Jaqueline lived as a virtual prisoner, held captive by a husband who refused to let her do anything except care for their children and family. “He wouldn’t let me use the computer or leave the house, even to buy groceries,” she says. “I thought that was normal.” It was only when her husband abandoned her and their children, and Jaqueline began to interact with other people, that she realized how she had been mistreated.

But Jaqueline had been in her teens when she married, and found it hard to cope on her own as an adult. Deprived for so long, she went from having too few people around her to having too many. “I thought everyone was as nice as I was,” Jaqueline says. “So I opened my home to people I thought needed help. They’d come for a night and stay for a month. They would bring friends and have parties. I couldn’t see what was happening until it was too late.”

What was happening was drug use around Jaqueline’s young children. Jaqueline never used drugs herself: She was too busy working multiple jobs trying to pay the bills and stay off welfare. But when police raided the house, she lost not only her home, but her children, too.

“I wanted to help. I wanted to be a mom,” she says sadly. “I was addicted to people needing me. My life was like a crashing plane. I could see it going down.”

Homeless and desperate to get her children back, Jaqueline looked everywhere she could for help. That’s how she learned about the Orange County Rescue Mission. Today, Jaqueline is living in the Mission’s House of Hope in Orange and working hard to regain custody of her younger children.

“I needed to learn how to function,” she says. “Little by little, I’m learning to deal with things. I feel so useless without my children. It’s still so overwhelming. “But now I have peace,” she continues. “I am working on getting strength and staying close to God. I know he will not abandon me.”

The end of a relationship can be the start of a downward spiral. This Valentine’s Day, your caring heart is restoring families and rebuilding hope.

Raised by a compulsive-gambler father and an alcoholic mother, Heidi rushed into marriage just to escape her chaotic childhood. But she soon discovered her new life was no better. “I married the wrong guy,” she says. “He had a lot of issues, a lot of rage, and wanted someone to take it out on.”

After five years of abuse, Heidi found the courage to leave and take her two young children with her. “He kept showing up, trying to restart the relationship,” she recalls. “He’d be so angry. I just couldn’t talk him back down. I was really afraid he might kill me.”

After staying with family, Heidi and her children joined us at the House of Hope. They are working on healing and looking to the future. “My husband used me for everything I had,” she says. “I have nothing now, so he’s ended contact. I’m not scared anymore.”

“I didn’t think I could make it on my own,” Heidi continues. “I thought of myself as broken. But at the House of Hope, I am recovering and rebonding with my kids. God has done amazing things with my life since I’ve been here.”

We introduced you to Paul and Michele a year ago. The end of Paul’s marriage had put him on a path of drugs, anger, and eventually prison. Meeting Michele once he got out provided some stability, but for a while the couple, with Paul’s son, Daniel, were living in a camper. Shortly before we spoke to them last year, they had moved in at the Village of Hope: Paul and Daniel in the men’s program, and Michele in the women’s program. We caught up with them again recently.

“We were married just two days ago!” Paul reports happily. “Ours was the first-ever wedding for the Village of Hope. We had the support and love of everyone here. It was the perfect place to begin our new life together.

“It’s a big responsibility to raise a son,” he continues. “I wanted Daniel to have the right woman as his mother. Michele is absolutely an answer to prayer.”

“I feel content and at peace now,” Michele adds. “I’m in school full-time learning medical billing and coding. Paul is looking for work. And we’re saving toward a place of our own. That’s our goal. We have a chance for a new life now. We are never going back to that camper!”

They call themselves Hope's Heroes. Their training began last November 1 when 20 Village of Hope students greeted the sunrise at 6:30 as they wiped the sleep out of their eyes. Their leader, Steve Tierney, who only two years ago had zero prior running experience, figured that what worked for him could work for them, too.

Inspired by a Franklin-Covey seminar in 2007, Steve came to the conclusion that setting some goals would be good for him and that running a marathon would be a good place to start. Because he had no choice, he started slow with just five minute jogs. Eventually, he worked his way up to 30 minutes, and finally, to full marathons.

Last summer, Steve read an article about a Philadelphia woman who is training rescue mission residents to take part in marathon running events, and began to ponder how he might set up a similar program in Orange County. After talking it over with his business partner, Paul Nienow of Nienow & Company, LLP, Steve submitted a proposal to start a running club at the Orange County Rescue Mission.

