Orange County, California is the third largest county in the state, with a population of 3,166,461.
If Orange County were a country, its gross metro product in 2008 would rank 45th in the world.
Orange County is the 15th top producing economy in the nation.
Yet, with all of these riches, our neighbors are hurting.
The Real Homeless will tell their stories and shatter the myths, perceptions, and prejudices surrounding homelessness.
Thank you for joining us in this conversation. The Orange County Rescue Mission
Today is World Gratitude Day : we’re thankful for the countless donors & volunteers that make the Orange County Rescue Mission possible #attitudeofgrattitude (Taken with Instagram)
21st September 2012
Some of the OCRM warehouse guys delivering furniture to one of our Strong Beginnings families in Santa Ana. #hope #rescue #payitforward (Taken with Instagram)
The Orange County Rescue Mission serves hot meals with the Chili Van Outreach between Santa Ana and Dana Point where a bowl of chili is the gateway to the possibility of restored life, relationships, career, education, and opportunity.
be the change in the world :: love
- Camera: Nikon D50
- Aperture: f/3.5
- Exposure: 1/320th
- Focal Length: 24mm
we are a family of redeemed stories and restored lives :: and you are a part of that :: rescuemission.org
- Camera: Fujifilm FinePixS1Pro
- Aperture: f/7.12
- Exposure: 1/220th
- Focal Length: 79mm
Mark is homeless in Santa Ana :: Here is a little bit about his story.
Santa Ana Civic Center, Chili Van Outreach : serve hope and the love of God with us on Thursday nights!!!
Notes: 1
some of the Village Of Hope kiddos in their new sandbox provided by Westcoast Connections !!! Thanks guys!
Gene & Tasha’s journey to the Village of Hope began with a bowl of chili and now they are able to pay it forward by serving the very community of people they lived on the streets with. A courageous couple, hear their perspective on transitioning from the streets of Santa Ana to a new life of hope.
Need an idea to beat the summer heat while the kids are out of school? Why not set up a lemonade stand as a family and dedicate part of your profits to the least, the last, and the lost of your community? Partner with us as Orange County’s Rescue Mission: http://www.rescuemission.org/
Guest post from one of our newest team members on staff at the Orange County Rescue Mission :: Carol Urton on getting her feet wet at the Village of Hope and grasping where her day to day work energies and efforts gratify.
This is the most important job I have ever had outside of the responsibility of rearing my own two children. I am here, at a homeless shelter and it is the happiest place I have ever been. It truly is The Village of Hope.
There are men, women and children everywhere but everyone seems to have a sense of purpose. There are children playing in the daycare center. They are laughing, dancing and hugging each other. Toddlers run up the ramp to take their turn on the indoor slide. One baby breaks free and laughing gleefully tries to escape out of the play area. If these precious little souls were not here they would be living on the street, cold and hungry, possibly separated from their mothers. My eyes fill with tears when I realize the importance and magnitude of the work here at the Village of Hope.
It is lunch time and we gather in the cafeteria with the residents who are called “students”. They are students of life. Learning how to live, manage their problems, how to work and most important what it means to have God in the center of their lives. I literally sit with the very real people pictured in the OC Rescue Mission brochure and watch them as they eat, smile and hug their children. There is a caption on the wall of the cafeteria that reads, “Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime.” I listen as my new work mentor tells me about their lives, where they came from and the progress they are making. Some had been on the brink of suicide. But, I see no tears here except for the ones I am looking through in my own eyes as I gaze out into the perfectly manicured lawns lined with colorful flowers.
God is here, these people are important, the children are safe and loved. I have been given much more than a job. I have been given the gift of knowing what life is truly all about, loving and serving the least, the last and the lost.
Our Chili Van and Mobile Medical Clinic serve every Thursday at the Santa Ana Civic Center. Mark is one of many in Orange County currently living out of his truck that eats with us on Thursdays. Did you read his story in our July newsletter? He says most of his co-workers don’t even know he is homeless…
rescuemission.org
a day in the life at the Village of Hope : Rene & Karen in the kitchen!
partner with us :: rescuemission.org
