PlainJoe Announces Orange County Rescue Mission as 2026 Charity Partner

PlainJoe is proud to announce Orange County Rescue Mission as its official charity partner for the year ahead.

OCRM is not a typical rescue mission. Their Tustin campus, the Village of Hope, functions more like a college campus, and intentionally so. The 300 residents who call it home are referred to not as clients or beneficiaries, but as students. They receive counseling, education, job training, shelter, food, clothing, and healthcare. Their philosophy of restoring lives means surrounding people with beauty and hope, not just services. It’s a standard OCRM holds itself to seriously: if it wouldn’t be good enough for anyone else, it isn’t good enough for their students.

That ethos made a lasting impression on the PlainJoe team.

OCRM’s Village of Hope in Tustin, CA

Blake Ryan, PlainJoe partner says:

“We have been working with OCRM for about eight years now. It’s a client that really speaks to PlainJoe as an organization. When you walk into their Village of Hope campus, it genuinely feels different – there’s intention in every detail, and you can feel what OCRM believes about the people they serve. This isn’t just about helping those in need, it’s about transforming lives, and genuinely bringing people who have experienced some of the worst moments of their lives into a space and a program that will give them that long term change, that lasting impact.”

What design is actually for – sits at the heart of PlainJoe’s work, its mission for transformative storytelling, and its approach to lasting impact.

For Marie Rayner, Director of Project Development and Lasting Impact Lead, the OCRM partnership is a natural continuation of our strategy;

“At PlainJoe, we don’t talk about “sustainability” in isolation—we talk about Lasting Impact. That means the impact our work has on the planet, on people, and on communities. Our goal is to create designs and experiences that make a meaningful difference and continue to matter ten years from now.

OCRM have been working with the community for decades, and the students and families they serve carry those outcomes forward into their communities for generations. This ripple effect has a sustained lasting impact, and we want to be part of it.”

The PlainJoe team visiting OCRM

OCRM’s programs are built on that same long-term thinking. The “teach a man to fish” principle isn’t just a motto at the Village of Hope, it’s a philosophy. Residents move through structured programs in job readiness, recovery, and education, graduating into lives with genuine footing underneath them. This takes sustained investment, sustained belief, and sustained community support.

Which is exactly why a partnership like this one matters.

Bryan Crain, President of Orange County Rescue Mission, understands the difference between transactional support and genuine partnership:

“We are deeply grateful for partners like PlainJoe, who understand that transforming lives requires an entire community,” Craine says. “Their support does more than fund programs, it sends a powerful message to the people we serve that they are seen, valued, and not forgotten by the world beyond our doors.

At OCRM, we believe the best outcome for a man, woman, or family experiencing homelessness is long-term self-sufficiency. Achieving that kind of lasting change takes time; our programs typically span 18 to 24 months. Through this work, we’ve helped hundreds of individuals transition from living in homeless encampments to securing stable employment and affording their own housing.

We truly believe that when someone enters our Village of Hope, it marks the end of their homelessness. None of this would be possible without the steadfast support and partnership of organizations like PlainJoe.”

OCRM’s Donation Drop-Off

Through fundraising support, volunteer engagement, and intentional storytelling, PlainJoe will work alongside OCRM throughout 2026.

To learn more about Orange County Rescue Mission and the work they do across Southern California, visit rescuemission.org.