On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast as the most costly — and one of the most deadly — hurricanes in our nation's history.  Over 1,836 people are known to have lost their lives and countless others were left homeless. 

On the other side of the country, news of the disaster had hardly reached the ears of Jim Palmer, president of the Orange County Rescue Mission, before he began to assemble OperationOC, a collaborative partnership designed to meet the needs of hurricane evacuees.  OperationOC would turn out to be an answer to prayer for hundreds of families, not the least of which were Jeremy, Anne and Paige Templeton.*

Jeremy and Anne saw the writing on the wall.  Two days before the hurricane hit, they (along with their daughter, Paige) packed up their van with all it could hold and left New Orleans to ride out the storm with Jeremy's sister in Houston.  When the dust settled, Anne had lost five family members and their home was destroyed.  New Orleans had always been home to the Templetons, but they were now forced to consider other options.  The help that FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) offered was contingent upon their willingness to live in a trailer and cope with what would turn out to be a very long rebuilding effort.  After much deliberation and prayer, they decided to make a go of it in California.

Because of Anne's certification as a registered nurse, her affiliation with a nationwide placement agency, and her California contacts, this seemed the best option.  Jeremy left behind a successful construction design business, but being Christians, the Templetons trusted that God would lead them and take care of them.  They arrived in California on September 2, and by October, Anne was able to secure a temporary position at a hospital in Long Beach. Meanwhile, the family took up residence in an extended-stay motel.

How Jeremy and Anne eventually connected with the Orange County Rescue Mission and OperationOC can only be attributed to providence.  Anne was worried, knowing that her assignment at the Long Beach hospital would soon be ending, and that they would then have no means of support.  “God’s gonna provide, don’t worry about it.  It’ll be okay,” Jeremy told her.  One morning at 3:00 a.m., completely ignorant of which hospital was which, Anne applied online for a position at an Orange County hospital.  The very next day, a lady from that hospital called and told her that she had been praying that God would send someone to help, and was interested in setting up an interview for her.  Anne was immediately hired into a much sought-after position in a department of her own choosing.

This was extraordinary enough, but the same lady, knowing of their predicament as a result of Hurricane Katrina, referred the Templetons to the Orange County Rescue Mission where OperationOC was ready and able to help. In December of 2005, a case manager was assigned to assist the Templeton famliy, and not long after they were moved into their own apartment.  OCRM, through OperationOC, provided them with move-in fees, furniture, a refrigerator, food — even reliable transportation!  This assistance, in turn, allowed Jeremy to attend Cal State Long Beach full time where he later obtained concurrent employment.

As for the future, the Templeton’s are undecided whether or not they will return to New Orleans.  Jeremy will graduate in the Spring with a degree in chemical engineering.  Meanwhile, he enjoys his role at the college as head of the National Society of Black Engineers, University Outreach speaker and a mentor of young students.  Anne longs for what she affectionately calls “home,” but she is open to what the Lord has for their future.  Their daughter, Paige, is thriving in her new environment, something she could not have done in New Orleans.

When asked what they would like our readers to get out of this testimony, Anne responded, “It [trying to get back on their feet] was a never-ending cycle, but it stopped at the Rescue Mission...What they need to know about the Rescue Mission is that they're actually assisting people with their needs.”

As an organization committed to helping people get back on the road to self-sufficiency, families like the Templetons give us a profound sense of satisfaction.  We’re thankful to God for his faithfulness to provide, and to our many supporters who partner with us to assist the Least, the Last and the Lost.

*The names were changed to protect the privacy of our clients.

Orange County Business Journal: July 23, 2007                   by Paul Hughes

Do Religion and Politics Mix?

Saving souls is Jim Palmer’s calling as president of the Orange County Rescue Mission. As a Tustin councilman, saving money is his duty. Palmer, a reverend, straddles the worlds of politics and religious charity in a way that epitomizes compassionate conservatism, accocrding to observers. On Tustin’s City Council, Palmer is a fiscal conservative, part of a Republican-leaning, pro-business majority.

Palmer is guided by what he calls his 10 Polittical Commandments, which include individual freedom, less government and so on. “A few folks run for office with no ideas to bring to the table,” Tustin Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Amante said. “They run because they think it’s chic or important. Jim has a core set of beliefs that he’s very good at articulating.”

