2023 Impact Report
OUR SYSTEM OF CARE | PERLA’S STORY | OCEANSIDE NAVIGATION CENTER | YOUR IMPACT | FINANCIAL SUMMARY | FULL REPORT PDF
HELP THAT WORKS
With your support, we are building a system of care to get people off the streets for good. YOU are investing in Help That Works!
Because of you, many lives are being transformed.
Thank you for believing in what we do.
Donnie Dee
President
YOUR IMPACT IN 2023
Our core programs and services are designed not only to meet the immediate needs like food and shelter of our unsheltered neighbors, but also to help each person find their path to long-term self-sufficiency.
Your support changes lives through:
Our System of care
We’re building a system of care that is changing the state of homelessness in San Diego County.
For many living on the streets, finding the help theyneed is confusing. And shelter beds in the region are at 96% capacity.
Operation Navigation is our solution to this crisis. Through opening 3 more Navigation Centers across the County, we’ll nearly double our number of shelter beds. Once their immediate needs for shelter are met, guests will take their next critical step out of homelessness. Many guests will transition to Mission Academy, our residential program downtown, where they can rebuild their lives.
Born in San Diego, Perla grew up feeling confused and alone. From 8 to 15, she was molested by relatives, even sexually abused days before her Quinceañera party. What little faith she had in God vanished. With such unbearable hurt and no one to talk to about it, Perla turned to drugs to numb her fears and shame.
Despite her traumatic childhood, Perla excelled in school and work. After high school, she became close with her dad — “I finally knew how it felt to be daddy’s little girl” — only to lose him to illness at 22. Perla felt abandoned. Struggling and still stuck in her addiction, she was in and out of abusive relationships.
Perla got sober so that she could support her mom financially. However, when her mom passed, the pain was too great and she relapsed. Her drug use led her down a dark path of paranoia, collapse, hospitalization and homelessness. Desperate to change, Perla went to drug rehab and then she got COVID. Released with nowhere to go, she slept at the bus stop the night before she came to the Rescue Mission. Exhausted physically and mentally, she felt relief that God led her to a place where she could find help and healing.
“I knew that day God was changing my life. I was cared for in the women’s shelter more than I ever had been in my entire life.”
Perla turned to staff for prayer who reminded her that God was by her side. Within 30 days she transitioned to Mission Academy, excited to grow personally and spiritually.
Perla credits the classes, therapy, and supportive relationships with staff and students for helping her heal emotionally. “I feel at peace. I don’t feel the hurt that I used to feel. For the first time in my life, I know what happiness is. I used to blame myself a lot. I’ve learned to accept myself and take care of myself.”
While job training in our shelter, Perla found her passion for helping other struggling women. “When I was in the shelter, staff talked to me like I was a friend. It made me feel really good inside. The feeling of being held when I was at my worst is the exact feeling I wanted to give others.” Perla graduated in November and is working full-time at a hotel while taking college courses. Now she’s renting a home with other female grads.
Grateful for her new, healthy, sober life, she says, “Life is good and God is good.”
Guests meet weekly with case managers to identify options for rehabilitation and stable housing, including entry into our Mission Academy residential program.
With the help of partner agencies and volunteers, guests also have access to mental health services, addiction recovery programs, medical and dental care, peer support and social activities.
Together we are answering God’s call to help our neighbors without homes.
Because of your faithful support and prayers, within the first 60 days of welcoming neighbors off the streets we have seen:
86 guests come through our doors, with all 50 beds now filled
4 guests given medical attention and admitted to a hospital
7 veterans connected to the VA
14 children are safe and enrolled in school
14 women found refuge from domestic violence
21 guests connected to longer-term care or housing
15 guests transitioned to permanent housing
135 volunteers helping with meals, activities and more
Because of you, men, women and families are experiencing long-term life change! Your generosity is positively impacting our community.
- 92,974 nights of shelter for men, women & children
- 56% of Navigation Center shelter guests connected to longer-term care or housing
- 243,961 meals served
- 2.6 Million pounds of food recovered helping 14,000 individuals & 13,000 families
- 150,800 hours of job training
- 3,614 hot showers provided
- 11,500 hygiene kits distributed on the streets
- 89% of Mission Academy alumni still housed
Our Values of Faith, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence guide everything we do, including our financial stewardship. We are committed to ensuring that we maximize the use of every dollar received to benefit those in need.
INCOME*
| Donated Income | $12,090,311 |
| Business Revenue | $2,019,971 |
| Material Donations | $1,280,370 |
| Food Donations | $5,489,280 |
| Total Income | $20,879,932 |
EXPENSE*
| Programs | $16,952,288 |
| Administrative | $1,417,438 |
| Fundraising | $3,857,136 |
| Total Expenses | $22,226,862 |
While the Rescue Mission had a decrease in Donated Income versus the prior year, the organization has sufficient cash reserves to support its operations. Our Leadership Team and Board Finance Committee ensure our financial health through a monthly forecasting process.
*Fiscal year October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023. Excludes Capital Campaign income and expense. These numbers are unaudited. We receive an annual independent financial audit at the end of every year. Tax ID 95-1874073.
You’re a Life-Changer for our neighbors without homes.
