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Seven guys on motorcycles filtered through the entrance gates of a homeless shelter in Santa Ana in loose formation Thursday evening, July 21, their engines alternately purring and roaring.
Parking their bikes – they ride Harleys and Indians – they filed into the Carnegie Navigation Center, taking seats before an audience of about 30 people.
Mike of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club shares his recovery story with residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mike, center, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club shares his recovery story with residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022 as fellow members Alan, left, and Patrick, aka Booch, listen in. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Rex of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club thanks residents of the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center after he and fellow members shared their recovery stories in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A resident, right, of Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center listens as members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club share their recovery stories in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Judge, left, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club shares a funny story as his fellow member Tony, right, laughs as they share their recovery stories with residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club, left, have their photo take after they shared their stories of recovery with residents of the Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club share their recovery stories with residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jim Martin of the Illumination Foundation, right, listens as members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club share their recovery stories with residents at the Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jeff, aka, Pinky, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club pauses as he shares his recovery story with residents of the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Residents of Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center listen as members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club share their recovery stories in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Judge, center, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club , speaks to a resident, left, of the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Messenger members Patrick and Jeff, embrace, right, at the conclusion of their talk. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jeff, aka, Pinky, right, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club closes his eyes as he listens to other members share their recovery story with residents of the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A resident of Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center listens as members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club share their recovery stories in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Patrick, aka Booch, right, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club shares his recovery recovery story with residents at the the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Judge, right, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club shares his recovery story with residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club arrive at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022 to to share their recovery stories with the shelter residents. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club arrive at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022 to to share their recovery stories with the shelter residents. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Judge, right, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club speaks about his recovery to residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Judge, left, of the Messengers of Recover Motorcycle Club shares his recovery story with residents at the Illumination Foundation’s Homeless Navigation and Recuperative Care Center in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A couple of the guys sported ZZ Top beards and one wore large, elaborate silver rings on every finger. Most of the bikers were clad in leather vests with motorcycle club patches. One – looking like he came straight from the office in a button-down shirt under his biker vest – stood up and addressed the audience.
“Hi, my name’s Rex. And I’m an addict.”
The Messengers of Recovery Motorcycle Club members were there to speak candidly of their experiences with addiction, homelessness and incarceration and offer inspiration and encouragement to the shelter’s residents.
At Carnegie, “85% of the clients have a substance abuse problem,” Cynthia Cortez, a shelter counselor, said, adding many also struggle “with severe mental health issues as well.”
The club has 77 riders scattered across California and Arizona who are dedicated to sobriety. Some used their real names, but most offered their biker “road names,” including Pinky, Judge, Redline and Booch.
The speakers urged their audience to pursue a 12-step recovery program, with each of the bikers recounting his own life story, complete with mistakes and sins, at times capturing the attention of the audience and drawing nods, chuckles or even gasps.
One speaker revealed a searing memory that was a turning point in his life. He said he was at a family party 21 years ago after being released from prison when his daughter, then 15, asked him what he would do next. He replied that he’d do the same thing he’d always done, which he described as “running, gunning, thieving, robbing and stealing.”
She stopped him in his tracks, he told those gathered, when she then asked him, “Why don’t you just do the right thing?” Two years later, he got clean and has enjoyed 19 years of sobriety since.
Another speaker joked about his sobriety, which resulted from a “sheriff’s department intervention.” Before that point, “I lived a drug-addicted, incarcerated, homeless life … I want to tell you guys,” he said, looking at the audience, “I have been where you’re at, and you can do this. In spite of my poor attitude, I got the gift of freedom from active addiction.”
The talk took place in the shelter’s kitchen and dining area, where two colorful wall-to-ceiling murals in the warehouse-style building bear the hopeful messages:”Look up, always” and “Look back, never.”
Carnegie opened in June and currently houses 107 people. It’s a 24-hour shelter run by the Illumination Foundation, a nonprofit homeless assistance organization. Carnegie residents have access to case management, housing services, substance and behavioral health counseling, and primary care.
After the panel discussion on Thursday, some Carnegie residents seemed enthused, approaching the bikers to shake their hands.
“All of them had an impact on me,” John, 39, of Santa Ana, said. “I take a lot of positivity and hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Louise, 57, of San Juan Capistrano, who described herself as “a homeless Christian woman,” said that though she hasn’t experienced addiction, she found the evening powerful.
A widow, she said she has faced numerous hardships, including mental health challenges.
“People pick on me. I try to be kind to them,” she said, finding validation in the speakers’ message of compassion to others.
When the night was over, the speakers left the same way they arrived, with a lot of noise and fanfare. As they revved their engines, some staff and residents gathered around. A toddler waved to them from his stroller.
Jim Martin, the Illumination Foundation’s manager for substance abuse counselors in Orange County, said he heard clients speaking favorably of the event.
“I had one client last night ask me, ‘When are you bringing them back?” he said, explaining that the bikers offer unique credibility. “They have experienced the lifestyle, which makes a difference. They know what it is to be homeless, to hurt from drugs, to get into recovery.” And of course the bikes draw people in, he added.
The Illumination Foundation operates in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Facilities include five recuperative care centers, four family emergency shelters, two navigation centers, two multi-service centers, two hotel-based shelters and one modular housing campus.
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