Our Mission

We are a faith-based nonprofit organization that seeks to restore communities to the love of Christ by providing at-risk youth with Community, Restoration, and Adventure. We provide an after school program and safe community, unique for the youth of the Oak View neighborhood located in Huntington Beach, CA.

In 2013, we were made aware of the challenges and exposure of gang affiliation and drug abuse that many kids face in the Oak View neighborhood. We also learned that most kids fall into these lifestyles due to intimidation and the lack of protection, fellowship, and resources to develop identity. In response, we created events and programs (surf camps, life groups, field-trips, etc.) as opportunities for the kids to explore healthy alternative ways to connect and spend their free time. In April 2017, we were able to open a center in the Oak View neighborhood to be a second home for the kids and a more permanent haven for these programs to exist daily.

We intend to meet the demand for after-school programs specific to low income neighborhoods. Juvenile crime and victimization peak in the hours after school, and yet 1 in 5 kids are left on their own during these hours. Oak View is a beautiful community with amazing people, but it has unfortunately often struggled with high rates of crime, high school dropouts, domestic violence, and gang involvement. There is a current need within the Oak View community for an area where kids can come and spend time after school. The current alternative for most kids is hanging around streets where they have the potential of being exposed to gang violence and other pressures.

We believe that the most life changing way to impact a youth’s life is to share the love of Christ and His message of hope. We seek to be a safe place that kids can come to, where they are able to hope and dream of a brighter future.

Community is the foundation to our organization. This is accomplished through spending as much time as possible with the youth we encounter. Often times this looks like kicking a soccer ball, skateboarding, surfing, painting, playing music, or anything else you find in common with the kids. It is this sense of community that develops into strong and trustworthy relationships between our leaders and the students.

Common Ground stands firm to the belief that true Restoration can only be found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our focus is to share the Gospel with the community we have established. This is accomplished through our various outreach events and our partnerships with local Churches. This initiative is why we as an organization truly exist, to restore communities around the world to the love of Jesus Christ.

The communities that we serve often lack adequate opportunity for youth to experience things that many take for granted. It is because of this that we want to provide an exciting array of adventures for the youth to embark on. This includes camping trips, surf trips, mission trips, sports camps, and many other opportunities for the youth to be involved in. It is our hopes that through Adventure we are able to once more direct kids to learning more about their Creator.