For general information about volunteer opportunities in Western Association-supported projects in Orange County, CA, contact the Orange County Location Hospitaller, Rand Sperry.  For details on current Orange County projects, please click "read more."

The Western Association currently provides financial and hands-on support to the following projects in Orange County:

Casa Teresa, located in Orange, provides shelter, counseling, career education, and case management to young pregnant women, many of whom have been rejected by their families.  Among other things, invested and Auxiliary members assist Casa Teresa with refurbishing apartments, providing food, preparing meals, and counselling residents.  Please contact Terrence McGaughnan for additional information.

Doris Cantlay Center, located in Santa Ana and operated by Catholic Charities of Orange, distributes food to the homeless and poor.  Four Saturdays a year, invested and Auxiliary members bag eight to ten food items, such as canned foods, fruit, rice, peanut butter, etc.  The Order’s volunteers also assist with distribution of turkeys and vegetables for Thanksgiving and hams and vegetables for Easter.  Please contact Rand Sperry for additional information.

Mary’s Kitchen, located on West Struck Street in Orange, feeds, clothes and provides other services to the hungry and homeless.  Four times a year, invested and Auxiliary members assist with preparing and serving hot meals and bagging and distributing clothing and personal items.  Please contact Jill Ortiz for additional information.

Mercy House, located in Santa Ana, operates three emergency shelters during cold weather months.  Invested and Auxiliary members serve food three times a month and at other times assembles hygiene kits for the homeless.  The Order’s team also serves an annual Thanksgiving dinner.  Please contact Tim LeVecke for additional information.

St. Joseph Hospital, Puente a la Salud Mobile Community Vision Clinic, located on West Stewart Drive in Orange, provides eye exams, corrective lenses, certain treatments for eye disease and injury, and education to low-income adults, including the elderly.  Invested and Auxiliary members volunteer in various capacities at St. Joseph Hospital, including as Eucharistic Ministers, and coordinating a Mass celebrating the World Day of the Sick in February.  Please contact Ralph Linzmeier for additional information.

The St. Jude Medical Center, located in Fullerton, among many other programs, operates a Neighborhood Health Center that offers prenatal medical services, prenatal education classes, and prenatal medication to those in poverty.  Invested and Auxiliary members regularly serve as Eucharistic Ministers to hospital patients.  The Order’s team also assist with food service and in administrative capacities.  Please contact Lou Oddo for additional information.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society Second Harvest Food Bank, located on Marine Way in Irvine, provides food to the needy.  Invested and Auxiliary members regularly assist in sorting and bagging food.  Please contact Robert Luppi for additional information.

Taller San Jose, located in Santa Ana and founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, provides job training and employment services to under-educated, under-skilled and under-employed young persons in Central Orange County.  Invested and Auxiliary members provide mentoring assistance.  Please contact Geoffrey Lee for additional information.