About Jim: As President of the Orange County Rescue Mission (OCRM) since 1992, the county’s most comprehensive private homeless services provider, Jim Palmer has worked to create long-term self-sufficiency and stability among the Orange County and Southern California homeless by going beyond temporary solutions to address the underlying causes of transitional and chronic homelessness. Read More About Jim

Dads Matter!

As a father myself it’s no surprise that parenting, especially the father-child relationship, is a topic close to my heart. Over the years of ministry here at the Rescue Mission, we have found that there are many programs, classes, and services geared towards mothers, but support and training oriented specifically to fathers are lacking.

This is why it is so exciting for us when we found Dads Matter! This incredible program helps fathers learn practical parenting concepts and is designed to enhance father’s positive involvement with their children. It takes place here on our campus, and all of the fathers here at the Village of Hope were able to participate. After 16 weeks and 32 hours of hard work and dedication, 15 fathers at the Village of Hope completed this program in March.

Many of these men grew up with abusive, distant or disinterested fathers, or without a father at all. Dads Matter gives them the opportunity to break that cycle, and instead strengthen their bond their children and their families as a whole. Being a parent is one of the most, if not the most, difficult and meaningful roles one can play in their lifetime. I commend these 15 men and their families for investing their time, energy and effort to ensure their families are strong and well cared for.

I am so thankful for Dads Matter and the wonderful resource it is for the fathers here at the Rescue Mission!

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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Thank You Kenny the Printer!

Today I would like to recognize one of our corporate partners and great friends, Kenny the Printer!  This wonderful printing and graphic design company has been a partner of the Rescue Mission for several years now.  They help us tremendously by offering discounted printing and designing costs, and they always do such beautiful work.

Also, Kenny the Printer and their senior vice president, Stan Spencer, became a corporate sponsor for our golf tournaments by donating all printed materials!

Becoming a corporate sponsor of one of our many fundraising events (Turkey Trot OC 5k, golf tournaments, etc.) is a great way for groups and corporations to let Orange County know that you care about our community!  Your generosity and support could be a wonderful blessing to many homeless families and individuals, who have come to the Rescue Mission for a new life.

If you or your company or group are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to Ashley, our Events Coordinator, at ashley.binder@rescuemission.org for more information!

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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Join Us Next Saturday for the Children’s Business Fair!

Looking for a way to support the next generation of young leaders and entrepreneurs from throughout Orange County? The Children’s Business Fair is just the spot!

Please join us next Saturday, April 21st, for the Children’s Business Fair! From 11am to 1pm, the Village of Hope campus will be brimming with the bright ideas and creative products of our youngest entrepreneurs.

The Children’s Business Fair allows children to display their business ideas and innovations to the local community, by launching their own “start-up” through a booth at the Fair. This event teaches our children the value of entrepreneurship and teamwork, as well as empowers them to be creative and self-sufficient.

This event is such a wonderful success that we now host it twice per year! I invite you to come to the fair, and support children by asking them about their products and making purchases. Participation from the community is a major part of what makes this event successful!

We look forward to seeing you next Saturday at the Children’s Business Fair, located at 1 Hope Drive, Tustin, 92782.

Every Number Represents A Life Restored

I can’t thank you enough for  your contributions, volunteer service, prayers, and encouragement in 2017.  Your help has provided a hand up instead of a handout to more than 28,000 people in need last year.

I would like to share with you some numbers, showing the incredible support you have been able to provide to the Least, the Last, and the Lost of our community in 2017.  But keep in mind that each number is far more meaningful than it appears on this screen:  each one is a story of a person who represents the true heart of homelessness – a broken life that is now restored.

Thank you for joining me in this work of sharing the Hope of Jesus Christ with the Least, the Last, and the Lost!

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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Answering the Hard Questions: How Does Modern Science Affirm the Creator?

