SANTA ANA, Calif.—In an alleyway strewn with litter and occasional graffiti, the dull colors of concrete and asphalt suddenly give way to lush greenery in the back lot of the Catholic Charities of Orange County.
“I think when I came through that door, and I looked out here, the first thing I saw was concrete all around,” Alan Smith, 74, of Newport Beach, Calif., told The Epoch Times while pointing at the doorway to the Garden of Hope fruit and vegetable garden that produces food for the Catholic Charities’ food pantry ministry.
A woman walks down an alley outside of the Garden of Hope, located behind the Catholic Charities of Orange County in Santa Ana, Calif., on July 7, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
“I just prayed at the door, and I thought, ‘Lord, you said I can do this,’ and he showed me the vision,” he said….