Palmer’s day job is running the Orange County Rescue Mission, a Christian nonprofit that helps the homeless get off the streets. “My heart is to go out and rescue people,” Palmer said. “It’s my calling.”

He’s also President Bush’s appointee as a director of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Senate confirmed him in June. Palmer’s name also was submitted for consideration to head Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Jim Towey, who used to hold the federal post and now is a college president in Pennsylvania, said Palmer’s name came to his mind not only because of the Rescue Mission’s services but because it delivers them well. “The model is excellence,” Towey said.

Most who know Palmer like him. Diane Devore, wife of Assemblyman Chuck Devore, describes him as “the tall guy who’s always smiling.”

Palmer’s led the Rescue Mission for the past 15 years. It has a yearly operating budget of about $15 million. He’s about to open a new mission headquarters on five acres at the former Tustin Marine base. The campus is dubbed the Village of Hope. Another venture, Mustard Seed Ranch, is nearing break-even on raising and selling goats to, among others, Muslims.

Palmer sports a bit of a paunch and looks like the father of four that he is. He said he could go to the gym more often, but it’s not a core goal. “I could work out two hours a day but then I’d have to ask, ‘What else could I have done with that time?’” he said.

His second-floor window looks across a quad to a former Marine barracks, which is being renovated to house people served by the mission. It’s a $27 million project, with more than half of the materials and labor donated, plus the land and two large barracks buildings. Interior designers donated services to make each room unique. Just a month ago, the grounds still looked much like a construction site: pressboard walkways, builder debris on the ground, framing going up. Now Astroturf is down and stucco is up. Donors include Lennar Corp., Oltmans Construction, William Lyon Homes Inc. and John Laing Homes. Palmer said he expects the first occupants in August.

When finished, the buildings are set to total 40,000 square feet—the kitchen alone is 10% of that—including 128 rooms for 192 people and an 8,000-square-foot chapel that can house 300 people. At the top end of the square, northeast of Palmer’s office, is the mission’s chapel. At one point, a federal functionary told Palmer he’d have to call it something else, since the government was involved in the base’s redevelopment. Palmer stood fast and said—nicely, firmly—that calling it a chapel wasn’t actually against any rules.

He won. The dust-up shows how he stands on principle, including Christian ones, if he knows the landscape and his own ground. “You act from areas of strength,” he said. “You don’t debate unless you have great knowledge in that area and have done your research.”

Jim Righeimer, a Palmer family friend, brings up Palmer’s first meeting at the county’s Housing and Community Development Commission. “Jim showed up with a three-inch binder of information,” Righeimer recounts. “He knew every issue—hit them running. He was prepared.” Reminded of this, Palmer chuckles. “There’s a room here with probably a hundred binders, and there are more we haven’t unpacked yet.” He points at the bookshelf below his desk. More huge binders. “I have them on every big item I’m working on,” he said.

In the search for the new headquarters, he brought the mission’s 200-page business plan to Tustin officials. The mission is one of five nonprofit homeless groups to get space at the former base. It nearly didn’t fly. “We didn’t have to do this,” said Chris Shingleton, Tustin assistant city manager. “But we saw a need and wanted to make a contribution.” When the city started the screening process nearly 15 years ago, Shingleton said there was “a bit of skepticism” about dotting homeless charities.

At one point, a group of several dozen charities banded together and launched legal efforts to make it happen. All the organizations coveting land joined in—except one. Guess who. “That coalition wanted more land than the base had,” Palmer said.

When Tustin asked questions about charities’ financial strength—how they operate, are they running a deficit, can they handle a long-term construction deal—Palmer’s group documented everything. “It was one of the most complete applications we received,” Shingleton said. Police and city officials visited mission facilities in the county and liked what they saw.

Palmer was elected to the City Council in November. He came with strong beliefs but without being “brash or rash.” Mayor Pro Tem Amante said. Palmer fairly evaluates what others say without compromising his principles, according to Amante. Within Palmer’s first few months, he helped craft a realignment of city committees and commissions into three central citizen bodies, saving time and money, Amante said. What you hear about Palmer in politics: he gets things done, and people end up liking it. “He wants to make customer satisfaction a priority in Tustin,” said Matt Cunningham, editor of RedCounty.com, a political blog.

