resources for help in Mission Viejo
November 26, 2022 3:58 PM   Subscribe

Hi friends. I have a friend who is in an abusive housing situation in Mission Viejo CA. They are new to the area and were supposed to be staying rent free with a family member - said family member has gone off the rails and they are terrified. More details inside.

Complications: Friend's girlfriend just had emergency surgery last night for ovarian torsion and is still in hospital. Friend has a special needs cat who is in the home of the abusive family member. Friend is afraid to return to the home. Abusive family member has relapsed into addiction and is verbally threatening them and is behaving in ways that sound like they are experiencing psychosis.

Friend has no savings, is about to start a new job next week but has no safety cushion to move out especially with the emergency surgery situation. Friend is considering sleeping in car tonight. I'm in New York and don't know about local resources that may be helpful to them - shelters, domestic violence orgs, churches, any place where friend can escape and be safe and (I know this is tricky) would be ok with having them bring the cat with them. If anyone has any ideas for places they can reach out to to get to safety I would greatly appreciate the help. Feel free to MeMail me if you don't want to comment here.

Thank you in advance.
posted by nayantara to Travel & Transportation around Mission Viejo, CA (6 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: posters request -- frimble

 
Response by poster: Sorry I should add: Friend is nonbinary so if religious organizations are an option they need to not be shitty right wing orgs that will be unfriendly to a nonbinary person. Situation is escalating. Local police haven't been helpful.
posted by nayantara at 4:01 PM on November 26, 2022


> If anyone has any ideas for places they can reach out to to get to safety I would greatly appreciate the help.

Spitballing, a cat rescue could take care of the cat until things are stable for the human, maybe.
posted by sebastienbailard at 4:15 PM on November 26, 2022


Here to plug findhelp.org. Enter a ZIP code, see resources available in the area — food, housing, work, etc. Also they can reach out to https://www.lgbtqcenteroc.org/ for support from local peers and community. Best of luck to your friend.
posted by acridrabbit at 6:53 PM on November 26, 2022


Best answer: Orange County Social Services Here is a link to a bunch of different resources for the Orange County area. There are leads to get housing, food, social support for your friend. The weather this week for Southern California is very mild, and the state sponsored organizations will not be religious and will provide practical help.
posted by effluvia at 8:23 PM on November 26, 2022


Best answer: Go to DomesticShelters.org and plug in their zip code or town/city name, and it will pull up a list of agencies in their area.

Some agencies allow pets, but the ones that don’t will usually have connections to agencies or people that will foster them temporarily until the person can take them back.

I’m a domestic violence advocate, so if you’re not able to find what you need, feel free to contact me via social media listed in my profile (fastest way) or via memail (which I don’t check as often) and I’ll help you figure something out.
posted by MexicanYenta at 5:16 AM on November 27, 2022 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Hi MexicanYenta - thank you so much for your offer to help, I just DM'd you on Twitter.
posted by nayantara at 11:01 AM on November 27, 2022 [1 favorite]


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