We didn’t know what to expect as we walked onto the elementary school campus for our first day back to in-person, after-school programming in October… We knew pieces— whose family has struggled buying food, who lost family members to COVID, who has had mental health challenges during quarantine— but we braced ourselves for whatever level […]
The Art of Celebration by Heather Macleod Do you remember your favorite birthday party? What stood out to you the most about that party? Was it the food? Was it the decorations? Maybe it was a favorite gift you received or a surprise guest that came you weren’t expecting. I can tell you from personal […]
Dan & Susan Ouweleen Rotary Club of Fullerton: Project Shield Community Spotlight A huge thank you to both Dan and Susan Ouweleen for their exceptional leadership to oversee the Project Shield effort that began mid-March in response to a conversation with St Judes and their needs for protective masks. The Rotary District 5320 collectively raised […]
Alexis Kalugin Volunteer of the Month Alexis came to OC United as a senior looking to graduate from Biola with a Marketing degree. She came as a Love Fullerton Intern and also worked with our Marketing and Communications to complete her senior Marketing project. What drew us in was her compassionate heart for those in […]
U.J. Namkung Volunteer of the Month Uyn is the Marry Poppins of resources. She has been such a gift to our team in relation to helping our clients find scholarships, educational programs, and jobs. Not only is Uyn resourceful, tenacious, and enthusiastic, but she has a heart of gold. Before getting into the practical details […]
Volunteers’ Journey by U.J. Namkung (Volunteer of the Month) A TIME OF CRISIS It was the spring of 2006. We had just returned to Orange County for the birth of our daughter, Irene. After having served our first term as missionaries, we were supposed to go back after a one year furlough to start a […]
Young Adults from Foster Care Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19 has greatly impacted us all. It has brought emotional devastation, financial hardship, and relational isolation that will have lasting effects on our entire society. Our THRIVE young adults are unfortunately no exception. Firstly, like so many, most of them have lost their jobs which have […]
Social Distancing: It’s Nothing New Blog by Mike Carman Social distancing is the new and now-familiar term in our lexicon. But although the phrase may be recent, the concept is not. In Luke 17, we read about Jesus entering a village where he was met by ten men with skin diseases (leprosy). They called out […]
ReIgnite Hope Community Spotlight We recently celebrated the graduation of two of our Jobs for Life graduates, Marc Boucher and Robert Andrews, from a welding training program. The program, offered by Reignite Hope in Gardena, met weekly for four months. During that time, men and women learned welding skills as they were also taught Christian […]
Safe, Heard, and Known by Daniel Ramos (THRIVE Program, Resident Mentor) *** NOTE: Names have been changed for privacy *** One day I got the opportunity to head home to the THRIVE House earlier than usual. As soon as I got home, I was hungry and decided to see who was inside the house to […]