Key projects include modernizing restrooms, resurfacing taxiways, installing new elevators and escalators and upgrading the baggage handling system. JWA’s more than 11 million annual travelers will also soon have even more expanded food and retail options to choose from, airport officials said.

“Part of my commitment coming in was to upgrade the infrastructure,” said Airport Director Charlene Reynolds, who took over at JWA in May 2022, said. “We started off with the food, beverage and retail. In June and July, we’ll open the first set of our revamped restrooms. Then we’ll continue over the next year to 18 months until we upgrade all of the restrooms.”

Two months ago, airport officials took an unused room and transformed it into a $250,000 children’s play area, Reynolds said.

“Every time I go through the terminal, all you hear is pure laughter,” Reynolds said. “We have a seascape that ties into the overall change that we’re going forward with at the airport of really making it an Orange County sense of place.”

The next big projects to tackle, Reynolds said, are the 30-year-old escalators and elevators, and then officials can move on to revamping the airport’s baggage claim system.

“Right now, it takes a little bit to get your bags at John Wayne Airport, so it’ll take, between design and construction, about three years for us to get a new baggage handling system,” Reynolds said. “That’s a new convenience for the traveler.”

Reynolds said airport officials want to touch every aspect of the airport.

“We’re looking at bringing in new seating, new charging stations, the list goes on and on. It’s my goal to change as much as I possibly can and upgrade it in the airport.” Reynolds said. “We’re having these nursing mother pods installed in the next two months. That’s an amenity and an upgrade for those needing privacy to nurse their children. That’s something very, very important to me as well.”

The upgrades are happening outside the terminals as well.

In April, the OC Board of Supervisors approved spending about $102 million to replace aging pavement on taxiways — the roadways planes use to move around the airport — and realign the roads to meet current Federal Aviation Administration separation standards.

Taxiways have more of a significant impact on most travelers than people might realize, said AnnaSophia Servin, JWA spokesperson.

“A more efficient taxiway system helps reduce aircraft ground delays, improves runway access, and enhances safety for both arriving and departing flights,” Servin said. “All of that translates into shorter taxi times, fewer delays at the gate, and a more reliable schedule for passengers.”

Reynolds said the funds for the projects and upgrades come from revenue generated by the airport, along with about $93.5 million in federal grants.

“The infrastructure improvements that we’re making inside the airport … all of that is to create better guest services, better customer service, make it comfortable for travelers,” said OC Supervisor Katrina Foley, whose Fifth District includes the airport.

Foley said when Reynolds came on board, she set about taking inventory of the airport’s deferred maintenance needs. The upgrades, Foley added, also include power generation updates, runway rehabilitation and accessibility improvements.

“That’s in addition to the general aviation improvement plan, where the fixed operators are upgrading their facilities,” she said. “Those facilities are also outdated and in need of an upgrade, utilizing the space better, redesigning them so that the hangars take up less space.”

Along with the large commercial airlines that ferry hundreds of travelers at a time in and out of JWA, the airport serves “general aviation” as well, which includes hobbyists flying Cessnas and vintage biplanes, corporate and private jets and helicopters.

Several years ago, the OC Board of Supervisors approved a redesign of the airport’s general aviation program, including a redevelopment for three operators at the airport, intended to improve safety and utilize land more efficiently.

In 2020, the supervisors agreed to 35-year leases with Clay Lacy Aviation, ACI Jet and Jay’s Aircraft Maintenance to operate the airport’s general aviation facilities. The airport is home to nearly 500 general aviation aircraft, representing nearly 70% of its operations. The County of Orange also collects property taxes on airplanes located at the airport.

In March, charter jet service JSX moved its operations to the west side of the airport to one of the new expanded hangars.

“The new space has allowed us to announce a new service to Napa, and we have more unique destinations in store,” a company spokesperson said in an email.

The move is reflective of John Wayne Airport’s commitment to change and innovation, the JSX spokesperson said. With the charter carriers like JSX, travelers can skip the lines of the main terminal to hop onto the smaller jets, making them an attractive option to many.

“The commitment of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Vice Chair Katrina Foley, and Airport Director Charlene Reynolds is remarkable – proof that industry and government can work together in the public interest,” the spokesperson said. “Their vision and leadership undoubtedly paved the way forward for JSX at JWA. “

As several airport projects get underway, Reynolds said their planning is happening in a very “prescribed manner” to cause the least amount of disruption for travelers as possible.