Steve's vision for the Rescue Mission residents was based on some of the benefits he himself reaped during his initial training:

• Provide a physical outlet
• Give a sense of accomplishment
• Inspire self-confidence
• Foster teamwork
• Demonstrate a competitive equality of opportunity (regardless of experience or skill, everyone has the same goal: to finish the race!
• Enter and complete the Surf City Half Marathon!

After gaining approval, Steve posted a sign-up sheet at the Village of Hope in September. Beginning November 1, 20 students began meeting four mornings a week to prepare for the half marathon. By the date of the event, there were still 12 runners ready to participate. What happened in between was just what Steve had hope for.

Of his own experience as a new runner, Steve says, “I found the benefits to myself were just amazing. Some of the things I noticed were more confidence in my job and feeling good about myself. Every week I could tell myself I'd done something I'd never done before.” These were just the kind of things he was hoping the students of the Village of Hope would experience, and just the kind of things that occurred. Steve excitedly reports, “I've had students tell me, ‘If I can run 10 miles, I can get a job. I can do this!’”

The Surf City Half Marathon was held in Huntington Beach on February 7 and all of the 12 Village of Hope students participating completed the course. The next day at the Village of Hope, some of the runners asked Steve when they could begin training for the next event! “God deserves all the glory,” Steve says. “There's no way something like this could be accomplished without Him.” Congratulations, Hope's Heroes!

And thank you, Steve, for your hard work and dedication in forming and organizing the “Hope's Heroes” running club. And thank you, Nienow and Company, for your ongoing support of the Orange County Rescue Mission. God bless you!

Gwen Stanga lives in Anaheim with her husband and her four-and-a-half year old son. When her son began pre-school she was bored with sitting around the house during the daytime. As she was an academic secretary at Biola University prior to becoming a stay-at-home mother, she thought she could use her skills to further the work of God among those in need.

Like so many others, Gwen used the Internet to search for the opportunity to serve God and her community and found the Orange County Rescue Mission web site. She knew this was where God wanted her to be and arranged an interview to investigate the various volunteer options available.

Although her initial intention was to use her secretarial skills in the office, Gwen rapidly rethought her plans when she discovered the great need for volunteers in the Child Development Center. She says, “At first I was reluctant, having only just sent my son off to pre-school, but I've been really blessed by making the decision to serve here."

Her loyalty and diligence paid off when, last fall, the CDC opened a toddler room and she was appointed as the first “Toddler Room Coordinator.” Gwen has served at the Rescue Mission for the past 11 months, every week from Monday to Thursday.

She says that her greatest blessing from volunteering at the CDC is the thankfullness of the moms who are relieved knowing that their children are being well taken care of and educated; therefore, they have more time to resolve their own problems and get their lives back on track. She says, “I really appreciate how they feel, being a mom myself.”

Gwen is convinced that you don't have to do great things to serve God and others. “Just doing the small things can really make a massive difference,” she says. She adds that volunteering for the Orange County Rescue Mission has enlightened her understanding of issues relating to homelessness. Hearing the stories of the moms has forever changed her stereotypical views and made her a far more compassionate person. She now has a greater appreciation of the many blessings God has given her and the vastness of His love for those in need.

If you are considering volunteering your time for the Rescue Mission, Gwen says, “Just bring your skills and interests and volunteer for the Rescue Mission; you don't need much to help out and there are endless opportunities to volunteer here.”

Thank you, Gwen, for your time and service at the Orange County Rescue Mission!

Sometimes our donors prefer to not give their names. Recently, a generous OCRM foundation provided funding to support the Emergency Food Project. The Emergency Food Project (EFP) is a collaborative effort between the Orange County Rescue Mission and Second Harvest Food Bank, supported by funding from another generous funder, the Dhont Family Foundation. In November of 2009, Second Harvest Food Bank began supplying 1,000 food boxes a month to the Mission to help alleviate hunger to almost 50,000 individuals annually!

Thankfully, this anonymous foundation joined the collaborative effort in January of this year, providing the funds necessary to recruit a newly created Care Coordinator position to direct recipients of the food boxes to additional help and resources. With food boxes distributed through our own outreach programs, as well as to 15 partner shelters, churches, and other community organizations, there was a great need for additional assistance for those in need. Those participants, in the majority of cases, struggle not only with a lack of food, but also with unemployment or underemployment, a lack of health care, and unrelenting poverty and homelessness. The Care Coordinator will be able to provide an essential role in linking Emergency Food Project participants to other community-based services they might need. This position will be able to help to provide increased opportunities for stabilization to 1,400 individuals through this anonymous grant. Our deepest thanks to this wonderful OCRM partner for their contribution to the Mission and for their broad impact on the problem of hunger in Orange County. Orange County’s neediest populations will feel the impact of this generous gift in a very tangible way.

