For the past two years, the Orange County Rescue Mission has had to put women and children in need of shelter on a waiting list. Its main facility in Tustin, with space for 262 residents, had run out of capacity.
But with the completion of an expansion to its Double R Ranch in Silverado Canyon, up to 68 women and children can now bunk in a newly renovated dorm.
“In the last couple of years, we have just seen more single women and more single women with kids than we have ever seen,” President and CEO Bryan Crain said. “To the point that we’re routinely at capacity or near capacity, and we want to be able to meet people in their moment of crisis.”
The new women’s dorm features 17 rooms with four beds each that can accommodate single women and single mothers and their children. The mission is expecting new residents to start the program for rehabilitation, counseling and job skills training next month, Crain said.
With a new dorm and many new residents, the ranch also expanded its technology and security measures. Doors are now equipped with key card access, and the facility will have overnight security guards.
“There’s no new construction,” Crain said. “We did not build anything new. We just refreshed some of the buildings.”
Once the home of the St. Michael’s Abbey monastery, the OC Rescue Mission purchased the property in 2020 and created the Double R Ranch. The ranch opened its doors to single men in crisis or experiencing homelessness in early 2024.
In addition to schooling, job training, and addiction rehabilitation, Double R Ranch provides the unique opportunity for its residents to take care of goats, sheep, chickens and horses living on its 35 acres.
“Going through this program is like hitting a reset button, or putting life on pause,” said resident Julian Boucher. “I don’t think there’s any greater place where you can actually do that.”
He joined the ranch program in March of 2024 with encouragement from his sister, who had received help from the OC Rescue Mission a decade ago. The program’s emphasis on faith and spiritual guidance was a big factor in his decision to enter the program, Boucher said.
“I’m meant to be here,” Boucher said. “It’s the most confident I’ve felt about a big decision in my life.”
OC Rescue Mission was founded in 1963 as a Christian, privately funded nonprofit organization. The Double R Ranch is one of seven housing spaces serving people in various stages of homelessness and crisis. Since it opened to single men in 2024, the ranch has spent a little more than $700,000 on renovations.
Future plans for the ranch include growing avocado trees, producing honey and creating space to serve infants in addition to grade school children.
“We’ve never had kids at our ranch before,” Crain said. “These kids are going to get to go to school every day, and when they come home, they’re gonna get to learn how to ride horses. We want these kids, when their moms make the decision to come into the program, to look back at this with fondness.”