Assistant Managing Editor

Andre Mouchard

Jennifer Friend, Project Hope Alliance’s CEO, continued to sharpen her organization’s focus on making sure children who are experiencing homelessness have every opportunity in and out of the classroom to create a stronger future for themselves. Friend built on a $2.1 million grant from CalOptima in 2024 as the group was selected in Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program, which includes a $200,000 grant and leadership training for her and Shelby Feliciano-Sabala, the organization’s chief partnership officer. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Project Hope Alliance’s Jennifer Friend knows education can prevent homelessness

December 21, 2025 at 7:00 a.m.

Most Influential 2025: Friend wants to break the parent-to-kid cycle of homelessness by helping house-challenged students get diplomas. The nonprofit's graduation rate just hit 95%, which is higher than the...

Kathryn Kanjo, who is currently the David C. Copley and CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Kanjo, was be formally announced Tuesday, Dec. 9, as the new director of the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art.

UC Irvine names leader for the newly merged Langson Orange County Museum of Art

December 9, 2025 at 6:29 p.m.

The story Kathryn Kanjo will tell, as new director of the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, will center on Orange County's environmental and physical transformation since the...

Joshua D. Grill, director of UCI MIND, in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, December 4, 2025. UCI Mind, the name for all things Alzheimer’s at UC Irvine, including research, treatment and long-term clinical trials, is about to get $80 million in donations. The money will be used for a new building to house UCI Mind, and to push dozens of research projects forward. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An amplifier, a family credo and a crisis led to an $80 million gift for UCI MIND

December 7, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.

An international hub for research and information about Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia will get a new home because of an old rock-and-roll invention and a belief that big...

A year ago this month, volunteers stretched out before taking part in a national volunteer day through the OC Food Bank. Similar volunteer opportunities are available right now.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Giving in OC: A regular dose of how you can help the groups that help others

December 18, 2025 at 3:47 p.m.

We'll give suggestions every weekday until mid-December of places and ways to give to others in Orange County.

Workers load food into a clients’ car for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program at The Orange County Food Bank in Garden Grove earlier the year. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

How will One Big Beautiful Bill hit Orange County? Experts aren’t upbeat

November 13, 2025 at 11:06 a.m.

New rules of HR1 could push tens of thousands of locals away from federal help, adding to a growing sense of desperation.

A Trump administration proposal to re-open offshore oil drilling in California could be made public as soon as this week, according to published reports. It will face stiff opposition from environmentalists and most state residents, according to public polling. Platforms like this, shown off of Bolsa Chica State Beach in 2016, probably would not be affected. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
For weeks, frustrated residents of Huntington Beach and Seal Beach have been unable to get straight answers from local and state government officials on the source of pungent headache-and-vomit-inducing odors that have come and gone in their neighborhoods over the last two weeks.
AQMD officials told the Register this week that for the first time the agency has evidence the source may be an offshore ship/vessel in the HB/SB vicinity. One resident said AQMD told him the culprit might be a drilling operation. However, even if that is the official conclusion, the state air quality agency’s hands may be tied because the suspected emitter is on water.

Reports: Trump wants new offshore drilling in California

November 20, 2025 at 3:20 p.m.

The basic idea drew harsh criticism from environmental advocates in Southern California and from state politicians.

The fastest growing group of human trafficking victims in Orange County is children according to a report slated to be released Nov 5, 2025, from the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.
(Photo by Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Children now fastest-growing group of OC human trafficking victims, study says

November 5, 2025 at 1:42 p.m.

The Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force's latest update on people forced into sex work and labor for others shows younger people now account for half of all victims.

Volunteers Jorge Solorzano, left, a Health Coach at CalOptima; Yolie Negrete, center, a program supervisor at City Net, and Katherine Ibarra, right, of the Garden Grove Regional Center, speak with homeless individuals in the entrance to a building on W. Civic Center Drive in downtown Santa Ana early Tuesday morning, Jan. 23, 2024. Volunteers for the Everyone Counts, Point In Time, a homeless survey, spread out throughout central Orange County on Tuesday, the first day of the survey, to gather data that will help address homeless issues. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Officials: 1,400 formerly homeless people in OC could lose housing if federal funding plan moves forward

November 19, 2025 at 10:44 a.m.

HUD is pushing a shift to cap what can be spent on permanent housing assistance; changes could come early in 2026.

Elizabeth Andrade, Executive Director of 211OC, Orange County United Way. speaks during the groups inaugural “The Pulse of Orange County: Data-Driven Solutions for Better Care Coordination” event in Costa Mesa, CA on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

As CalFresh goes dark, Orange County information operators prep for food emergency

October 28, 2025 at 7:01 a.m.

211OC expects thousands of calls in coming weeks from low-income people who are trying to stay fed.

For OC nonprofits that address hunger, a tough future could be starting now

October 27, 2025 at 10:39 a.m.

Congress chose to cut the social safety net. That could mean big changes, starting soon, for agencies that help lower-income people in Orange County.

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