Illumination Health + Home Celebrates 10 Years of Keeping Families Together

Sixth annual Women's Philanthropy Luncheon raises more than $278,000 and marks a decade since its Family Emergency Homes program started, now Orange County's largest provider of emergency beds for families

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Oct. 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Illumination Health + Home (Illumination), an Orange County-based nonprofit committed to disrupting the cycle of homelessness, raised more than $278,000 at its sixth annual Women's Philanthropy Luncheon on Oct. 9, 2026, at The Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, Calif. Approximately 150 community philanthropists attended the event, which marked the 10th anniversary of Illumination’s Family Emergency Homes program.

The program began in 2016, when Illumination opened Theriault House in Stanton, Calif., a nine-bedroom family emergency home with space for up to eight families at a time. Theriault House was built through a partnership with HomeAid Orange County | Los Angeles (HomeAid), the Southern California building industry’s nonprofit arm. Illumination brought HomeAid a specific need: more emergency space for families with young children. HomeAid delivered it through donated labor and materials, turning what began as a planned renovation into a ground-up rebuild.

A decade later, Illumination operates six Family Emergency Homes across Orange County and is the county’s largest provider of emergency beds for families, all in home settings rather than typical shelter facilities. Staff work alongside families toward stability and self-sufficiency through intensive case management, housing navigation, parenting classes, developmental screenings for children, behavioral health care, and academic enrichment, all aimed at helping children and parents heal from trauma and at disrupting the intergenerational cycle of homelessness.

AT-A-GLANCE: Family Emergency Homes, 2016–2026

• Family Emergency Homes in operation: six — one in Stanton (Theriault House), three in Anaheim (Murphy House, Gilbert House, and Plumeria House), one in Lake Forest (Shah Happiness Home), and one in Santa Ana (Children and Family Recuperative Care)
• Families served: 540, including 1,096 children (1,883 individuals total)
  
  

“Ten years ago, we knew families needed a different kind of environment, one where children could feel safe, and parents could have the time and support to get their families back on their feet,” said Dr. Pooja Bhalla, CEO of Illumination Health + Home. “What began with that belief has grown into a program that has walked alongside families through some of the hardest moments of their lives. This anniversary belongs to those families, our staff, and the community that made the work possible.”

The Children and Families Recuperative Care Home in Santa Ana, Calif., opened in 2024 as the nation’s first recuperative care home for children and families experiencing homelessness. Recuperative care, also called medical respite, gives children a safe place to recover from illness or injury after hospitalization, with their families by their side. CalOptima Health supported the development of the home by funding Illumination’s purchase, renovation, and expansion of the property.

The impact of Illumination’s Family Emergency Homes was brought to life during the luncheon by Latasha Bridgemon, a mother of six and survivor of domestic violence who shared her family’s journey from homelessness to stability through the program. After surviving a near-fatal attack and more than a dozen surgeries, Bridgemon fled an unsafe environment with her three youngest children and worked three minimum-wage jobs while moving between hotels to keep her family sheltered. By the end of 2025, she and her children had become homeless. They entered one of Illumination’s Family Emergency Homes shortly after.

“Illumination gave us more than shelter. It gave us space—space to rest, think, heal, plan, and rebuild,” Bridgemon said. “It became the key that opened the door for my family to begin the process of restoration.”

While living in the home, Bridgemon worked with her case manager and completed a peer support specialist certification. She has since taken a position as a case manager at a residential treatment facility and moved with her children into a home of their own. She is now an author and runs a life-coaching business focused on helping women heal from trauma.

The luncheon also honored West Coast University, a private health care university headquartered in Irvine, Calif., for its longstanding partnership. West Coast University dental hygiene students provide periodontal care at Illumination’s Fullerton Dental Clinic, while nursing students gain hands-on experience caring for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Students and staff also volunteer at events such as Carnival for Kids, and the university has supported the Women’s Philanthropy Luncheon since its inception.

The sixth annual luncheon was co-chaired by Nancy Valeri and Dorothy Cobb and presented by the Bickerstaff Family Foundation and West Coast University. Additional sponsors included City of Hope Orange County, F&M Bank, Marc Carlson and Jacqueline Dupont-Carlson, Cooper Housing Institute, Jim and Laurie Allen, Coleen Cunningham, the Grover Family, and the Matros Family.

About Illumination Health + Home
Illumination Health + Home, founded in 2008, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides targeted, interdisciplinary services for the most vulnerable homeless adults and children to disrupt the cycle of homelessness. The organization provides a full continuum of care from street to home, including case management, medical coordination, behavioral health and substance use counseling, and housing navigation to our vulnerable clients in shelters/navigation centers, family emergency homes, recuperative care/medical respite facilities, and permanent supportive housing. Learn more at https://illuminationhealthhome.org/.

MEDIA CONTACT
Andy Vernier
Andy@ideahall.com
970-987-4512

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0e4acaa8-b56f-41fb-a4c6-93702c476bd7

Illumination Health + Home Women's Philanthropy Luncheon 2026

Attendees gather at Illumination Health + Home’s sixth annual Women’s Philanthropy Luncheon