In 1988, our founder, Father Jerome T. Karcher met a young man who was living in an abandoned garage. Father Jerome was so moved by the young man’s situation, he made it his mission to end homelessness in his community. This was the beginning of Mercy House.
Now, over 35 years later, we provide services to over 8,400 people experiencing homelessness annually, throughout seven counties in California and Arizona. What started with a dream to get one person home, has now served over 100,000 people struggling with homelessness.
Mercy House provides dignified housing and comprehensive supportive services to a wide variety of people experiencing homelessness, adult men and women, families, mothers and their children, veterans, chronically homeless individuals, persons living with HIV/AIDS, individuals overcoming substance addictions, and those who are both physically and/or mentally disabled. Every person’s journey back home is as unique as they are. We know that focussing on effective solutions to end homelessness requires a range of programs, resources, partners, and an abundance of heart.
Father Jerome T. Karcher first began reflecting seriously on the plight of the homeless in 1987 while he was Associate Pastor at Saint Norbert’s Church in Orange, California. His first efforts were to organize a small group of friends to assist the homeless. As Associate Pastor at Saint Anne Catholic Church in Santa Ana, he became more aware of the needs of both homeless and immigrant populations. One experience concerning the needs of an immigrant young man who was living on the streets in an abandoned garage particularly moved him to respond to the local situation of homelessness. This decision inspired him to found Mercy House as a not-for-profit charitable corporation.
An article in the Diocese of Orange "Bulletin" in November 1989 first announced Father Jerome’s work with the homeless. This article caught the attention of Patrick Powers and the Warren P. Powers Foundation who made the first significant contribution that enabled Mercy House to begin services and hire its first employees.
Father Jerome’s first project was to create a transitional residence for employable homeless adult men which opened in 1990 in a rented a house on North Main Street in Santa Ana. It provided shelter for 10 men and was simply called Mercy House. The “original” Mercy House eventually became known as Joseph House. It moved to a permanent location and is now a large, 4-unit apartment complex that houses 21 formerly homeless single men including veterans. Joseph House was remodeled through partnership with HomeAid Orange County.
It was clear to Father Jerome that God’s Providence was purposeful as Mercy House received substantial contributions to hire two important staff members in 1990 who would lay the foundation for its services to the poor, the marginalized and the homeless. The first was Larry Haynes who is now the Chief Executive Officer for Mercy House and has creatively overseen its expansion of programs and services. The second was Lisa Marcus whose insights and commitment as the Development Director served this growing organization for 15 years.
In April 1994, the Mercy House vision expanded further to embrace the needs of homeless mothers and their children by opening Regina House. Seven families may maintain residency there for up to one year there while the mothers are employed, pursuing higher education or enrolled in a job-training program. Regina House was constructed through the generosity and assistance of HomeAid Orange County and Fieldstone and was furnished by Munro’s Furniture. It also provided space for the administrative offices for the growing organization.
As the vision of Mercy House grew, it began to consider a continuum of services for the marginalized and homeless. This expanding perspective created the Mercy House Center which opened in 1999 as a walk-in outreach program designed to address the immediate needs of Orange County’s homeless population through crisis intervention, food and shelter referral, clothing vouchers, transportation assistance and hygiene items. First located at First United Methodist Church in Santa Ana then later at St. Joseph Church in Santa Ana, the program operated for 11 years until at the end of 2010, Mercy House had to make a difficult decision to close the Center due to a substantial decrease in operating funding.
Further expanding its vision of services, Mercy House pioneered a Homeless Prevention Program which provides at-risk households financial assistance to remain stably housed and thwart homelessness. Later on in 2009, Homeless Prevention was recognized as a national strategy for addressing homelessness.
In 1996 the Board of Directors and staff began to investigate the need for housing for people who were living with AIDS/HIV. Seeing this as an opportunity to expand of our mission, Mercy House opened Emmanuel House in April 2001 and began operations in June. Emmanuel House is a beautiful state-of-the art 21-bedroom facility that houses adult men and women living with HIV or AIDS. It is also the current location for the Mercy House administrative offices. The facility was built through the cooperation of HomeAid Orange County and John Laing Homes and furnished through the generosity and coordination of Creative Design Consultants.
