Why I Serve: God Used Matthew’s Hope to Give Me a Second Chance

My reason for serving doesn't come from a position of authority; it comes from a place of lived truth. I am not just leading this mission. I am living proof of it, because I walked through the doors of Matthew’s Hope as a guest long before I ever became Director.

My journey taught me early on that there is no rhyme or reason as to when a person is finally ready to reach out, accept help, and start over. Real transformation rarely follows a neat schedule or happens when anyone expects it to. But that experience planted an unbreakable truth in my heart: never lose hope. A moment of eye contact today might turn into a genuine smile tomorrow, and that single smile can be the spark that begins a whole new life.

I am endlessly passionate about what Matthew’s Hope stands for because I know without a shadow of a doubt that it works. I live that truth every day, both as someone whose path was transformed here and as someone who now has the profound honor of helping lead our Orange County Campus forward as the Director.

From the outside, people sometimes see the snack bags we hand out and assume that’s the extent of what we do. But those snack bags are simply the doorway to a relationship. We know our guests. We care for them deeply. We know their favorite colors, their quiet heartbreaks, and their personal stories.

Society often measures progress in rigid, loud ways, but "moving forward" looks different for everyone. It doesn't always mean signing a lease or finding full-time employment overnight. Sometimes, moving forward is simply sitting down to eat a warm meal after being paralyzed by depression to eat at all.

I serve for the big, life-changing milestones, like watching someone graduate from our Moving Forward program. But I also serve just as passionately for the small, quiet wins, like watching a guest realize they are finally safe enough to rest, breathe, and take their first real step forward. Miracles happen here every single day if you have the heart to see them.

God used Matthew’s Hope to give me a second chance, and I am making every single moment matter. Stepping into the role of Director for our Orange County Campus is living proof of what grace can do. My leadership, my purpose, and my life are forever anchored in the gratitude that started with a snack bag and someone treating me like I mattered.

My place is right beside those who feel forgotten. I am here to hold their hands through the darkest news and celebrate with everything I have when they break through. God’s grace rewrote my entire life, and His presence is woven through every corner of this ministry.

THAT IS WHY I SERVE.