Hope Harbor

Providing a home for teens in crisis, transforming lives, and strengthening families.

Hope Harbor—originally founded as Laurel House—began as the shared dream of two women who deeply loved and cared for teenagers. Nadene Holub and Elinor Tompkins spent years serving in their church nursery before their concern for homeless youth in their community compelled them to take action. As a school nurse in the Tustin Unified School District, Nadene was heartbroken by the number of teens living on the streets and often searched for safe private homes willing to take them in. When the need outgrew the number of available families, Elinor suggested creating a temporary place where teens could stay. In 1985, Laurel House—now Hope Harbor—was established as an emergency crisis shelter for runaway and homeless teens.

Over the decades, what began as a short‑term crisis shelter has transformed into California’s only long‑term, privately funded youth residential program, providing 12–18 months of preventive care for at‑risk, homeless, or runaway teens. Today, Hope Harbor offers far more than temporary relief. Teens receive comprehensive mental‑health care, academic support, life‑skills training, and all basic necessities within a stable, family‑like home environment.

Hope Harbor’s mission extends beyond stabilizing teens—it focuses on restoring the entire family unit. By addressing the underlying causes of crisis early, Hope Harbor prevents teens from ending up on the streets, entering the juvenile justice system, or becoming wards of the court. This long‑term, relational model continues to honor the original vision Nadene and Elinor had: to create a safe, loving place where teens can heal, grow, and reclaim hope for their future.

100% of these families come from low- to moderate-income households and have limited resources for counseling and mental health care.

Hope Harbor is filling in a gap of services in California by stabilizing these teen girls and boys and transforming their lives before they end up on the streets or become wards of the court system. Through our crisis intervention program, it is our goal to keep the family unit intact without requiring the involvement of a public agency such as social services.

Hope Harbor provides a safe home and comprehensive support for at-risk, homeless teens, helping them achieve stability, emotional well-being, educational success, and long-term independence. By addressing both immediate needs and underlying challenges, we empower teens to overcome adversity and build hopeful, productive futures.

Hope Harbor exists to ensure that no teen faces homelessness or crisis alone. Through safe housing, compassionate care, counseling, life skills training, educational support, and the love of Christ, we help vulnerable teens find stability today and hope for tomorrow. The result is transformed lives, restored relationships, stronger families, and brighter futures for the young people we serve.

California has the highest number of homeless and hungry youth in the United States, and there is a pressing need for more shelter and mental health programs for homeless and at-risk teens in California. More than 24,600 school-aged children are considered “homeless or living in unstable housing arrangements” in Orange County. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, teen suicide is the second-leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24. 3 in 5 teens with depression received no mental health treatment. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, teenagers in California are 24.46% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen.

Hope Harbor fills a significant gap in California as the only long-term (12-18 months) youth shelter program for homeless and at-risk teens. Hope Harbor provides a “home” for and at-risk, homeless teens, equipping them with the tools and support to achieve their educational goals and develop independent living skills. We focus on breaking the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and broken family relationships. Services include long-term safe shelter, nutritious meals, live-in case management, medical, dental, optical, and mental health care, counseling, STEAM education, college readiness, individualized tutoring, nutrition education, physical fitness, and life skills training. Of the teens we serve, 100% come from low-to-moderate-income households and have limited resources for food, care, education, counseling, and mental health therapy.

Hope Harbor is located in Tustin, CA, but serves runaway, homeless or at-risk teens from Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and San Diego County.

One of the biggest blessings in my life (besides having a wonderful wife and three amazing kids) is the privilege of serving in the ministry Hope Harbor has provided to homeless and at-risk teens since they joined Orange County Rescue Mission in 2014.

Hope Harbor (formerly known as Laurel House) has been providing critical services to youth in crisis in Orange County since 1985. We are the only long-term, privately funded, preventative residential care program in all of California for teens who have a history of running away or are at risk of becoming homeless due to personal trauma or unresolved family issues within the home. With the increasing pressure teens experience driven by social media, mental health issues are unsurprisingly on the rise. Drugs, alcohol, and sexual exploration have become coping mechanisms. This is becoming an epidemic amongst our teen population.

Our supporters are integral to ensuring that our teen boys and girls are living in a safe home environment with live-in house parents, individual and family counseling, crisis counseling, nutritious meals, academic support, tutoring, and life skills training with the goal of family reunification when possible. We see the teens in our program make huge strides in their education, often being the first in their family to attend college.

Thank you for being a part of a positive and life-changing experience for the teens we are blessed to serve at Hope Harbor.

We believe that there is a significant need for ministering to young girls and boys between the ages of 12 and 17. Being on the Board at Orange County Rescue Mission, we experienced a need for a program that would serve under-aged girls and boys in a homelike environment. We are passionate about this because we have witnessed too many times when teen runaways stay away for an extended period of time and are at risk of falling prey to human traffickers. We see Hope Harbor as being a preemptive effort to fighting homelessness, alcohol or drug addiction, gang involvement, and human trafficking among teens.