‘Ever-present need’ drives Ventura County Rescue Mission for 50 years

Ventura County Rescue Mission’s outreach team trudges through the sandy trails along the Santa Clara River at least once a month.

Pulling a wagon packed with sack lunches, water and hygiene kits, the group looks for homeless individuals camped in tents and makeshift shelters. Most welcome the free meal, but some also accept prayer and a second chance.

On July 6, the faith-based organization in Oxnard celebrated 50 years of providing care and hope to the county’s homeless population.

“We want to get them in stable housing and living in a safe community or sober community and get them on a pathway to a livable wage and a good relationship with their family,” mission Director Michael Darden said.

In addition to the outreach program, the rescue mission also gives out warm meals and a bed. The nonprofit offers a variety of programs and services for men, women and children. It assists with legal counsel, first aid, case management, transitional living, job training and addiction recovery.

Desiree Oliva was homeless and addicted to drugs and alcohol in September 2020. She had dropped out of Rescue Mission’s Lighthouse Life Recovery Program twice and earned a spot on its “do not admit” list.

Lighthouse is the branch of the rescue mission that helps women and children.

Oliva was able to enter Lighthouse’s emergency shelter, where she was able to rest and reflect. She joined the life recovery program a third time and stayed for nine months.

Now, Oliva is in the transitional housing program, works full time, has a car and is mending her relationship with her family. She also interns with rescue mission’s outreach team.

She credits the program's Christian component for her turnaround.

“That’s the only thing that gave me a change of heart,” Oliva said. “Everything is centered on that … I’m seeing the next season.”

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In 2021, 34 homeless individuals graduated from mission’s life recovery program, according to an impact report. The organization also helped 59 individuals find jobs, put 69 people in stable housing, reunited four kids with their moms, provided over 36,000 hygiene kits and gave out nearly 6,000 pieces of clothing.

During a trip to an encampment along the Santa Clara River near the Ventura Harbor on June 29, Oliva was one of several outreach members who spoke and prayed with the homeless population.

Marlene West has been living in the encampment for over eight years and had seen the outreach team before. Other than taking food and water, she’d never accepted their help.

West said she's considering joining one of the rescue mission’s programs since her daughter and fiancé recently left the encampment.

“(The outreach team) actually do get to know everybody out here and try to get a feel for what everybody’s going through and what their needs and wants are,” West said. “They try to help them out as much as possible. I think that’s great.”

Ever-present need

The local mission has been around for half a century due to an ever-present need, Darden said.

Since the start of the pandemic, homelessness has risen by 25% in the county. There were 2,238 documented homeless men, women and children as of Feb. 23, the date of the county’s annual homeless count.

To continue to meet that need, Darden said the organization is expanding its services and programs. It also wants to create a stronger presence throughout the county.

He said the rescue mission is starting an outreach effort in Simi Valley and building relationships with other shelters.

Chuck and Mary Pope started the Ventura County Rescue Mission in 1972. The couple had founded the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission and wanted to address a lack of homeless services in Ventura County, said Jim Owens, chairman of the Rescue Mission Alliance Board of Directors.

In the following decades, the organization acquired various properties and expanded its services and programs.

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Then in the early 1990s, Jerry and Carol Roberg took over the nonprofit, which Owens said was a major turning point. With Jerry Roberg securing funding and Carol Roberg running the shelter, the two were able to grow the organization.

When rescue mission brought on Gary Gray as CEO in the 2000s, Owens said the organization's operations were taken to a new level of sophistication. That has continued under Dave Chittenden, the current CEO of the Rescue Mission Alliance.

“We are where we are because God wills it, and a lot of good people have devoted an incredible amount of time, energy and effort to make it what it is today,” Owens said.

In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Rescue Mission Alliance spent approximately $27.7 million. About 84% of expenditures went toward program services, 10% covered administrative costs and 6% was spent on fundraising.

The Rescue Mission Alliance oversees ministries in Ventura County, the Central Coast, San Fernando Valley and Victor Valley in San Bernardino County.

Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County Rescue Mission marks 50 years of homeless outreach