When I began my work here at Orange County Rescue Mission, it was a goal of mine to provide not only food and shelter, but health services to low income and homeless individuals. As you know, the need for adequate health care is a very real challenge. Yet as a leader that is called to minister the love of Jesus Christ to the Least, the Last and Lost, I knew it was a challenge that I could not disregard.
In partnership with many leaders and donors, the goal to meet this need was partially actualized in 2000 through a mobile unit that provided free medical care at various sites throughout Orange County. Then in 2008, the first fixed-site clinic, the Hurtt Family Health Clinic, was opened on our Village of Hope campus in Tustin, and has been serving the surrounding community ever since.
The Hurtt Family Health Clinic is a low-cost, family primary care clinic that provides highly accessible, preventative, primary and specialized healthcare to homeless and underserved families. The clinic features services for medical, dental, eye care and mental health, and includes examinations, management and treatment of diabetes and chronic illness, provision of medication when applicable and low cost referrals for specialized needs. In addition, for preventative care the clinic staff offer patient education classes including chronic illness management, personal hygiene, and nutrition.

The Hurtt Family Health Clinic provides care and relief to individuals like Gene, who came to the Rescue Mission on the cusp of homelessness and with an ill-fitting set of dentures. Ten years before arriving at the Rescue Mission, he had to have all his teeth removed and never received a set of dentures that fit him properly. It affected his ability to eat healthy, and to secure a new job when he was laid off during a down-sizing. As a result, he found himself facing homelessness. The Hurtt Family Health Clinic provided him with a quality set of dentures that he could feel confident in. Today, Gene is employed as a security guard, and is saving money towards renting an apartment once he graduates the Rescue Mission program. Thanks to the Clinic, Gene has his smile back.
There are now two fixed-site clinics, in Tustin and Santa Ana, in addition to the mobile unit.  There are plans for future fixed-site clinics to be opened in a few other locations in Orange County as well. The Hurtt Family Health Clinic has created a model of care which brings services directly to the homeless and low-income population, and it is our goal to expand our reach to more of the County.

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.