Over the past few months, we have had several gifted speakers teach on tough topics at our Rescue Mission Apologetics class.  This month, we welcome Dr. Leslie Wickham!

I invite you to listen to Dr. Wickham as she teaches on the subject, “How Modern Science Affirms The Creator”.  Dr. Wickham is a former astronaut, rocket scientist, and engineer on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station programs, as well as current chair of the Engineering and Computer Science department and director for the Center of Research in Science at Azusa Pacific University.  She is also author of God of the Big Bang, which addresses the same topic she will be speaking on.

Everyone is welcome to join us for the event at Village of Hope on Monday, April 9th at 6:30 pm.  For questions about the event please contact Taylor at taylor.schlieder@rescuemission.org.

This is a great opportunity to learn and be inspired. Invite your friends and family to join you!

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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Rejoice in the Good News: Happy Easter from OCRM!

Last year I experienced the joy of new life firsthand with the birth of my first grandchild.  As I held my precious grandchild for the first time, I couldn’t help but reflect on the excitement of new life, and how God must feel this way about us, His children!  At Easter, we are reminded of the Good News that through the selfless sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are now adopted as sons and daughters of God!  And just as Jesus was raised, we too are able to share in that glorious resurrection with restored lives.

Photo above with the first set of twins born shortly after moving in to Village of Hope. 

 

Every day at the Rescue Mission, I see the reality of this Good News as formerly homeless men, women, and children encounter Christ and are given a chance at new life.  So take heart!  Our Savior lives and by His resurrection, we too are promised new life!

Thank you for your support of Orange County Rescue Mission, which brings hope and restoration to the lives of the Least, the Last, and the Lost.  May you and your family be blessed with the love of Jesus Christ this Easter.

Excellence In All We Do

The Kitchen at the Village of Hope is almost always bustling with activity. Every day, staff, volunteers and students prepare over 4,000 meals for homeless men, women and children all across Orange County. This is a huge job!

Recently, the Village of Hope Kitchen was awarded the Environmental Health Award of Excellence for our quality of food service! We were chosen because we produce a considerable amount of food per day, and we do it excellently in a clean and safe environment.

This is an incredible recognition that our team worked hard to achieve. This type of award is not something one would typically think that a homeless shelter would receive, but we believe that this reflects our commitment to excellence in all areas. And this is true not only of our Kitchen, but of everything we do. We believe that all of our work, no matter how big or how small, should be done well to glorify God.

I am very proud of our Kitchen team for their hard work and dedication! Thank you to the team for all you do to prep and cook over 4,000 meals per day for hundreds of people. This is important work and this award just goes to show you do it well!

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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Honoring the Legacy of Nadene Holub, Founder of Laurel House

It has been said that Laurel House was founded in the nursery room of Trinity United Presbyterian Church by two women rocking sweet little babies in rocking chairs.

Nadene Holub was one of those two women who worked as a nurse for Tustin Unified School District, where she often encountered sick students at the high schools.  Too often when she prescribed these students a day of rest, these teens would tell her they did not have a place to go because they had ran away from home, or were kicked out of the house by their parents.  Nadene would then get on the phone to call her friends, asking if they would take homeless and runaway teens into their homes for a couple days until they got better.

After receiving too many of these phone calls, Elinor Tompkins suggested a more permanent solution.  Together, while rocking sweet babies in a rocking chair, these two women came up with the vision of providing an emergency crisis shelter for runaway and homeless teens in Orange County.  And thus, Laurel House was born.

Since then, Laurel House has evolved into a unique, preventive-care program providing long term housing, basic necessities, counseling and care for runaway, homeless and at-risk teen girls ages 12-17.  Nadene served as the Executive Director for Laurel House from its inception in 1985 until she retired in 2010.

On March 6, 2018, after a long and beautiful life, Nadene left this world to join the Lord.  Her journey here is a one that deserves to be honored, and has left an incredible impact on so many lives.