“We’ve had to create what’s called a master schedule to make sure that we don’t have competing projects going on at the same time,” Reynolds said. “Some things we can do in multiples, but we need to be very, very cognizant that we don’t cause any problems within the terminal, any backups, any disruption in power.”

A lot of things can go wrong with trying to do so many things across the airport campus, Reynolds added.

“That’s why we have an internal team dedicated to making sure that we have minimum impact,” Reynolds said. “We meet every single week, going over all the projects in the airport with the community in mind, and making sure that we’re not creating any unnecessary challenges for them.”

Councilmember Phil Bacerra’s request to his council colleagues to consider requiring more frequent inspections was prompted by a police investigation in February that uncovered the sale of narcotics out of a permanent supportive housing unit, he said. The city currently conducts annual inspections of the properties.

“There was a drug den inside this community,” Bacerra said. “We’re trying to help these folks. We’re trying to make sure that they’re in housing and they have the services that they need to get better, to thrive.”

The additional inspections are not meant to be intrusive, Bacerra added.

“This is not saying we need to go in and look at every single apartment. What I hope will be done, in a more holistic way, is to look at calls for service from these particular communities and try to see where they need to take a look before entering the properties,” Bacerra said. “I know we all want to help these folks in our community, and we want to make sure that they’re in a safe environment.”

Permanent supportive housing often combines some sort of social services with housing assistance to help people who may be getting out of homelessness or have other barriers to stable housing be successful.

Councilmembers Thai Viet Phan and David Penaloza raised concerns about the cost of conducting more frequent inspections and whether the requirement could expose the city to litigation.

“Is this sustainable? Can this be achievable? What’s this going to cost? Is this going to be sustainable five years from now? I can’t say that I could see this being successful two years from now,” Penaloza said, adding that he hopes the city is also working with property managers. “At the end of the day, that’s on them. It’s private property, and these property managers and these owners of these facilities should be doing their job.”

Councilmember Jessie Lopez shared concerns that the policy, if drafted and approved, could be discriminatory toward parts of the city’s lower-income population.

Mayor Valerie Amezcus welcomed the idea of more frequent inspections.

“This is about the safety of people who live in our permanent supportive housing,” Amezcua said. “It’s not just happening in one location … Just like drug use is not happening in one location in this city either, it happens everywhere.”

City staff were directed to return to the council with more information by Aug. 5.

Newsom also announced on Monday, May 12, the allocation of $3.3 billion toward various projects across the state to expand housing and treatment options for people experiencing homelessness. Of the nearly 125 projects receiving funding from the state, one perinatal substance use disorder facility in Orange County was listed among the first round of funding announced.

During an afternoon press conference, the governor said that while some local elected officials are doing their part in addressing homelessness, not everyone is carrying their weight.

“It is time to take back the streets. It’s time to take back the sidewalks. It’s time to take these encampments and provide alternatives. The state is giving you more resources than ever. And it’s time, I think, to just end the excuses and call the question about accountability,” Newsom said. “I’m not interested anymore, period, full stop, (in) funding failure. I want to see real results.”

The state has created an accountability tool, accountability.ca.gov, that allows residents to access data showing the progress being made by their local governments on housing, homelessness and behavioral health issues.

While large encampments have been cleared out around Orange County in recent years, the latest point-in-time count of the homeless population recorded 4,173 people living on the streets in early 2024.

Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that cities could enforce bans on people sleeping outside in public places regardless of whether or not a city had enough shelter beds to house them. In July, Newsom followed up with an executive order for state agencies to remove homeless encampments on state property, urging local cities and counties to do the same.

Newsom said he’s interested in revitalizing California’s quality of life.

“I’ve also been very, very, very focused and very honest with my friends that are running these cities, large and small, that I wanted to see a renewed vigor and focus on what’s happening on the streets, tents and encampments,” Newsom said. “It simply cannot continue. It cannot be a way of life living out on the streets, on sidewalks, in what almost become permanent structures … We cannot allow that to continue.”

Newsom’s model ordinance includes prohibitions on “persistent camping” in one location, a ban on encampments that block sidewalks and a requirement that local officials provide notice and make every reasonable effort to identify and offer shelter before clearing an encampment.

Michael Sean Wright, founder of Wound Walk OC, a street medicine team, said the county has come a long way since 2018 when a mass encampment growing along the Santa Ana riverbed prompted a major shift in local officials’ attention to homelessness in Orange County.  But the county still falls short in the number of beds available, especially ADA-compliant beds, to meet needs, he said.

