Dedicated to helping those in need, this faithful group supports The Hub OC, which includes the Hub Resource Center, the Youth Centers and Full Center Meaningful Marketplace. Gathered here are (top right, from left) Johnmark Rivera, Sam Kizler and Edgar Garnica, (center row, from left) Eva MacGregor, Kelsey Mallender, Arianna Rios, Tammy McMullen, Taylor Ferguson, Diane Reynolds, Cameron Geringer-Pate, Kylee Simonton, Holiday Zimmerman, Joanna Fermin and (front) Alex Geringer-Pate and Kaili Ramirez.
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The HUB OC
The Hub OC Founder Holiday Zimmerman never intended to start a nonprofit. But around the time her husband, Kyle, was called to help as a pastor at Friends Church in Orange, her dad passed away. She learned her father had recently begun the formation of a nonprofit.
“This was the beginning of something that God obviously had plans for,” says Zimmerman, who soon discovered through board member Bill Steiner that there was a need at the Youth Centers of Orange for the support of a nonprofit.
“We named the nonprofit The Hub OC, because we wanted it to be a hub where people could get their needs met in Orange County,” says Zimmerman.
Then Covid hit and the Zimmermans were faced with hundreds of kids with nowhere to go, as many of their parents were essential workers. Working with the city, they were able to keep the Youth Center open at Friends Church and provided WIFI, air-conditioning and meals. The Youth Centers expanded to include the city’s four community sites. With both private and government funding, they kept afloat.
“My dream is self-sufficiency. There was a storefront opening on Glassell, and I thought of running a thrift store,” says Zimmerman. “We have churches that can donate clothing. I wanted it to be an entrepreneurial place where Youth Center kids and emancipated foster youth could get a job.”
What began as a one-month popup became Full Circle Meaningful Marketplace. The store has now been open for three years and has helped raise more than $150,000.
“The city approached us to help them with the homeless, so in May 2022 we opened The Hub Resource Center,” says Zimmerman of the center that serves more than 200 clients a day Monday through Saturday.
“We are a one-stop-shop. If you are unhoused or just struggling, you can come and receive two meals a day, shower, do laundry and charge devices,” she says. “We also provide clothing, job resources, art therapy, men’s and women’s groups and AA.”
The Hub Resource Center works with the county on housing. In one year, the center sheltered 354 people and has permanently housed 22.
“Someone might be minutes away from homelessness, and you may not even realize it,” says Kylee Simonton, Executive Director of the Hub Resource Center, who adds that some 2,000 people use the center as their mailing address.
The Youth Centers, Full Circle Meaningful Marketplace and the Hub Resource Center are all under The Hub OC nonprofit.
“Orange is so community focused and collaborative. Coming here has been a dream,” says Zimmerman.
The Hub OC
1439 West Chapman Ave., #196
