Prison can be better than street life.

Marvin Walden was miserable. He’d been homeless for three years. His friends were gone. His mom said she was finished with bailing him out of trouble. He was alone. He would ride around on buses all day just to kill time. He was tired of it all, so he went to see his parole officer. “I was so desperate I asked him to arrest me — at least I’d have a bed and three meals a day,” says Marvin. “But he said no. I begged him. He said the last time he helped me was the last time. If I wanted to get better, I’d have to do it on my own.”

Marvin thought back on his past. He’d failed. He’s functionally illiterate (he can read, but not write) and he never had very good jobs — he had failed in them, too. What he was good at was being a drug middle man. He’d take the money to the dealer and then deliver the drugs back to the buyer. The dealer would pay him with free drugs. Of course, that’s why his mom had thrown him out in the first place.

Now he slept in the park. “I was so tired of it all,” he says. “I threw the bottle in the trash and came to the Mission.” He’d been to the Mission for meals before, but this time he wanted more than a meal. He thought, “Maybe Jesus Christ can turn my life around.”

Three months into the program, he’s doing great. He says this program is different from the others. “They care about you here. They are patient with me. I’ve calmed down.” As he enters phase two of the New Life program, he can start planning for the future. Learn to write. Improve his job skills and his personal skills. Build on his spiritual foundation. Marvin has a long way to go.

Like so many others, his journey with the Mission started with a meal. At the Mission, the $1.34 meal you provide is so much more than hot food. It’s a chance at a new life. Thank you.

The Orange County Rescue Mission and the Institute of Real Estate Managers (Orange County) are collaborating on a new and exciting program called REstart. The purpose of the program is to help homeless or disadvantaged men and women obtain marketable careers in real estate management through training, mentoring, and job placement assistance.

REstart is a 10-week course which covers goal-setting, personal finance, fair housing, landlord/tenant law issues, conflict management, business etiquette and more. OCRM is providing a venue (the Village of Hope) as well as a source of new students both through our residential programs and our relationships with other shelters in Orange County.

Currently, there are seven students enrolled in the third REstart course offered through OCRM. Having passed a written exam, these students will intern for four weeks in a job-shadowing role beginning September 11. Following their internship and subsequent job placement, there will be a graduation ceremony celebrating their successes.

Our expectation is that participants in the REstart program will gain not only marketable job skills, but also the hope and confidence necessary to succeed in the long term.

The fourth annual Mustard Seed Ranch Golf for Youth Event was held on August 7 and enjoyed a great turnout of over 100 participants. With Trump National Golf Club in beautiful Rancho Palos Verdes as a setting, the stage was set for an invigorating day of first-rate golf followed by an evening of sumptuous dining and socializing. The post-golf festivities included hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, buffet dinner, silent and live auctions, opportunity drawings and awards.

Proceeds from the event go to Mustard Seed Ranch, a ministry of the Orange County Rescue Mission and a working ranch which serves as a retreat for hurting men, women and children. Here, they can learn to re-establish relationships through our animal-assisted programs that focus on "care giving" as their basic tenet. The ranch engages in the guests’ lives and provides experiences that restore their trust, ability to belong, and faith in knowing the future holds hope and a purpose. To this end, over $75,000 was raised.

Our sincere appreciation goes to Lockton Insurance Brokers, Inc., our Presenting Sponsor, and the wide array of other sponsors too numerous to mention here, without whose support we would be unable to continue providing “a safe place for hope and healing” for the hurting and downtrodden.

God bless you!

Most people come to us with a hunger both physical and spiritual. It’s the physical hunger that drives them into our facility to get a hot meal. But when they are here, we have an opportunity to fill them with the spiritual food they need. We offer what people of the Christian faith refer to as the bread of life, or living water. The hot food, or warm bed, or dry clothes can satisfy their need of the moment. But our true goal is to satisfy the inner spiritual need that we all have.

Unfortunately, many of the men who come through our doors have moved so far from the faith of their childhood, they fear they cannot return. Many have never had any kind of spiritual guidance at all. We hear over and over again how it’s that spiritual component of our program that makes our shelter and recovery program so different than others. And we see the results again and again. When men and women surrender to the transforming power of God’s love, their lives are changed forever.

You and I are part of that process. First, we demonstrate God’s love through our actions — feeding and caring. We help explain and unfold the spiritual path of faith. But to be honest, we are little more than messengers. It is God who transforms lives. We are just privileged to be part of the process. At the Mission, this life-changing message often starts with a simple meal. We couldn’t do it without you. You are the vessel God uses to touch these lives! And you and I are transformed in the process as well.

Please send a generous gift this holiday season to feed the physical and spiritual needs of those who come through our doors.

In His Service,

Have you ever seen a homeless person standing on the street corner with a sign saying “Will work for food?” What should you do? Should you give them money? Should you buy them food? These options provide only temporary relief, but at the Orange County Rescue Mission, we want to suggest a way that you can make a permanent difference in homeless people's lives:

Refer them to us!

We have downloadable and printable cards with the services we offer and a map to our emergency/transitional facility in Santa Ana. Click here to download the cards in PDF format. Print them out, keep them in your car and hand them out to the homeless people you encounter.