Larry Haynes joined Mercy House in May of 1990 as its original employee, and continues to serve as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. In addition to developing all of Mercy House’s programs, shelters, and housing projects, Larry has also founded several other programs including the Interfaith Shelter Network and Homeless Provider Forum, and has served as a consultant to a variety of cities and non-profit corporations. Larry was one of the co-authors of Orange County’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness and served on the Orange County Commission to End Homelessness Board of Directors, chairing its Prevention and Outreach committees. He was the Chairman of the local Emergency Food and Shelter Program and was a member of Cal State Fullerton’s Community Advisory Board on Homeless Issues, among other commitments. Larry has previously served on many other boards and public task forces, and has with Mercy House, received dozens of recognition awards. He has also been a speaker at numerous local, state, and national workshops and conferences focusing on homeless, housing and leadership issues. Larry was also a long-tenured lay preacher at Trinity Episcopal Church, and an adjunct professor at Vanguard University.

Patti Long joined Mercy House in 2001. She has worked in the arena of homeless services for over 30 years, including time as a program director of the OC Homeless Task Force, the Chair of the OC Shelter Provider Forum, and Chair of the Pomona Continuum of Care Collaborative. She has served Mercy House for over 15 years and has often led the charge in adopting new programs and services and adapting our services to better meet the needs of the homeless. Patti oversees agency operations of Mercy House and directs program, administrative, and developmental operations as they serve clients, build relationships with vendors, and engage with our large and dedicated donor and volunteer base.

In her role as the Chief Operations Officer, Robyn contributes to the advancement of the organization’s overall growth, strategic planning, and management. Her responsibilities include the oversight of Human Resources, Information Technology, Administration, and Facilities. With a career spanning over three decades, she has been deeply committed to operations management, with a primary focus on enhancing operational processes in both for-profit and non-profit sectors. Before joining Mercy House, she served as the vice-president of retail operations for a non-profit dedicated to affordable housing for nine years. Throughout her career, she has consistently championed the alignment of business goals with social impact. Robyn is an ardent advocate for continuous improvement, actively seeking opportunities to enhance her own skills, elevate her team, and optimize overall outcomes. She holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies from CSU, Long Beach, and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Brandman University.

Timothy Huynh is the Chief Program Officer at Mercy House. He began working at Mercy House in 2010 and worked from 2010 through 2015 in various roles on the development team including: Grant Writer, Grant Manager, and Director of Grants, Data and Compliance. He returned to Mercy House in 2020 in his current role where he provides executive oversight to the execution and implementation of Mercy House’s programs. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mathematics from the University of California, Irvine.

Since joining Mercy House in 2008, Allison has served in a variety of leadership roles, including Development Director and Chief Strategy and Compliance Officer. In her current role as Chief Impact Officer, she oversees program evaluation, data systems, and outcomes reporting, ensuring that the agency’s work is rooted in evidence-based practices and aligned with strategic goals. Allison plays a central role in developing agency-wide strategies that promote equity, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability. She provides thought leadership on systems-level collaboration, facilitates cross-departmental integration, and fosters a culture of accountability and innovation.

Prior to her time at Mercy House, Allison served as Executive Director of a nonprofit focused on reducing the educational achievement gap for low-income, minority students, and worked as a project manager at an intellectual property law firm. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from California State University, Fullerton.

Since joining Mercy House in 1996, Ms. Wilson has served in a number of roles that have included management of multiple shelter and housing programs, volunteer services and agency partnerships. In her role as Chief Housing Officer, Ms. Wilson is involved in all phases of the agency’s permanent housing development projects from their conception to initial occupancy and manages the agency’s permanent housing projects providing consultation on fair housing related issues. Ms. Wilson co-founded Orange County’s Outreach Court, served as a board member of the Kennedy Commission and has participated on a number of committees including Orange County’s HIV Housing Committee and AIDS Walk Orange County.  She holds a Masters in Counseling degree from California State University, Fullerton.

James is the Director of Emergency Services, and oversees all of shelters throughout the agency, as well as our Outreach Team in South Orange County. Over the past 12 years, James has transitioned from Delivery Driver, to Program Manager of the Armory Emergency Shelter, to Director of Adult Emergency Services, to his current role as Director of all Emergency Services Programs. James has also been on the Board of Directors since 2015. He received a in BS Business Music From Western Michigan University.