Palmer has a knack for consensus—even when everyone knows where he comes at the idea from: the right. “His network is so effective and his leadership style so appreciated, that he can get all the players into the room,” said Supervisor John Moorlach, who endorsed Palmer for City Council. “He’s worked himself into a senior statesman position.”

Blogger Cunningham agrees: “Overall, he’s pretty high profile in Orange County, with a sterling reputation—personally, morally and civically.”

The Village of Hope lists 217 corporate and personal “partners”—from Beckman Coulter Inc., Capital Group Cos. and Fluor Corp. to Clarence and Ellen Conzelman, Irvine Valley Boy Scout Troop 36 and the Bible class of St. Olaf Lutheran Church. The mission has a dozen efforts countywide, including low-cost housing in Buena Park, drug addiction and recovery efforts and mobile medical services to the homeless. One of its biggest success stories, the Mustard Seed Ranch, is in Warner Springs in eastern San Diego County.

On top of it all, Palmer’s got four kids—including three foster children. At one time or another, a half-dozen foster kids have lived in the Palmer home. How does he do it? “Everyone has the same 24 hours,” Tustin’s Amante said. Palmer is super-focused and an awesome delegator, he said.

The mission’s board helps keep the focus, according to Palmer. Members include Bart Hansen of Nieupointe Enterprises, a Tustin developer; Dr. Malcolm Lewis, engineer and president of CTG Forensics in Irvine; and Jewel Loff-Polk, a Washington Mutual Inc. vice president. Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona is a board member as well.

According to the mission, 20,000 people in OC don’t have homes. They’re in various stages of homelessness, from temporary hard luck to chronically dispossessed to the mentally ill. Like an entrepreneur targeting a niche, the Village of Hope hones in on three groups: single men with children, married couples and seniors. “The homeless situation is so big, and those groups are underserved,” Palmer said.

As for delegation, Ray Johnson, who runs the Mustard Seed Ranch, tells of when he first began working for Palmer. In Johnson’s early months, he said he was loath to try too many things for fear of making a mistake. “Jim told me to go ahead and make them,” Johnson recalled. “He said, ‘If you think about it, of any 10 decisions you can probably change nine of them—so don’t worry.’” These days, the ranch runs smoothly. It’s a working ranch: raising goats to sell for meat and show horses that win awards. Ten to 12 men from Rescue Mission programs regularly live at the ranch—getting job training (many will go to work for other ranches nearby) and intensive life-coaching.

“Most people actually don’t know what they’re doing,” Palmer said. “Go anywhere in politics or leadership and you find that. I make sure I know what I’m doing.”

If you ask seven-year-old Jonathan Salgado what it was like living in a motel for eight months, he won’t speak. If you ask him if he liked it, he’ll shake his head, “No.” His two brothers and sister will tell you how bad it was. The family of seven shared a single room with two beds. Mom and Dad slept in one bed. The children took turns sharing the other bed with Grandma or sleeping on the floor. They had no kitchen. The small fridge, hot plate and microwave helped a little. But that’s not what upset Jonathan so much that he won’t talk.

One day, as his dad and Grandma pulled up to the motel to pick up the family, they saw an armed robbery occurring right next to the Salgados’ room. Dad ran up the stairs, fearful his family would walk out into it. He was too late. Jonathan stepped right into the middle of the robbery. Fortunately, his mom realized what was going on and got Jonathan back into the room before he got hurt. Every day from then on Jonathan was scared. Anytime they left the motel, he begged not to have to go back.

His family was stunned to be in a motel. A year earlier they lived in their own place. Dad and Grandma’s salaries were enough to keep things going. With four kids, and two of them not yet in school, Mom needed to be home. She had tried working, but day care costs ate most of her salary and then the kids had no one around to take them to sports. When Dad lost his job they quickly ran out of money and ended up on the streets. By the time Dad found work, they were too far behind to save up the thousands of dollars it takes to get back into an apartment.

It seemed hopeless. They feared the children would be taken from them. The good news is that people like you care. Through your support, we were able to help the family get back on their feet and into a four-bedroom house. The children are thrilled; the parents, relieved; the whole family, grateful. Hopefully, over time, Jonathan’s memory of motel life will fade. Your compassion and generosity are saving future generations of children. Thank you.