What started as a humble vision from Long Beach Rescue Mission founders Wayne and Janet Teuerle over half a century ago has grown into a 215-bed shelter for community members who are unhoused and need a little support.
“I was telling Wayne and Janet, God gave them this vision 53 years ago, I’m stewarding this vision and elevating it and involving it,” said Jeff Levine, Chief Executive Officer and President of Long Beach Rescue Mission. “I want the Rescue Mission to still be a place for healing, so there’s a sense of responsibility that comes with it.”
The Long Beach Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization that provides meals, clothing, shelter and spiritual guidance to help people overcome the cycle of homelessness.
“[It’s] a place of healing and hope [and] we serve the greater Long Beach community by improving the quality of life of the hurting and homeless and we do that with programs that help people be reconciled to God,” he said.
A Program-First Approach
The Mission serves 700-800 meals a day, provides multi-bed housing and leads multiple programs that help people develop a plan to leave homelessness, essentially assisting individuals every step of the way into housing.
“The longer you’re out on the street, the mental health declines, you’re constantly living with a little bit of anxiety, feeling overwhelmed like it can be impossible to get from,” Levine said.
There are four unique houses that the Long Beach Rescue Mission operates, which serve a wide range of communities:
- The Samaritan House, which provides 150 beds for men
- The Lydia House, which provides 50 beds for women and children
- The Apostle house, which serves up to 15 men with disabilities
- The Timothy House, which provides 12 beds for men ages 18-24
According to Levine, the Long Beach Rescue Mission is currently expanding its Lydia House by adding 60 additional beds for women and children. The increase is set for May 2026. The Timothy House is not yet open, but it is set to be operational in January 2026, one year after they first broke ground for the new shelter.
86% of people who have gone through the Long Beach Rescue Mission’s New Life Program have been able to find stable housing within a year, a testament to their program-first approach.
“We do street outreach and I think it is building relationships [and] building relationships of trust,” he said. “It’s a big jump to follow somebody [from living] in a vehicle to a shelter [and] going to a shelter when you’ve been out on the streets for as long as you can.”
The street outreach team works daily to connect people in need with care kits and essential resources.
“Search and rescues’ a wonderful arm for us to go meet people where they’re at,” Long Beach Rescue Mission Chaplain Torie Russell said. “It’s great work to be able to not only have folks [to] come to us, but also [us] go to them.”
Once they establish a relationship with someone experiencing homelessness, Long Beach Rescue Mission offers a 90-day Case Management Program to help them develop a plan to leave homelessness. For New Life graduates, the Bridge Program helps in securing employment, education and housing.
Overcoming Different Types of Homelessness
Levine said a recurring factor that contributes to people experiencing homelessness to those they serve is often childhood trauma, including dealing with physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect or experiencing hunger as a child.
“You can have a house for every person experiencing homelessness and you’d still have homelessness because it’s not just that. I think that until we approach this from a holistic perspective, we’re gonna get frustrated when we see somebody into housing and they fall out.”
Jeff Levine, Chief Executive Officer and President of Long Beach Rescue Mission
The approach is also different, Levine said, based on how long someone’s been unhoused for and what caused them to become homeless. Levine said that 45% of the people living in housing around the rescue mission are living below the poverty level.
Homelessness increased by 6.5% last year in Long Beach and financial hardship was the leading cause, increasing from 37.1% in 2024 to 41.2% in 2025.
People who are already struggling to get by, like the 28% of Long Beach residents living below the poverty line, can easily lose their shelter if there’s a change in their income or if their rent is unexpectedly increased.
Levine made an important distinction between unexpected homelessness and chronic homelessness. He said when a person or family is evicted and pushed into homelessness, getting them in some type of housing and connecting them to services is the priority because they’ve shown skills such as maintaining a budget, creating food or preparing laundry.
Chronic homelessness is different, which is when a person has been unhoused for a year or longer. They’re not used to using a washing machine, maintaining their own budget and going grocery shopping. People experiencing chronic homelessness often still have a community though, as well as a set way of doing things.
Taking them out of that situation and thrusting them into a new lifestyle can be jarring. Levine said teaching them life skills and soft skills through the Mission’s programming helps them in their transformation.
“You take someone who’s been on the streets or on the riverbed for 18 years and you put them in housing, they experience anxiety and depression, they build an encampment in their room,” Levine said. “You pulled them out of their community, their neighbors and they fell back into homelessness.”
Nearly half the people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach in 2024 had been homeless for over a year, according to the Point in Time results.
A Growing Need
One misconception about the Long Beach Rescue Mission is the perception that you have to be a Christian or are required to go to Christian discipleship to receive services.
Levine said they’ve had Muslims, Buddhists and an Atheist stay with the Long Beach Rescue Mission. The Atheist graduated from the Mission’s one-year program and while he’s never read the Bible before, the graduate told Levine that he experienced authentic love at the Long Beach Rescue Mission.
Though faith is not required for people to receive services, it’s the driving force that compels the staff to keep the mission going.
“It’s a fulfillment to come to work and see lives changed,” Russell said. “We’re all in.”
Even with the large number of beds the Long Beach Rescue Mission offers, it’s a small dent in the 3,500 people who are experiencing homelessness in the city, and they have to turn people away daily.
“When you have to turn 10-12 families [away] a day, we’re not okay with that,” Levine said. “When you’re full, you’re turning away those families and for our staff, they’re the ones receiving the phone call, telling the mom who is sleeping in her car with her kids that we can’t bring them [in].”
After 21 years with the Long Beach Rescue Mission, Levine said the importance of getting new volunteers and partners is critical to their operations.
“Not receiving government funding, we’re dependent on individuals, corporations and businesses to help us with what we do,” he said. “It gives us not just flexibility but agility and speed. We can do things [at] a fraction of the cost.”
The Long Beach Rescue Mission will host a Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 26 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and a Thanksgiving Day breakfast on Nov. 27 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
People can donate to the Long Beach Rescue Mission through its website or make an in-person donation for the Thanksgiving feast from Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Samaritan House at 1335 Pacific Ave.
[A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled the last name of Wayne and Janet Teuerle. The Signal Tribune regrets this error.]
