The organization I have the pleasure of working at is Operation Grace. Operation Grace began as a homeless shelter provider in 1993. They provide desperately needed aid for hundreds of homeless in the San Bernardino area. They aid people in “dusting themselves off and getting back on their feet.” The same family has owned this organization since it has opened up. Jessica, the leader of the organization, has worked there since she was a little girl when her parent’s were in charge. She has literally grown up in this organization and is now a pastor and head of Operation Grace. Operation Grace’s main cause is to alleviate the homeless population in the city. In addition to housing women and children in emergency shelters, they also provide low income and transitional housing. The organization also provides additional services and referrals to anyone who calls the office. Overall, their main focus is to help families get into homes that they can call their own.

Although Operation Grace aids families with shelter, they only house women and women with children. The thing that stood out to me the most about this organization is that 90% of the homeless people they shelter are able to move into permanent housing of their own, on their own.

Operation Grace believes that women sometimes find themselves in situations that are out of their hands. This is a cause of homelessness that they see often. They also believe that there isn’t enough housing for people with low income. This is why their foundation is based on giving women the tools and services for money management in order for them to be able to obtain a house of their own. Because these women have been through hardships, the organization supports them by supporting them with positivity and care. The organization is also heavily influenced by their faith. Jessica, the head of the organization, is also a pastor and hold Bible readings. She decided to do this work because she felt like it was her duty as a person of faith. That’s also how Ms. Pride got into this work. She said she had never went to school for this, but that she felt like God was calling her to do more. This work is not easy to do, yet they manage to bring smiles on their face everyday when they come to work. I strongly admire this about them. Their positivity and faith gives them the ability to help people in any way that they can. I think it’s great that they use their faith to help, yet never try to force their faith on anyone. As a not so religious person, I really like this about them. Because they work as a family, their shelter works as a family too.

I have only been working at Operation Grace for about two weeks now, but I already feel like I am learning so much. This isn’t a pleasurable job to do, yet they do this work for the people they are able to help. All in all, I look forward to going back to see what more I can learn and experience. I know that I have much more to take in from this internship.