2025 IMPACT REPORT
2025 Impact Stats | Karen’s Story | SOUTH COUNTY LIGHTHOUSE | Miles’ Story | Financial Summary | Full pdf report
70 YEARS OF IMPACT
For the past seventy years, God has used this community to turn a humble act of compassion into a community-powered force for lasting change. Because of you, we’re not just serving meals anymore — we’re rebuilding lives.
Through our regional approach to addressing homelessness, we’re helping people experience true life change – from the inside out.
Because of You in 2025
Seventy years ago, we realized we had to offer more then soup. Today, we don’t stop at providing a meal or a bed. Our holistic approach walks people through the long, sacred work of rebuilding their lives – restoring dignity, healing trauma and renewing hope. Your support changes lives.
SERVED
Nutritious Meals
Served Three Times Daily
OFFERED
Nights of Shelter
for Men, Women & Children
PROVIDED
Hours
of Job Training, Personal Growth Classes & Bible Studies
CONNECTED
of 30-Day Shelter
Guests to Longer-Term Care or Housing
DISTRIBUTED
Hygiene Kits
to Our Unsheltered Neighbors
Recovered
Pounds of Food
to Feed Hungry Neighbors
“I no longer live in survival mode.
I’m dreaming again.”
For most of her life, Karen didn’t know what safety felt like. Born in San Diego, she grew up in a home that looked perfect on the outside but left her feeling unseen and unprotected. By age 16, she had already been sexually assaulted and raped, leaving her sense of self-worth and hope shattered.
“It led me to cope in unhealthy ways.”
To make matters worse, instead of comfort, her parents told her to leave.
“They kicked me out, and it was hard.”
Suddenly, Karen was living in survival mode.
Homelessness, abuse, and school all collided at once. She began living with her boyfriend’s family simply because his home was near the bus stop that took her to school. “It wasn’t necessarily a relationship that I wanted, but it was just out of survival.”
By her late teens, Karen became a mother, facing the immense challenge of raising children with little support or stability. “I was alive but so dead inside.” She managed to stay on top of her schoolwork and graduated. But more hardship awaited.
Karen absorbed the pain in silence, convincing herself things would get better. But everything changed in an instant. “My daughters witnessed me being slammed to the ground in public. It wasn’t the first time they saw violence against me.”
Something shifted. For the first time, Karen saw her daughters’ futures reflected in her choices. She refused to let them inherit the same pain she had survived. So, she began searching for help.
When every door seemed closed, one finally opened: the San Diego Rescue Mission. Hopeless, Karen arrived at the Rescue Mission’s emergency shelter for women and children in Downtown San Diego. “Miraculously they had one bed available for my daughters and me.”
At first, she didn’t plan to stay long, thinking she just needed help finding a job and a place to live. “There were times I tried to control my own restoration, even thinking the right job would be my way out. After three or four job rejections, I realized God was teaching me to surrender.”
Before long, Karen’s life began to transform. Classes like Life’s Healing Choices helped her face her past with honesty and grace. Therapy gave her a safe space to process her emotions. She began rebuilding her relationship with her daughters, especially her oldest, who has autism. “They believed that I could be this mom for them when I didn’t believe it myself.”
Today, they are thriving in safe, stable housing. Her youngest finally has the chance to simply be a kid. Her oldest, once behind in school, is now confidently reading at grade level thanks to support from the Children’s Resource Center. Karen is most grateful to have hope for her future. She smiles, “I no longer live in survival mode. I’m dreaming again.”
Today, Karen and her daughters are thriving in safe, stable housing.
Our South County Lighthouse is a new beacon for National City’s most vulnerable. As the city’s first permanent 30-day emergency housing shelter, it provides meals, showers, laundry, and trauma-informed care to help men, women, and families find stability and hope.
858 guests welcomed off the streets
268 guests transitioned to long-term care or housing
101 families sheltered, including 152 children; 107 children enrolled in school
161 seniors helped, many now with social security benefits & reconnected to family
20-30 guests per week receiving dental & medical care onsite
GUESTS assessed weekly on 5 factors: medical, financial, vocational, housing & spiritual
PRAYER available at Sunday chapel service and daily with on-site ministry
1,869 volunteers helping with meals, activities, clothing & more
Here’s what your support accomplished in one year
Our South County Lighthouse is a new beacon for National City’s most vulnerable. As the city’s first permanent 30-day emergency housing shelter, it provides meals, showers, laundry, and trauma-informed care to help men, women, and families find stability and hope.
Here’s what your support accomplished in one year
858 guests welcomed off the streets
268 guests transitioned to long-term care or housing
101 families sheltered, including 152 children; 107 children enrolled in school
161 seniors helped, many now with social security benefits & reconnected to family
20-30 guests per week receiving dental & medical care onsite
GUESTS assessed weekly on 5 factors: medical, financial, vocational, housing & spiritual
PRAYER available at Sunday chapel service and daily with on-site ministry
1,869 volunteers helping with meals, activities, clothing & more
“This program has completely changed my perspective on everything.”
After years of addiction and relapse, Miles hit rock bottom. One setback in a recovery program got him discharged on the spot. Homeless again, with no money and no family willing to take him in, he felt completely alone.
“I was totally just broken, and I had nobody there with me. I was just by myself.”
A short stay in a crisis house kept him alive, but he still didn’t have a future. Then someone referred him to South County Lighthouse, and everything changed.
At the South County Lighthouse, Miles regained what addiction had stripped away: stability, dignity, and direction. “When I got here, I finally felt safe. I could breathe again.” He’s now thriving in sobriety, enrolled in Mission Academy, and training for a career in construction. Even more meaningful — he’s rebuilding his relationship with his dad.
“I finally feel like I have a chance to rebuild.” Miles’ story reminds us that generosity lights the way to new beginnings.
INCOME*
| Donated Income | $17,357,028 |
| Business Revenue | $2,235,861 |
| Material Donations | $1,186,424 |
| Food Donations | $7,276,213 |
| Total Income | $28,055,526 |
EXPENSE*
| Programs | $21,909,753 |
| Fundraising | $4,875,672 |
| Administrative | $1,879,918 |
| Total Expenses | $28,665,343 |
*Fiscal year October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025. Excludes Capital Campaign income and expenses. These numbers are unaudited. We receive an annual independent financial audit at the end of every year. Tax ID 95-1874073.
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