Donna Giddings, Laurel House house parent for over 20 years, shares her memories of Nadene:

Nadene was truly my mentor and the most influential woman in my life.  She taught me how to share my heart unconditionally with these young lives that come through our doors seeking love, help, and a chance for change. Nadene shared with me her vision of truly restoring a life: not putting a Band-Aid on the situation, but true healing. This included a relationship with Jesus Christ, having the teen be open and truthful about everything and working on their education to empower them for the future.

Nadene was so very special.  On the very trying and tough days, the days the girls were not getting along or spirits needed to be lifted, Nadene would just come over and say “Hey, let’s go get an ice cream!” So we would pile in the van, go get an ice cream and somehow everything got better.

One thing I really loved is that Nadene did not believe in paying for good grades. She taught me that grades are the responsibility of the teen and that their reward is their accomplishment. She wanted these young lives to know that their education was a steppingstone towards a brighter future, that would help them to become contributors to society.

Nadene was an incredibly strong and smart woman. She truly was the hands and feet of God here on earth. She used her time to give back to others and, to make the world around her a place of love and healing.

Countless lives have been blessed by Nadene, and her legacy will continue long after she has gone.  We are so thankful for all that Nadene has done for the Least, the Last, and the Lost.  It is with great honor that the Rescue Mission carries on her work.

Cooking Up Hope: Thank You Imperial Commercial Cooking Equipment!

Ten years ago, the Village of Hope opened and everything was bright, shiny and new, especially the kitchen!  Over the years, the state-of-the-art equipment did its best and served us well, but understandably suffered wear and tear from providing thousands of meals each day, especially as we have taken on providing meals for our Chili Van outreach ministry and other shelters in Orange County.

Our friends at Imperial Commercial Cooking Equipment stepped up to graciously help us meet this need!  I am so thankful to CEO Peter Spenuzza and the Imperial team for the generous donation of 11 items of commercial kitchen equipment!  Items donated include griddles, charbroilers, double convection ovens, open burners, fryers, stands, casters, and hoses, all totaling to a donation of over $70,000 worth of equipment.

This is an amazing blessing to the Rescue Mission, and perfectly timed – with our expansion to include more beds at the Village of Hope, we are cooking for more people now than ever before!

Thank you again to Peter and the team at Imperial Commercial Cooking Equipment!  We appreciate your support of the Rescue Mission and your heart to care for the Least, the Last, and the Lost!

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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Wannida’s Chance for a New Life

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you Wannida’s story, a mother who was trapped in a desperate situation…

Wannida flashed back to her childhood, to what she knew was happening behind closed doors in her family.

Just like her mom, she married a man who had begun to violently take his anger out on her. And she didn’t know how far her husband would go.

But there was only one thought running across Wannida’s mind right now:

I can’t breathe.

Her husband’s hands around her neck were squeezing tighter. In a moment, Wannida thought she might black out. The empty bottle of booze should have clued her in. Her husband was not taking the news of his father’s terminal cancer diagnosis well.

Just when the darkness threatened to overtake her, Wannida became aware of someone pounding on the front door.  It was her mother. Wannida could hear her crying and demanding to be let in. Her husband released his stranglehold on her neck, but refused to open the door.

Soon enough, Wannida saw red and blue lights reflected in the window. Her mom had called the police, and they were now taking Wannida’s husband into custody, giving her a short time to make a decision before he came back.

Would she stay or would she leave?

In telling her story, Wannida shares her realization: “The only way to break the cycle is if I do it. This is not how God wants me to live.”

So, Wannida called Orange County Rescue Mission.

“By coming here, I wanted something totally different than what the past 10 years have been like,” she says about putting closure on the abuse and drinking to cope. “We get an opportunity to change what we were living like.”

Today, Wannida is searching for a job and well on her way to self-sufficiency — because you cared enough to give her a new start. Will you help more people find the hope they need to start their own journey to new life this Easter season?

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Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.

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