These beaming faces belong to our most recent class of Rescue Mission graduates. Each of these individuals has successfully completed our two year program, attained sobriety, sought employment, managed their finances and found independent housing.
We truly celebrate this accomplishment with these men and women as many of their stories begin at the Rescue Mission with loss, despair, addiction, severed relationship, homelessness, crime and desperation. By the grace of God, these stories don’t end that way.
In fact, our valedictorian; Jeff Stea, who struggled with his transition into civilian life after the military, is now entering his second semester at Vanguard University and celebrating a first semester complete with straight A’s.

Our honored speaker, Peter Brakke, owner/operator of the District Tustin Legacy Chick-fil-A restaurant even shared the story of Truett Cathy (Chick-fil-A founder) overcoming adversity to establish the Chick-fil-A business at age 46.
Brakke highlighted that when Cathy sought success in his business efforts he emphasized, “No goal is too high if we climb with care and confidence,” maintaining that the true priority has to be faith above all else.
This message is pivotal for our graduates as we champion their success while also stopping to remember where they have come from. Only God can pull us from these pits, only his grace poured out will carry us onward as we seek new beginnings and new life.
Celebrate these stories of overcoming and success with us by listening to our graduates share their own stories in this video: click here.