1. Poor diet, substance abuse and exposure combine to put homeless people at greater risk for colds and other seasonal illnesses.
2. The average rainfall in Santa Ana in February is 2.74 inches. The average low temperature for this month is in the mid- 40s, but records show it can get as low as 22° F.
3. If someone has to sleep outside in February, they should have at least three pieces of cardboard to keep them off the cold ground, and two blankets from the Mission.
4. Wearing plastic bags is a good way to keep feet dry and try to trap a little warmth.
5. Hot meals at the Mission provide the nutrition bodies need to maintain the immune system and fight off disease.
6. Your gift of just $1.48 provides food, shelter, and a chance for new life for an Orange County neighbor in need.

When we declared the Village of Hope open for business about two years ago, our plan was to admit just a few individuals and families at a time, as we tested our systems and got used to new arrangements. Well, that plan didn’t last very long. As the economy got worse and California slid further into crisis last year, more and more people relied on the Orange County Rescue Mission for help.

They still do.

Today, the Village of Hope is at capacity, far sooner than we had planned. Our medical and dental clinic is busy providing services for children and adults. Our mobile medical clinics are on the streets, bringing help to people who can’t come to us. And our need for food boxes is greater than ever.

Through it all, I am absolutely humbled by the generosity of kind people like you. It’s so moving to hear people who have had a challenging year themselves ask what more they can do to help the men and women at the Mission. Here’s my answer: Keep doing what you’ve been doing. Please keep praying. Keep volunteering. Keep donating clothes and food when you can. And when the Lord guides you, write a check or give online. You play such a vital role in helping Orange County weather the storm, and in helping to bring new hope and new life to some of our hardest-hit neighbors. Thank you so much.

In His service,

Cindy Donham grew up in the Girl Scouts, earning the status of First Class Scout, the highest achievement attainable and the equivalent of today's Gold Award. Her love for the Girl Scouts has carried over into her adult life and she has served as a Leader for 15 years. It was in that capacity, as Cindy involved her troop in a community service project/ice cream party for the Village of Hope children last spring, that it was suggested to her that these same children would benefit greatly from the opportunity to become scouts themselves. She talked it over with Volunteer Manager, Brandi Schlechter, and Brownie Troop #1082 was born.

The first of their bimonthly meetings was held at the Village in October 2009 with five girls, ages 5 through 8. Meeting activities include a mixture of crafts, games, songs, and learning the Girl Scout Pledge and Girl Scout Laws, all designed to help them earn their merit badges. Cindy's stated goals are to promote leadership skills, community service, social interaction and an exposure to a variety of life experiences such as camping, cooking and trips to places like the Santa Ana Zoo and the Discovery Museum.

The life lesson that has served Cindy, and in turn, others, for so many years is the same one she is now trying to instill in her scouts. “The older you get,” she says, “the more responsibility and leadership roles you can take on. Scouting is a great program!”

The Orange County Rescue Mission is committed to helping you assist the poor in the most cost-effective way possible. That’s why we take extra care to use every penny efficiently. As part of that effort, we are governed by an independent Board of Directors. We are also a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Upon your request, we will send you an audited financial statement prepared by an independent certified public accountant.

At the Orange County Rescue Mission, averaged over the last 10 years, a full 79 cents of every dollar given has gone directly to help the homeless. If gifts received are above a specific need, they will be used for Mission programs where the need is greatest. Your support is greatly appreciated. With your help, the Orange County Rescue Mission works to make our community a better place for everyone to live.

Ralphs Community Contributions Program!
Congratulations to Ralphs for donating almost $3 million this past year through its Community Contributions Program. If you are signed up through your Ralphs Rewards card, and have designated the Orange County Rescue Mission as the beneficiary, then a portion of these funds have been donated to assist us in bringing hope to the Least, the Last and the Lost of Orange County.

TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE!! If just 60 people sign up and use their Ralphs Rewards card, and the average quarterly shopping percentage brings in a modest $3.15 each, then those 60 people could make $756.00 a year JUST BY DOING OUR OWN GROCERY SHOPPING! Of course, the more you purchase, the more you earn for OCRM. (We'll keep you updated on the quarterly progress!)

Click here to sign up:

Thank you!