Ventura County Rescue Mission has been a place of refuge and hope for the hungry and homeless. Meals, showers, clothing, and supportive services are offered every day of the year, helping to relieve hunger, restore health, and revive personal dignity and self-esteem. Annually, the mission prepares and serves approximately 300,000 hot, nutritious meals, provides over 25,000 articles of clothing, 40,000 nights of shelter and showers, and over 5,000 hours of case management services. In addition to emergency shelter and supportive services, the mission offers spiritual renewal and hope through daily chapel services and biblical counseling with one the mission’s chaplains upon request.
Residential Recovery Program
The Rescue Mission is also a place for recovery and restoration. With a capacity for 85 individuals, its residential drug and alcohol recovery program for men is divided into four phases, each three months in length. The first nine months are committed to Bible study, counseling, case management, and work therapy. Work therapy and vocational training are important components of the program. Men are given community service assignments in various capacities throughout the organization which include housekeeping, food services, maintenance, warehouse duties, or helping in our auto donation department. Each area provides specific vocational training opportunities as well as practical work experience helping to develop good work habits, confidence in abilities, and a sense of achievement.
Vocational Training
The mission’s Culinary Arts program is one such example of the vocational training men receive at the mission. The program has been featured locally in the Ventura County Star and Los Angeles Times, nationally in Newsweek magazine, and was recognized by the Chef’s Association of Ventura County as “Culinary School of the Year” in 2004.
Transitional Housing
The mission provides 25 beds of transitional housing for graduates of the residential recovery program. This program helps graduates find and maintain stable employment, save money toward their own permanent residence, and continue the long road of recovery in a safe place where there is daily accountability.
The Lighthouse Women & Children, an outreach of Ventura County Rescue Mission, serving homeless single women and women with children, established its Life Recovery program in 1998, offering a transitional living program that included programming for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In December of 2003, the Lighthouse established the Safe Harbor Emergency Care program, which is a year-round emergency shelter that also serves as an overflow shelter when the two domestic violence shelters in the County are full.
Today, with an overall capacity of 113 beds, the Lighthouse offers a complete continuum of care specifically tailored in response to the needs of homeless women and children by offering shelter, intervention, substance abuse recovery, case management, education, life skills development, vocational training, employment, and transitional housing.