About South County Outreach

For more than three decades, South County Outreach (formerly Saddleback Community Outreach) has been a leader in the fight to end hunger and homelessness in Orange County. We believe that helping people help themselves is the most effective way to build a self-sustaining community. Through the implementation of programs like our homeless prevention program, along with our food program, which distributes over 700,000 pounds of food and keeps nearly 2,000 children fed each year, South County Outreach continues to do what we do best—housing hope and ending hunger.

Our Mission – Preventing hunger and homelessness by helping people help themselves.

Our Values – South County Outreach’s core values are dignity and respect. We embody them by treating the people we serve with compassion and empathy, while upholding our mission to prevent hunger and homelessness in the community.

  • Dignity recognizes the inherent value and worth of all individuals, regardless of their background, culture, beliefs, or circumstances.
  • Respect means treating others with consideration, courtesy, and kindness, while acknowledging their rights and feelings.

Our Vision – We envision an Orange County community where no one goes to bed hungry or without a place to call home.

Who We Help

South County Outreach serves homeless families, the underemployed, unemployed, seniors, veterans, and other at-risk residents of Orange County. Twelve percent of Orange County residents live below the poverty line, and one in five children in OC do not have enough to eat. A full-time minimum-wage worker makes less than $25,000 a year, and the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Orange County is nearly $2,400 a month, or over $28,000 annually.

  • 36% of those we serve are children; 22% of those children are under the age of five.

  • We provide more than 1,990 children with fresh food and 40 children with housing annually.

  • We served 659 seniors in 2020. 42% were over 75 years old, and 62% were women.

  • 58% of our clients have a female head-of-household.

  • 386 of our clients are homeless.

Our Services

South County Outreach helps those in crisis reach self-sufficiency by providing the following services:

HOUSING PROGRAMS

Affordable Housing: Provides subsidized housing in 17 South County Outreach-owned condominiums.

Rapid Rehousing: Provides financial assistance and case management services to quickly place individuals and families who face imminent homelessness in new homes to ensure that they do not have to sleep in their cars or on the streets.

RENTAL & UTILITY ASSISTANCE
In 2020, we received homeless prevention inquiries from 2,720 households at risk of eviction or utility disconnection or experiencing homelessness. Homeless Prevention services are offered through our comprehensive case management process to identify each household’s need for rental and utility assistance, as well as financial stability resources to promote self-reliance and prevent homelessness in the future.

FOOD PROGRAM
Our food market distributes emergency non-perishable and fresh food daily to as many as 1,500 residents a month.

South County Outreach is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors. Our tax ID is: 33-0330233.