“We all want a solution. We all want this to change,” Wright said, adding that there needs to be increased emphasis on the medical and health impacts of homelessness. “Medical emphasis has an opportunity for us to touch the population and get a rapid assessment of what is the thing that’s most likely to get them inside, because that’s our goal — get people inside.”

“Leaving people in encampments is inhumane,” Wright added. “Imagine having a cut or scrape, and you’re living in conditions with waste, bacteria, garbage, runoff, environmental pollution. That’s going to affect the whole body, from skin infections to deep abscesses to upper respiratory infections to ultimately sepsis and death.”

A flurry of cities in Orange County adopted anti-camping protocols following the Supreme Court’s ruling, including Irvine, Fullerton, Anaheim and Santa Ana.

Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung is hopeful that Newsom’s model ordinance signals a change in tune for how Sacramento helps municipalities take on and fund solutions to those issues.

“I think this is a start, but it’s a meaningful one because he’s the executive leader of our state,” Jung said in a phone interview on Monday. “My hope is that the governor doubles down and puts financial resources behind it.”

Jung said the city conducts monthly “encampment cleanups,” costing Fullerton nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year.

Anaheim city spokesperson Mike Lyster said city leaders don’t allow encampments to grow because they are inhumane and unsustainable.

“We do not have homeless encampments in our city,” Lyster said. “We do, of course, have people living in homelessness, and we address it every day with outreach, enforcement where needed, … with an array of services as well as shelter.”

Letting people live on the streets is unsustainable and unacceptable, Lyster added, and a model ordinance could pave the way to getting more people experiencing homelessness to accept help.

Critics say punitive bans make it even harder for homeless people to find stable housing and employment.

“My immediate reaction was that this is a distraction from a state budget that isn’t likely to have funding for housing and homelessness,” said Alex Visotzky with the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Organizations representing California’s cities and counties have balked at the implication that they are to blame, and say they need sustained funding.

“Clearing encampments may be the most visible part of this crisis, but without addressing the underlying root causes of homelessness, the cycle will only repeat itself,” said Carolyn Coleman, executive director and CEO of the League of California Cities.

She said that eight in 10 cities have policies to address encampments.

The California State Association of Counties said the state has not provided as much money to address homelessness as it says it has and that half of the money has gone to housing developers.

Orange County supervisors Don Wagner and Doug Chaffee said the county has been addressing homelessness and encampments head-on for years now.

“Orange County is going to continue to stay in the fight. The county’s got an ordinance, but most of our land is within cities, not unincorporated, so it’s the cities that need to make sure their ordinances are state of the art and they’re being enforced,” Third District Supervisor Wagner said. “We do have a homeless issue, no question about it, but we, long ago, got ahead of the encampment problem and continue to try to stay on top of it.”

Chaffee said the governor’s push to ban encampments fails to provide for preventative measures that can address the reasons one becomes homeless.

“We will continue to have homelessness issues until we address those underlying problems,” Chaffee said, adding that banning encampments does nothing to address where the people experiencing homelessness should go. “I question whether Sacramento has ever really understood or helped us much. We do our thing, and I think we’ve done quite a bit.”

Staff writer Jonathan Horwitz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

In 2019, OCSA was among four charter schools under the SAUSD umbrella that the district argued owed funds that should have been paid toward districtwide special education programs, per state law. Most recently, OCSA appealed a recent judge’s ruling that it should have to pay the district $16 million with interest and sought mediation with SAUSD.

Related: Six years on, OC School of the Arts and Santa Ana Unified continue in court over special ed funding

“Because we have been unsuccessful in getting the school district to offer to go back to mediation, despite hundreds of people requesting it in public comment for the last several meetings, we took matters into our own hands and wanted to put an offer on the table publicly,” said Teren Shaffer, president and CEO of OCSA.

SAUSD spokesperson Fermin Leal said the district is reviewing the document provided by OCSA, but he could not confirm whether it was a deal that the district would accept or even consider at this point.

The charter school, which serves middle and high school students interested in arts, opened in 2000 under the umbrella of Santa Ana Unified. As part of the arrangement, the charter school, OCSA, hired its own special education staff and provided services to its students, invoicing the district for those costs.

According to OCSA officials, the charter school was reimbursed about $8.8 million for special education services provided to students, and SAUSD kept more than $11 million in additional revenue.

In 2020, the arts school left SAUSD and moved under the Orange County Board of Education.