Housing with supportive services became a key concept for Mercy House expansion when it opened San Miguel Residence in March 2005. A central issue facing the homeless person is lack of affordable housing. Most homeless individuals work, but usually at minimum wage or low income jobs that cannot supply the necessary income for housing, utilities, child care, etc. Mercy House responded to this need at San Miguel Residence that was fully built with the assistance of HomeAid Orange County and Lennar Homes and generously furnished by Creative Design Consultants and Ambrosia Interior Design. San Miguel Residence comprises two buildings and provides affordable housing with supportive services for up to 25 individuals. It serves families, men, women and children.
In 2006 Mercy House became a consultant with the City of Ontario, Calif. in order to address the increasing challenges with homelessness that the city was experiencing. This began the expansion of services into San Bernardino County, with a plan to open four facilities. The first of these facilities was Guadalupe Residence, which provides 15 4-bedroom apartments for low-income and formerly homeless families in need of affordable housing.
In 2008, Mercy House was awarded the contract with the County of Orange to become the operator of the Armory Emergency Shelter Program as a testament to Mercy House's ability to be a leader in homeless services in Orange County.
Expansion of permanent supportive housing included the completion of Louis Martin Residence for formerly homeless, disabled individuals and Katharine Drexel Residence I, a low-income single family home. Additionally, during this time Mercy House forged a strategic partnership with housing developer, Wakeland Housing Development Corporation to begin a Residential Services program supporting children and families residents in low-income housing.
In partnership with Wakeland Housing Development Corporation, Mercy House broke ground on Home Front Camp Anza. Once complete, Home Front at Camp Anza will consist of 30 affordable homes geared toward veterans and their families in Riverside, California. Located on the former site of Camp Anza, a WWII Army training camp, the project will also include the rehabilitation of the historic Officers Club, which will serve as the community center for residents.
In July 2015, Mercy House expanded to Arizona for the first time. Starting with Rapid Rehousing, Mercy house has now expanded to homeless prevention programs including El Rancho and Franmar Manor. We ended our Rapid Rehousing programs in Arizonia in 2017 to focus on the homeless prevention programs
After years of anticipation, Mercy House was awarded the contract to operate Orange County's first year-round emergency shelter. Opening the shelter was a huge accomplishment and this new facility would be house up to 200 individuals experiencing homelessness. Bridges has an on-site comercial kitchen that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as a medical clinic that allows clients to get the much needed medical attention without leaving the shetler.
Mercy House opened The Orchard, a permanent supportive housing complex in Santa Ana that took 71 chronically homeless individuals off the streets and helped them get into their own home. The Orchard was formerly a dilapidated motel, until Community Development Partners purchased the property to turn it into the beautiful site we now call The Orchard.
The Cove is Mercy House's first location in Newport Beach, and is to date, one of our nicest locations. Located on PCH in Newport Beach, The Cove houses 12 formerly homeless veterans and low-income seniors. The Cove offers a number of eminities and connects clients to housing stability through the case management services that Mercy House provides.
The Costa Mesa Bridge is a 50 bed emergency shelter in the city of Costa Mesa. Mercy House was selected to operate the shelter and with a number of community partners we help house the clients while they work with case managers who work on getting them into their own home.
The Oxnard Navigation Center is Mercy House's first program in Ventura County. The Oxnard Navigation Center is a 110 bed shelter in the city of Oxnard. The shelter helps house clients while Mercy House staff work with the clients to connect them to permanent housing.
The ARCH, operated by Mercy House, is an emergency shelter located in Ventura, CA that serves 55 single adults.
New Hope, operated by Mercy House, is an emergency shelter located in Bellflower, CA that serves 50 single adults.
Buena Park Navigation Center, operated by Mercy House, is an emergency shelter located in Buena Park, CA that serves 149 individuals.
Brundage Lane Navigation Center is Mercy House's first program in Kern County. This navigation center, operated by Mercy House, is located in Bakersfield, CA and provides 150 beds as well as wrap-around services for homeless adults.
The Huntington Beach Navigation Center serves 174 adults who are experiencing homelessness on the streets of Huntington Beach
Casa Querencia is a permanent housing program in partnership with CDP. It's a four story building with 57 units.
The Casa Aliento Shelter, opened by Mercy House, is a transitional shelter located in Oxnard, CA. It is a motel conversion project funded by Project Homekey, which is an extension of Project Roomkey.
The 24 bed shelter in Riverside, CA, provides safety from the elements and privacy to our clients in the Inland Empire
Santa Barbara Gets $900k for Casa Cacique Homeless Shelter Upgrades, Operations
Santa Barbara Foundation Awards $900,000 for Casa Cacique Shelter
City leaders celebrate the grand opening of first-of-its-kind housing project
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