BRYAN CRAIN
CEO/PRESIDENT, ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE MISSION
WHY: Oversees faith-based nonprofit, which reported $27M in revenue in 2023, treats homelessness.
NOTABLE: OC historically has been less tolerant of encampments where open-air drug markets flourish; consequently, the county has significantly lower rate of homelessness among the total population – 0.18% in 2022 compared to 0.71% and 0.96% in Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively. Since 2019, Orange County’s homeless population has declined by about 1,000 to 7,300 while it’s increased by 10,000 to 69,144 in Los Angeles and about 300 to 8,035 in San Francisco.
QUOTABLE: “Another contributing factor (to homelessness) is the rise of a philosophy called “Harm Reduction” that advocates for the distribution of clean needles and readily available overdose medical services in homeless encampments. Harm Reduction is at best short-sighted and at worst deceptively harmful, despite the philosophy’s name. If the goal is to provide meaningful and compassionate help to people who are in the clutches of an all-consuming drug addiction, we should be providing help to stop using drugs, rather than tools to enable and encourage people to eventually lose their lives to addiction.” — Leader Board
