Both Alicia and Rueben experienced broken marriages, loss of jobs, and loss of housing. Separately, they found themselves homeless in Merced for about six years. It was during this difficult time in their lives that they found each other. They describe what happened next in their own words.

“Our journey of homelessness took us on a road of having one foot in and one foot out of our addiction, following Jesus, and almost giving up. There came a point when we decided to reach out to the Merced Rescue Mission. We both entered the Mission’s programs at the same time. Alicia entered the Hope for Women program, and Rueben entered the Hope for Men program. These programs provided hope and guidance through a faith-based program that introduced us to Jesus and helped us get God back into our lives. We both completed the Life Transformation program and graduated on March 11, 2025.

We owe all the glory to God for saving us and changing our lives. God helped us surrender our lives, believe in Him, and give us the faith to move forward in our lives. We entered the program with nothing. Now that we have graduated, we both have been blessed with jobs, a home of our own and a new life together. We want to thank Anthony, Alicia’s uncle and one of the Mission’s staff members, for helping us find our way to the Mission. Thank you for being our guardian angel. We love you, Uncle. And thank you to the Mission for helping us get on a new and wonderful path. “