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 […]
Mark & Sheila Sturgis Volunteers of the Month Mark and Sheila Sturgis have been faithful volunteers serving at the El Dorado Motel in Anaheim for 8 years almost every Friday evening. They spent their time loving the families that lived at the motel, a ministry launched by the church in 2011. For Mark, that looked […]
Coastal Community Fellowship Community Spotlight Recently one of our former-foster youth in our program got into a terrible accident that left him with a totaled car and minor injuries. That same day, he did on-boarding for a brand new job. He was absolutely devastated. Battling a lot of the toxic stress that would be typical […]
Kristen Huey Volunteer of the Month Whenever I think of the term “servant leader” Kristen Huey is the person who comes to mind. Kristen has been faithfully serving with OC United for over three years in multiple programs. If you know Kristen, you know she is a selfless hard worker who always puts others before […]
A Poolside Encounter by Mike Carman 38 years. That’s a long time to be sick. And with the passing of each torturous year, the prospect of getting better became that much more unlikely. And so he laid there, barely able to move his wretched and racked body, dependent upon others to meet his meager daily […]
Homelessness: What exactly are we aware of? Blog by Mike Carman Someone shared an article with me last week that reported the unspeakable. A woman in Los Angeles had a bucket of hot diarrhea poured over her by a mentally unstable man who was homeless. The article spoke of her experience and the resulting trauma […]
The Pumpkin Run 5K Story by Chris Baeza The sun is barely rising over the horizon. Runners are checking in to begin the festivities. It’s cold. You can see the cool chill in the air through each conversation. Families and single runners alike circle the event grounds before the race begins. One Grinch appears with […]
Matt Monzon Volunteer of the Month It is a simple fact that OC United would not be who we are without our volunteers. Very few, if any, are more critical to our ongoing work than Matt Monzon. One of our first volunteers when OC United launched four and a half years ago, he has since […]
Real-World Disciple Making by Mike Carman During my college/young adult years (a long time ago!), the concept of making disciples (today usually called mentoring) was popular in our Christian circles. Numerous books were written and multiple programs were designed to help Christians fulfill what we understood as Jesus’s great command to His followers, to “go […]
The Healing Power of Relationship Blog by Chris Baeza “We are better together in healthy relationships,” said Renae Dupuis, our Trauma Specialist and RESPITE Program Director. Our 2nd Annual RESPITE Conference concluded last Saturday and our attendees spent a whole day at Granada Heights Friends Church in La Mirada. Conference attendees listened to speakers and […]