“I felt like Peter in the Bible,” Ian says. “Drowning.”

Day after day, Ian sat alone in his room, overwhelmed by fear, uncertainty, and the growing reality that homelessness was getting closer.

An Army veteran, writer, musician, and aspiring voice actor, Ian never imagined his life would unravel this way. After returning to California from military service, he accepted a role doing character voice work at Disneyland — an opportunity that initially felt exciting and full of promise.

But inconsistent hours slowly pushed him into financial instability.

“I fell behind on bills. I lost my car and was on the brink of homelessness.”

For the first time in his life, Ian struggled to find work. The stress and shame became crushing. He stopped talking to people. He isolated himself. Every morning, discouraging thoughts flooded his mind: You’re never going to get out of this. God abandoned you.

“It takes a lot for me to give up,” Ian says. “But everything was going wrong. My spirit was cracked, and the enemy filled those cracks with lies.”

At his lowest point, Ian cried out to God for help.

And then, through the darkness, he sensed the Lord whisper: Go to church, and I will make a way.

So Ian walked 15 miles to church that Sunday.

His pastor welcomed him into his home temporarily, and he helped Ian find his way to Orange County Rescue Mission’s Tustin Veterans Outpost — where restoration finally began.

After less than a year at OCRM, Ian says, “I literally did not see any light at the end of the tunnel anymore… But now, I’m a better version of myself than ever.”

At the Veterans Outpost, Ian found something he desperately needed. “Finding the Orange County Rescue Mission finally gave me time to heal,” he says.

Now, Ian is thriving in the community around him. He served as lead in the warehouse, continues pursuing his passions for writing and voice acting, and is growing deeper in his faith every day. Ian is preparing to go back to work in July; he’s ready for the next step in rebuilding his financial self-sufficiency.

And he wants friends like you to know your impact matters. He says, “thank you” — and encourages you to see your impact for yourself. “Volunteer. Talk to people. Maybe become a mentor. Get a feel for this place. And then tell other people about it.”