Elizabeth Perez, MSW leads the Housing Solutions Team which includes Permanent Supportive Housing, Permanent Housing, Rapid Rehousing, and Leasing. She started as an MSW Intern in August of 2015 and obtained employment as a Case Manager in February 2016. Elizabeth has a B.A. in Sociology with an emphasis in Social Welfare from Cal State Northridge, and her Masters of Social Work from The University of Southern California.

Ana’s journey with Mercy House began as a volunteer and she has been with Mercy House since 2013. She oversees the HR and Administrative Departments as well as Risk Management. Prior to coming to Mercy House she ran her own company. Ana has 12 years of non-profit experience and has worked with diverse organizations around the world by interpreting and translating for people with limited English speaking abilities She also currently serves as a chairperson for a local non-profit that provides culture enrichment to underprivileged youth.

Trevor Long has been with Mercy House since 2015 and currently serves as the Information Systems Director, overseeing IT operations and cybersecurity strategy. He began his career at the agency conducting data analysis for the National Guard armory emergency shelter programs before transitioning into IT, where he has since supported Mercy House’s rapid growth.

With a decade of service, Trevor also serves on key committees including Risk and Compliance and Policy Oversight. He holds a degree in Computer Science with a focus in Cybersecurity, along with Security+ and CSM certifications.

Yolanda is the Regional Director of our Orange County Emergency Services and oversees the emergency shelter programs. She started at Mercy House in 2015 as a site leader for the Fullerton Armory. She continued to be a site leader when Bridges at Kraemer Place opened in 2017 and later became the program manager for the Armory Program in 2018. She returned to Bridges as a program manager when the armory season ended in 2019.

Originally from Chicago, LaVelle Lewis has called Arizona his home for most of his life.  He first joined the Mercy House team in 2015 as a rapid rehousing specialist and has over 10 years of experience serving and working with the most vulnerable, homeless populations. He has experience in rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and homeless youth outreach from his time at UMOM New Day Center. LaVelle is committed himself to the mission of ending homelessness in Maricopa County and strives to be a blessing to the organization and the communities we serve.

Ninna oversees the Ventura County programs that Mercy House operates. She was born and raised in Oxnard CA, and has served the community for over 10 years, and worked specifically with those experiencing homeless and low-income communities. Prior to starting at Mercy House, Ninna worked for a local nonprofit called Community Action of Ventura County as a Homeless Services Manager for 8 years.

Ray Bukaty is a business executive and corporate lawyer who retired as Senior Vice President, Administration, and General Counsel of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC). Ray served as part of the senior management team at WD that executed a successful turn-around and grew the company over his tenure from 1999 to 2010. Ray led the Legal, Corporate Services, Risk Management, and Human Resources departments at Western Digital. Before his role at WD, Ray served as Assistant General Counsel at Fluor Corporation and as a principal at the Los Angeles law firm Riordan & McKinzie (now Morgan, Lewis & Bockius), where his practice focused on business transactions and securities issues for public and emerging growth companies. Ray’s service to Mercy House is inspired by Catholic social teaching that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Each of us holds inherent human dignity, and we are obligated to care for the poor and unhoused among us. Ray holds a combined J.D. / M.B.A. degree from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from Stanford University. Residing in Irvine, he delights in his most important role as a husband, father, and grandfather. Ray served as the Chairman of the Board of Mercy House for fiscal years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.

Daryl A. Cole, CFP®, is a Certified Financial Planner™. He serves as President/CEO at Cole & Company Wealth Management, Inc. since 1995. Daryl has lectured and written articles on a variety of financial topics including investments, retirement planning, college funding, tax strategies, and teaching money skills to children. Daryl has been married to his wife Dee Dee since 1999, and they have 1 son, Jordan. The Cole’s are active in their community, and their life motto is to “make my corner of the world a better place.” Daryl is passionate about serving others both professionally and personally. He is a follower of Jesus and enjoys learning from the Bible each day. Mercy House affords him the opportunity to practice his faith and to “love his neighbor” in a very real way.

