“God was trying to smack some sense into me,” Chuck recalls. “I wanted to get clean, but the drugs had too much of a hold on me.” His life was in shambles. He was living with his kids at a rundown motel in a rough part of town. They barely had enough to eat. Chuck and his kids hardly ever had enough of anything.

Their story probably would have ended tragically if it hadn’t been for people like you. But one day, Chuck realized he had to get help. For two years he’d told himself that he could change on his own. “I finally had to surrender,” he admits. That’s when Chuck gathered up his kids and brought them with him to Orange County Rescue Mission. “It finally felt like we were at home,” he explains. Chuck got help to overcome his addiction. He was placed in a volunteer position. It won’t be much longer before he is employed full time and has saved enough to give his family a place of their own. “Like the Bible says, I’m a brand-new creation,” Chuck explains. But, most important, he says, “I have my kids. And they have their father back.”

Moving into Village of Hope changed everything for Chuck’s children. None of them has ever forgotten the months they spent crammed in a tiny motel room — or the danger that lurked just outside their door. “It’s so much better now because we’re all safe,” Chuck’s youngest daughter explains. But the safe refuge you helped provide for them was only the beginning. Summer to Remember opened up a whole new world for the kids. The youngest tells of how she loved the field trips to nearby Concordia University, where she learned about chemistry and improved her math and reading skills. She says the teachers were “helpful and caring.” They made learning fun.

Last summer, at Summer to Remember, she learned to swim. All three kids loved the horseback riding and the hikes they went on with their dad during family camp. But the best thing, she says, is that they all know Jesus now. You helped show them how much He loves them, and He has changed their lives.