Because of you, moms like Shanell find more than a bed for the night — they find a whole life waiting for them

Shanell had four kids and no home of her own. Her mom had just died, and the apartment they shared went away with her.

After years of barely holding her family together, it was all falling apart without her mom. First Shanell’s sister, then her brother, squeezed the family of five into their small apartments, but it didn’t last.

Shanell needed an option that would put her family on track to lasting stability — not just temporary fixes.

Her brother told her about Orange County Rescue Mission. Two days after she called, she had an intake meeting. A week and a half later, she moved in with her kids.

Walking in as a single mom, Shanell didn’t know who might be watching, or judging. She was too nervous to leave her room at first.

“We didn’t come out of our room at all,” she says. It took a staff member knocking on her door, telling her it was time to push herself. “I had to learn to be my own support, my own cheerleader,” she says.

But slowly, with people around her who believed in her, something shifted. She doesn’t have to fend for herself anymore. And neither do her kids.

“My kids are more relaxed. Kids can carry as much stress as adults do, and being here, they’ve got other adults and other kids to talk to who can relate to them. You see their goofy, silly sides come out now,” Shanell says.

Her five-year-old even makes her rounds every morning at breakfast, saying “good morning” to everyone. This year, Shanell and her older daughter were baptized together.

Today, Shanell’s volunteer responsibility is being a resident assistant, helping other families the same way someone once helped her. “I was timid, shy,” she says. “Now I’m outgoing…I’m joyous, I know love, and I’m still growing.”

Shanell has a message for every donor: “Hallelujah to them, honestly. They’re the ones who make this place go — especially when families are really in need and something comes through right when it’s needed.”

She still dreams of a home of her own. She’s on her way, one step at a time.

Every meal you provide, every bed you fund, every fresh start you make possible — it’s making a real difference in real family’s lives. We’re grateful beyond words.