“They collected an excess of $11.5 million on our behalf that we didn’t utilize for serving the needs of special education students,” Shaffer said. “That’s money that they got to keep for their own use, as they desired. When you take the $4 million offer and combine it with the $11.5 million that they’ve already retained, that gets us to approximately the $16 million that they say we owe.”

OCSA officials said three judges have weighed in on the legal dispute so far, two of whom sided with the charter school. SAUSD moved the case out of Orange County and into Los Angeles County, where it remains today.

Leal, in a statement, said that a trial court rejected in February 2023 OCSA’s argument that SAUSD received a “windfall” in special education funding from the charter school.

“SAUSD was not the one that filed this lawsuit in 2019,” Leal said. “SAUSD would still prefer to reach a reasonable settlement of this case rather than continue to litigate.”

The district remains open to finding solutions that best serve the charter school and the district, Leal added.

“But we also want to ensure that the district is compensated, as required by law, for the services for our special education students,” Leal said. “We continue to look at all the options, but we also want to make sure that we are able to provide our students with the resources they need.”

The district has until May 21 to respond to OCSA’s offer.

A Transportation Security Administration official said that on Wednesday, May 7, the streams of flyers going through checkpoints to get to flights was drifting along real well.

“I’ve been in contact with the team out there all morning since we opened, and it’s been smooth operations — no impact, no wait times,” Jason Pantages, a TSA federal security director, said about Ontario International Airport. “It’s really been like a normal Wednesday at ONT.”

Not only at Ontario, but elsewhere, too, such as at Los Angeles International Airport.

“At LAX, we’ve seen zero operational impact and no excessive wait times,” he added.

At some point, flyers might need a Real ID or another federally accepted ID, such as military one or a passport, to hop aboard flights traveling throughout the United States and to enter some federal buildings.

For now, passengers who don’t have accepted IDs, Pantages said, should get to the airport early.

“You would go through the security checkpoint, go through the queue like everyone else does,” Pantages said. “Once you get up and you’re identified as not having a Real ID-compliant identification, we’ll hand you a piece of paper that says you’re not real ID compliant.

“Then you may or may not be subject to additional screening,” he added. “But we don’t anticipate turning anybody away for not having real ID-compliant identification. … There would be a 100% chance that you will fly today.”

Nationwide, TSA officials said, about 19% of travelers were arriving without a Real ID on Day One. At LAX, Pantages said, that rate was slightly lower.

Federal officials had been fuzzy on what would happen to those without proper ID, even though the U.S. Congress created the need for this added layer of security way back in 2005, and the date it would go into effect had been moved back a couple of times. On Tuesday, though, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said slack would be given, that those without the ID “may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step, but people will be allowed to fly.”

At Ontario International Airport on Wednesday morning, there were light crowds and short lines. There was no wait at the TSA checkpoints.

“We came early because we saw on the news it might be crowded, but we actually got through luggage drop-off pretty fast,” said Sandra Cazares, 57, a hotel receptionist. “Now we’re just waiting to go through security. I made sure we got our Real IDs last year to avoid any issues.”

Her husband, Tobias Cazares, 57, added, “I get why they’re doing it, but it feels a little unnecessary to have to get a new ID.”

Sandra Cazares said their flight was on time but noticed travelers seemed more stressed than usual: “You can just tell by the looks on their faces.”

Near the Alaska Airlines counters, Rosa Martinez, 31, was at a self-service kiosk holding a hand of her toddler while printing out boarding passes. “I thought it would be a mess today, but it’s actually been really easy,” she said. “I got my Real ID a few months ago just to be safe, and I’m glad I did because I know a lot of people who waited last minute.

“It’s annoying, of course, to have to get yet another identification to prove I’m me,” Martinez said. “But what can you do? I feel like it’ll also help me feel more safe when flying now with my daughter, to be honest.”

At LAX, signs were posted at TSA and PreCheck lanes informing passengers about Real ID, and agents handed out red cards with QR codes linking to a list of acceptable forms of ID and guidance on how to obtain a Real ID. TSA also had extra agents working overtime to support the rollout.

David Moore, 31, was in the American Airlines terminal getting his boarding pass to get back home to Houston, Texas, where he works as a pediatric emergency-room doctor. He has had a Real ID for a few years.

“I think it’s good,” he said. “It provides an extra layer of security and hopefully, in the long run, that will make things more efficient when it comes to travel. Just like any new implementation of a security procedure, it takes time, but then once it’s kind of put into place, it usually becomes more efficient with time.”

