Twenty years ago, Mary and Bernie Selz with one magnanimous thought, changed the lives of hundreds of people in Garden Grove and the surrounding areas. It all started when Mary and Bernie were doing an ordinary task-shopping at the supermarket. When they left the store, they saw a young girl with an infant in her arms and holding a homeless sign. After they put their groceries in the care, they decided to talk to the girl and see what they could do to help her.The girl was from Oklahoma and had been deserted by her boyfriend.
The kind, sympathetic hearts of the Selz' went into action. They took this girl to their home for an overnight stay, fed her, had her call her parents and the next day took her to a bus station and paid for her ticket home. A similar scenario repeated itself about three weeks later and again Mary and Bernie responded by taking another girl home. How fortunate these young ladies and the hundreds of families and children who came after them have all been - all because of a the special spirit of the Selz' which can probably be summed up with an attitude of: Lets do something about this - Lets truly love one another.
About a month or two after these incidents, Mary and Bernie discussed the need to help the increasing number of homeless with other friends in the area. A group emerged and Bernie did the legwork to get something going. Many kind and generous friends began to help financially. The owner of an apartment complex in Garden Grove agreed to rent a three-bedroom apartment to house homeless families. This place accommodated three families and enabled them to get off the streets, get showers and be safe for three days but they knew it was "band aid surgery". The group knew they had to do more, so a short time later, they had to set up rules.
Thomas House Temporary Shelter was founded in 1987 for the specific purpose of assisting homeless families with children. In 2003, Thomas House purchased a two-building complex with 18 apartments; (one, two and three bedroom) and room for expansion. Since 1987 Thomas House has served 800 families, including 2855 individuals. Thanks to the R. C. Hoiles Memorial Award presented to Thomas House in 1990, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year! The award gave Mary and Bernie the opportunity to expand their vision by providing not only temporary shelter, but additional programs to assist the families.
The length of stay for Thomas House clients is now approximately six to nine months and in addition to basic needs some of the services provided are: case management, on-site employment counseling, job search assistance, housing and transportation assistance, independent living skills training, counseling, after-school program and former resident outreach program. In return they must be working or be actively looking for a job, have their children in school, be substance free and be willing to save 80% of their earnings.
Mary and Bernie did not just start the program. Over the years, they both continued to generously and actively serve the homeless families at Thomas House. The seed was germinated by them and has grown and continues to flourish today. Their sincere love for others has impressed and motivated many more people to follow in their footsteps.
Thomas House is celebrating 20 years of serving homeless families in Orange County. Thomas House would not be here today had it not been for both Mary's and Bernie's response to love and serve others.
"I just want to extend our appreciation for all the needs that you meet for us on a daily basis. You have assisted my family in helping us to get stable and to reach our daily goals, not to mention enabling us to have a bigger and brighter future. I could never thank you enough. ”
- AThomas House Resident