Jeremy Elkins is the CEO for Camino Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides healthcare to those in need in South Orange County, CA. He previously served as the Executive Director, Government Programs from 2015 – 2022 at Providence Health and prior to that from 2005 – 2015 as a Physician Assistant and COO for Share Our Selves Community Health Center. He graduated from the UCI Health Care Executive MBA program in June 2015. Jeremy has previously served as a Board Member for Aragon Affordable Housing and Tustin Western Little League. He serves on the Mercy House Board because he is passionate about Population Health, Health Equity and serving communities in need and well, because Larry asked him to. Jeremy and his wife have been married for over 20 years and they enjoy taking part in all that Orange County has to offer together with their three children.

Growing up in the business, Paul Julian has been immersed in real estate since a young age. In high school and college, he spent his summers working for Advanced Real Estate, the firm his father, Richard Julian, co-founded in 1982. During this time, he gained experience in all facets of the business from construction and property management to asset management, acquisitions and development. By age 19, he obtained his real estate salesperson license and by 23, his broker license. Paul graduated from the University of San Diego (USD) in 2000 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and was immediately hired by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). He spent 5 years working in CBRE’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as part of a select team advising Fortune 1000 companies in their global real estate decisions. In this role, he also spent time working in the CBRE Japan headquarters office in Tokyo. 

With a desire to enhance his property development expertise, Paul accepted an offer to join Maguire Properties in 2005. At Maguire, Paul managed the development of over one million square feet of Class A office buildings in Southern California. On these high-profile projects, Paul was fortunate to work with some of the most elite architects, engineers and contractors in the country. In 2007, he attained a Master of Real Estate Development Degree from the University of Southern California (USC), the highest-ranking real estate degree program in the US. In the same year, he received the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) Developing Leader Award. In 2008, Paul re-joined Advanced Real Estate and has been able to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the company. Since re-joining, he has helped grow the firm’s holdings by 5X. He has overseen the fund-raising and acquisition of over 9,000 multi-family units worth over $3.5 billion. 

Paul is involved with many charitable and industry organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors of Mercy House, a charity serving the homeless in Southern California. He also serves on the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate – Executive Committee, is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Multifamily Council, and a member of YPO.

Bryan Pavalko is a seasoned construction executive and the current President and a Stakeholder of RBA Builders, LLC, a Southern California-based firm specializing in commercial, industrial, entertainment, and aerospace construction. Since joining RBA in 2014, Bryan has focused on operational excellence and strategic growth, helping position the company as a trusted partner in complex, high-profile projects. He will become Chief Executive Officer in January 2026.

Bryan began his construction career in 1983, steadily advancing through increasingly senior positions as he built deep expertise across all phases of construction—from preconstruction planning and cost analysis to scheduling and design-build coordination. His progression reflects a commitment to excellence that continues to guide RBA’s performance in a dynamic market.

Known for his attention to detail and collaborative leadership, Bryan fosters a culture of accountability, fiscal discipline, and professional development. His principles have strengthened client relationships and team success.

Bryan’s dedication to Mercy House reflects his belief in human dignity and creating opportunities for those experiencing poverty. He is honored to serve on the Board of Directors and support Mercy House’s mission to transform lives through housing, outreach, and supportive services. Bryan resides in Southern California, enjoys hiking and surfing, and values his role as a husband and father.

Julie Ann Stark is a Partner and President of Design at CDC Designs, a leading interior design firm in Costa Mesa, CA. Since joining the firm in 1986 after graduating with honors from the Fashion Institute of Design + Merchandising in Los Angeles, Julie has been pivotal in establishing CDC Designs as a Top 100 Giant by Interior Design Magazine for over 20 years. Julie oversees the design vision and execution of projects, working closely with renowned homebuilders, real estate developers, and architects nationwide. She is committed to mentoring emerging designers and fostering a collaborative work environment. Her industry involvement includes memberships in the National Association of Home Builders, the Southern California Building Industry Association, and the American Society of Interior Designers. Julie’s achievements have been recognized with the B.J. Stewart Women’s Achievement Award. She also serves on the board of Mercy House and is pursuing WELL Accredited Professional status. Julie draws design inspiration from her travels and enjoys spending time with her family.