About Us

Founded in 1985, our mission is to equip families and children experiencing homelessness to rebuild their lives. Unlike most homeless service organizations where families are separated, the Door of Hope program keeps the family unit together as they work towards their end goal of achieving permanent housing. Door of Hope has an 85% success rate with families who graduate from the program.

Our Core Values

We believe our six core values are the essence of why our program is successful in allowing families to escape the cycle of homelessness. Staff seek to live them daily as they work with our families and plan with them how best to achieve their goals. They are inherent in all we do.

Christ-centered

Without discrimination or prejudice, we strive every day to imitate Christ's love to the families and children through action and service. Although we are Christ-centered, we do not require faith or participation from any family.

Compassionate

We seek to deliver services from a compassionate, trauma-informed lens that guides our policy, decision making, and interaction with families. We care for the families we serve with dignity and respect. Our goal is to be restorative, and not punitive. Mistakes are used as learning opportunities.

Holistic

We care about the whole person and the whole family. Our program is tailored to meet the individual needs of each family because we recognize that each area of our families' lives impacts their overall functioning.

Empowering

All of the services we proved are client-driven. We listen to our families, give them a voice, and assist them by advocating on their behalf and providing them with the tools they need to succeed. Families set their own goals in case management and counseling. Life skill classes are based on their stated needs.

Excellence

A culture of learning fosters excellence in our programs, which are characterized by innovation and evidence-based practices. Ongoing training keeps staff current and up-to-date.

Relational

We work to create a sense of community and relationship not only for the organization but for the families we serve. In two of our facilities, families sit around the dinner table each evening intentionally to operate as one large family. Families interact with each other, staff, donors, and volunteers and build relationships that last even after the family has left our program.

Our Locations

For the past 31 years, we have been helping families escape homelessness and regain stability.

The Los Robles Site

The Los Robles Site was founded in 1985 and is our first location. Los Robles serves two-parent families, single fathers, and single mothers.

Hope Villa

Hope Villa was founded in 2013 in partnership with Lake Avenue Church. Hope Villa serves single mothers and their children.

Domestic Violence Site

Our Domestic Violence opened in 2008. The location is undisclosed to protect the mothers and children who have escaped domestic violence.

Our History

Door of Hope was founded in 1985 by Steve and Iris Lazarian. Steve and Iris were members of Lake Avenue Church who had a huge heart for homelessness and spent many hours volunteering their time and resources to help those in need. In 1985, when a two-parent family became homeless, they would be split up, as there was no one equipped to serve the entire family unit. Most of the time, the father would go one way, and the mother and kid(s) would go elsewhere. Steve and Iris saw the heartbreak families being torn apart time and time again and wanted to do something about it. While driving up Los Robles Ave in Pasadena, CA, they ran across an old dilapidated house for sale. They decided to buy it and found Door of Hope, and the rest is history.

Learn why our program has a greater than 80% success rate