“It has been a privilege to be involved with Olive Crest for over 20 years. My first experience was mentoring a 13-year-old girl who was living in an Olive Crest home. We have maintained a close relationship for 21 years, during which time she attended Olive Crest’s high school and I got to cheer her on during graduation. With the help of Olive Crest, she went on to college. I was so impressed by the quality of her care and support she received during all those years, so a few years later when I sold some property and had some discretionary funds, I wanted to invest in helping some of God’s ch ..read more

I grew up in a very quiet, lonely household with my dad who was a functioning alcoholic and suffered from mental illness. At 12 years old, I became uncontrollable and unsupervised, which I know now is a dangerous combination.  As a teen, I went to Olive Crest, but wasn’t ready to accept the help that was offered to me. I kept running away, but Olive Crest continued to let me come back. Eventually, I ended up in juvenile hall, and things only got worse. From there, I experienced homelessness, sex trafficking addiction, and violence. I became pregnant at the age of 15 and promised myself I ..read more

Olive Crest is dedicated to serving children and families in crisis One Life at a Time®.  Over the last 50 years, Olive Crest has served more than 200,000 children and families in crisis. In the child welfare system, once a child turns 18, they “age out” of the system, meaning they have reached the maximum age that the state will support them without being reunited with their family or being placed in a permanent home. In 2020, more than 20,000 youth exited the child welfare system without being reunited with their families or finding a permanent home. In many cases, children who have age ..read more

Olive Crest is dedicated to preventing child abuse by strengthening, equipping, and restoring children and families in crisis “One Life at a Time”®. Over the past 50 years, Olive Crest has served over 200,000 children and families. Child abuse and neglect continue to affect thousands of children and families across the United States. In 2020, there was more than 60,000 children found to be victims of abuse and neglect in California alone and it was reported that at least 1 in 7 children were victims of abuse across the United States. Families with low socioeconomic strategies are five times hi ..read more

On Saturday, February 25th , Olive Crest hosted their 50th  Anniversary Gala at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel. 1,200 guests, from all over the Western United States, gathered to celebrate the growth of Olive Crest and honor the vision of founders, Dr. Don and Lois Verleur. The celebration included a silent auction, testimonials, and performances from Imagination Entertainment. Attendees were guided through the last 50 years of Olive Crest by host Perry King, actor, Olive Crest National Spokesman, and Trustee. “For the kids” was echoed by each and every supporter who took the stage o ..read more

We have some exciting news to share – Olive Crest is continuing its mission of strengthening, equipping, and restoring children and families in crisis by expanding our services into Santa Barbara county! To continue our efforts to address the issue of human trafficking, Olive Crest began operations at the Hope Refuge campus on March 7, 2022. This ranch-style facility for female victims of sex trafficking has been providing safety and healing since 2013. “Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day sex slavery that destructively impacts the well-being of individuals, families, and communities nati ..read more

Jacob is 17 and has a history of being abused as a child, both physically and sexually. These experiences brought upon Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and ongoing depression as a teenager. In order to cope, he turned to substances which eventually triggered him to become aggressive. One such instance landed Jacob behind bars, in a reality he never would have thought possible. Following his incarceration, he was placed at an Olive Crest home. Jacob didn’t want to be there and ran away within weeks. Yet, after 3 days on his own, Jacob called Olive Crest for help. During that call, he was honest ..read more

Moving on 17-year-old Roger is ready to leave Olive Crest. The two and a half years he spent here may have saved his life. Roger didn’t grow up in a comfortable suburban home. His family was transient. More often than not, they lived in a van. He and his brothers and sisters never got a chance to settle in at one place before they were packing up and moving on to another. With his father in prison, and as the oldest among five siblings, he tried to be a father figure for his family. But the pressure of trying to take care of his siblings soon got him and by the time he was 14, he was in juven ..read more

Isabella’s career goal was to enter the medical field and eventually learn to teach each other’s how to draw blood. The oldest of three siblings, one of whom has health challenges, Isabella cared for them when she was younger, but experienced homelessness after she aged out of the child welfare system at age 18. Isabella took it upon herself to reenter the system to receive the support she needed to further her education and make a better living for herself and her younger siblings. That’s when she came to Olive Crest. Through the support and guidance of her case managers and the Transitional ..read more

The gift of a forever family. After seeing the struggles of abused children, the Cooks wanted to make a difference by adopting kids into their home. Their first child, Abbagail, came to them as a shy, quiet three-year-old who was hesitant to interact with others. She had witnessed domestic violence and survived sexual abuse. The Cooks also welcomed Ricky into their home. At the time he was an 18-month-old baby boy who had been neglected by his mother after she, being very young and unprepared herself, was unable to take care of him. Through the Cooks’ gentle care and unconditional love, both ..read more