Beach Cities Interfaith Services Inc

Beach Cities Interfaith Services’ (BCIS) mission is to provide care, compassion, food, clothing, transportation, and other assistance to help people meet not only their day-to-day needs, but prepare them for a stable future. Our goal is to assist low-income families, single mothers, children and teens, seniors, and veterans to avoid homelessness and to remove barriers for the unhoused to secure housing. As members of the Orange County community, Our aim is to prevent homelessness, and to assist those who are homeless find stable housing.

Beginning in 1988. we were established as the Episcopal Service Alliance in Huntington Beach to aid those in need. BCIS was incorporated as a nonprofit 501© 3 with a small group of board members and volunteers providing food, clothing, and counseling for homeless people in Huntington Beach. For over 25 years, we have partnered with local churches, community organizations, and individuals who have provided 100% of our funding. We collaborate with 22 faith-based, nonprofit, and community organizations, such as, First Christian Church, St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal Church, St. Peter’s by the Sea Presbyterian Church, Robyn's Nest, St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, Homeless Task Force, Congregation B’Nai Tzedek, ComUNIDAD, Self Help Interfaith Program (SHIP), and Jamboree Housing. BCIS operates with volunteer Board Members and no paid staff.

BCIS’ primary program is to award small grants of $800-$1,000 on average for people who find themselves in unforeseen circumstances that prevent them from paying their rent. These situations include a job loss, medical expense, a large car repair, or becoming a victim of crime, such as domestic violence. Our strategy is to pay the bills directly to a vendor rather than write a check to an individual grantee. All small grant recipients receive information about CalFresh, CalWorks, and any government financial programs available. In order to guide an individual and family towards independence, financial counseling is part of the grantee process. BCIS does not have the capacity to do drug rehabilitation, mental health, or assist those who will not work to improve their situation.

In addition to our small grants program, BCIS partners with nonprofit organizations, churches, and local food banks by delivering food and clothing for distribution. Since every homeless or near homeless individual and family needs an listed address to apply for housing, employment, or to receive benefits, BCIS offers mailbox services to unhoused clients at St. Peter’s by the Sea in Huntington Beach.

Our results speak to the impact of BCIS' program model. Approximately 95% of our awardees have achieved housing stability and financial security after six months and one year. BCIS has consistently grown in the number of people served within the last three years: 36 in 2022, 51 in 2023, and 101 in 2024. Within 2-5 years, BCIS' goal is to provide house stability and prevention of homelessness for up to 200 individuals annually. Based on what Orange County public entities spend on the unhoused, our impact on cost savings to the community could be as much as $9 million within five years. In 2025, BCIS will be on track to increase the number of individuals and families by 25%, providing 125 individuals and families with housing stability and/or prevention grants.

Our greatest strength comes from a network of collaborative partnerships comprised of faith-based and nonprofit and civic community organizations who refer individuals and families seeking our support. In 2024, BCIS increased the number of referral partners from 17 to 22. In 2024, BCIS launched a new partnership with Jamboree Housing in Irvine to fund security deposits for up to 42 homeless seniors who are now living in a permanent supportive housing development at Pelican Harbor in Huntington Beach. BCIS also funded security deposits for 4 homeless clients at Self-Help Interfaith Program (SHIP). BCIS will continue to seek out partnerships with nonprofit housing organizations in the process of offering affordable units in their large development projects to homeless individuals. In 2025, BCIS is looking to expand our community partners by 20% from 22 to 27.

BCIS is growing fast-the number of clients served increased by 51% in 2024. Our Board recognizes that our organization cannot continue to grow with volunteers alone; there is a need to hire an administrator part-time to manage the day to day operations of the organization. In 2025, BCIS plans to transition from a small working Board to a larger, more fundraising-based group.

Within the last two years, BCIS has added four new Board members with expertise in finance, HR and law, and banking. The new Board members are filling leadership positions such as Vice-President. We still would like to find a Board member to assist the treasurer with preparing financial statements and the annual requirements for 990. We hope to expand our Board to 15 members, and eventually form an Ambassadors group of advisors who can help make financial contributions and bring on major donors to BCIS.

Orange County wide, but more frequently serves the coastal cities of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Seal Beach, Westminster, and Santa Ana.

President serves dual role of CEO/Executive Director and President. See statement below under Board Chair/President

BCIS helps people who are behind in their rent stay housed by providing one-time rental payments and resources so individuals and families can avoid homelessness. We pay landlords directly and emphasize self-reliance and financial education to keep families stable. However, we also know that while emphasizing self-reliance is ideal, some clients cannot be expected to reach that standard. That is especially true for disabled seniors, for instance. So, we help with security deposits, furniture purchases, and application fees. For example, we recently funded all 42 security deposits for homeless seniors at a subsidized housing project, Pelican Harbor. The project was built and managed by Jamboree Housing.

To connect with clients, we are a referral-only organization deeply involved in the community. Our referrals come from 1) local nonprofits 2) diverse faith-based organizations 3) governmental entities and 4) selected individuals. The surge in our growth we provide to clients has been exponential. The drastic increase in the volume of clients served has pushed BCIS into its current status as one of Orange County’s leading nonprofits whose primary mission is homeless prevention.

Moreover, our mail service helps people who have lost their housing make the leap to permanent housing by providing an address for correspondence, such as rental and credit applications. We are also partnering with local organizations to provide information about food and housing.

We could not have grown this much without the support of our long-time donors, private foundations, churches, and civic organizations that have helped us raise nearly $80,000 in 2024. In 2025, our goal is to surpass $100,000 in operating funds.