An open door
Men’s Recovery Outreach provides second chances through faith
Pastor Nestor Lamborino stood outside the Men’s Recovery Outreach home at 344 West Kanai Avenue in Porterville Thursday afternoon with a warm welcoming smile.
“Come on in,” Lamborino greeted. “This is our home.”
The walls inside were lined with beautiful framed images and big comfortable couches. Lamborino took a seat and explained that some of the residents in the house were resting after a long night’s work cleaning up at the Tulare County Fair.
Men’s Recovery Outreach is a national faithbased program with nearly 15,000 residents. This outreach program helps men overcome addiction problems and get their lives on a positive path. The whole program can last anywhere from nine months to a year. Men’s Recovery
Outreach is tied to Victory Outreach Church.
“We don't charge any of them,” informed Lamborino. “They come in here free.”
The recovery home program has been open in Porterville since 1996, but has changed locations a few times. The current home in Porterville houses eight men, but has room for 10.
“In ‘96 I felt a calling to come to Porterville, I don't know why but I did,” said Lamborino. “So I came to Porterville, and we opened our very first facility. We started taking guys off the streets and living with them, eating with them.”
The day-to-day operations of the home include times of devotion and prayer, daily chores and yard work, times to relax, and constant Bible study of some sort. The program also promotes the Christian religion and takes residents to worship hours at church every week.
“We have people who come in from Visalia, people who come from Tulare,” explained Lamborino. “We have people who get off at the bus stop and hear about us, so we take them in.”
The only men that are turned away are sexual offenders, because the
proper licensing hasn't been obtained to allow them to participate in the program.
Men's Recovery Outreach will go out to the rivers and offer their services to those who are living in the riverbeds.
“We have gone to the river and taken ice-cold waters to the people out there,” said Lamborino. “We get some of our residents and on some nights go out to the streets and talk to men that are struggling with addictions.”
The outreach program offers a place to sleep, a chance to physically clean up, and support to overcome addictions.
Lamborino is very active in the community and helps out where he can.
“Other than just being in the church or recovery, I'm involved with the Step Up committee,” said Lamborino. “I'm involved in the juvenile diversion program, where we are able to go into the police department with all the kids that are getting ready to go to juvenile hall and share our experiences.”
The Men's Recovery Outreach program is facing a major challenge at the moment — the need for a bigger facility.
“We need like a six bedroom house,” explained Lamborino. “I'm hoping there is a house that is just sitting somewhere that can be leased for a good price.”
The men in the program do not go door to door looking for work. A lot of the things they do for income are selfmaintained.
The next big goal for the outreach program is to open a women's facility.
“We are wanting to open a women's facility because there is a big need,” Lamborino said. “There are women who are prostituting themselves and living in the river.”
Lamborino is looking forward to the program's future and watching the men who participate grow in the spiritual journey.
Wesley Smothermon, a resident in the Men's Recovery Outreach home, took some time to sit and answer a few questions. Smothermon's sister introduced him to the program when he turned to her for advice.
“I used to be real suicidal. Every day I had thoughts about committing suicide,” said Smothermon. “Since I've been here that has slowly went away, and now I don't even have those thoughts anymore. I'm a stronger person now and I'm more connected to my family. It has been a big change.”
Armando Proa, a resident of 11 months, spoke after Smothermon.
“There are three ways I look at my life now being part of this home, and that's spiritual discipline,
spiritual structure, and also administration, which is stewardship,” Proa stated. “It's working. I have a steady job now, and it has helped me out. This is a good place to start. It works and I thank God for it.”
Two program directors, Roman Holguin and Alyssa Holguin, live in the home and help their residents along their individual journeys of recovery. Roman and Alyssa are a married couple whose passion for helping the men in their program find change was evident.
“Seeing the guys and how they come in, and then seeing the change that not us, but God, has done in their lives... now they see self-worth in their lives,” said Alyssa Houlgin. “I've always seen a deeper side to it. Yes, these are men who have made bad choices, but they are trying to fix them. They see that they need help, and they are on the right track to getting that help.”
“My dad became a part of the ministry after being locked up. Being a kid and watching him be developed in that home, I would think that everybody he lived with was my family,” said Roman Holguin. “Growing up in the ministry, I've always had a heart for those men, specifically because they made you feel like ‘man, that's my family, all the time, all the time.' My heart has always been here.”
Men's Recovery Outreach offers help to men facing homelessness, substance abuse issues or those who have received court referrals. Men in need are encouraged to reach out to them. Their outreach home is located at 344 W. Kanai Avenue in Porterville.