To Moore, Wednesday looked like a normal traveling day.

“I think everything else seems pretty much the same,” he said, “and it doesn’t seem to be affecting too many people.”

Jenny Hudson, 41, from Orlando, Florida was waiting to catch a flight back home. Hudson travels a lot with her job as a registered nurse. She had flown with a patient to LA.

“I got my Real ID two weeks ago,” Hudson said. “It went pretty fast and easy this morning at the airport.”

At John Wayne Airport, Greg Skibo and Sarah Mutt were headed to Pittsburgh with their 4-year-old son, Onyx. The couple had gotten Real IDs years ago.

“I thought it was going to be a huge line this morning, and it was going to be really crowded,” Mutt said. “I was kind of freaking out because we weren’t two hours early — and this isn’t bad at all. So far, everything seems fine.”

Some travelers feel less motivated to get their Real IDs, even if the rules eventually tighten up, including Jennifer Lumsdon who was here for a conference and headed back to Bloomington, Illinois.

“Anytime I can avoid the DMV, I’ll do it,” she said. “I have a passport, and I have my driver’s license — why should I have to go through that all again?”

The letter also asks for Do to be sentenced to the maximum prison time possible for the bribery charge he pleaded guilty to in October in an agreement he reached with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The county was pressed for time to submit the statement to be included in what’s called a pre-sentence report, which under federal rules needs to be delivered to Do 35 days before sentencing.

The victim impact statement is addressed to U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna, who presides over the case, County Counsel Leon Page explained during a special meeting Tuesday when the OC Board of Supervisors discussed the submission.

“Its purpose is for the board to express, in their own words, the impact that this crime had on the board and on the public; to inform the court, not just of the legal issues, but of the emotional and physical and financial consequences of the defendant’s misconduct,” Page said. “The purpose is to humanize the case. This isn’t just dollars and cents. There were real people … who went without because of this criminal behavior. So ultimately, this statement is intended to influence and persuade the judge.”

Do pleaded guilty to accepting at least $550,000 in bribes to direct millions of public dollars, mostly from his First District office’s discretionary funds, to the nonprofit Viet America Society. Of the $9.3 million earmarked for the group to serve meals to seniors in his district, only about 15% was spent on the meals, according to Do’s plea agreement.

Paul S. Meyer, Do’s attorney, when reached Tuesday for comment about the county’s plan to submit a victim impact statement, said, “It is inappropriate to make comment before sentencing.”

Do is scheduled for sentencing in June.

“Not only did the defendant abuse the privileges of his office to enrich himself, he did soat the expense and to the detriment of the voters that elected him to represent their interests,” the letter presented to the Board of Supervisors for approval says. “The extent of the betrayal of the public trust cannot be overstated — both as to defendant’s colleagues on this board and as to the people of Orange County.”

A majority of the supervisors agreed last week to ask the DOJ to reassess the potential prison time for Do.

On Tuesday, the board voted 3-1-1 to send in the victim impact statement and attach the letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi asking the Department of Justice to revisit Do’s plea agreement and possible sentencing. The majority also directed that an accounting of the charges that Do could have faced be added to the submission.

Supervisor Don Wagner voted against the additions and Supervisor Doug Chaffee abstained.

Supervisor Janet Nguyen argued that the draft presented at Tuesday’s special board meeting was watered down.

“We’re making changes and now downplaying our victim statement versus what we voted on a week ago,” Nguyen said. “The fact that we don’t have the max sentence request, it’s missing the crimes that he potentially could have been charged with in the plea agreement. We didn’t make that up. It was in the plea agreement.”

As part of Do’s plea agreement, the DOJ agreed not to prosecute him for conspiracy to defraud the United States, accepting bribes tied to federal funding and other charges.

Wagner said the additions were outside the scope of what a victim impact statement should include.

“We’re the victim. We got hurt. Our community activists didn’t have the resources because of what Do did,” Wagner said. “That’s the power of this statement, not coming in and saying, you could have charged wire fraud, you could have charged this, and you could have charged that. It’s not our role.”

Chaffee said he was abstaining because of his concern that the many additions to the original draft would make the statement less impactful and possibly result in a lesser sentence for Do.

“I feel we’re stronger,” he said, “if we speak as a victim.”

The “Real Cost Measure” report released on Tuesday, April 29, goes beyond federal and state poverty guidelines, officials say, and accounts for housing, food, health care, childcare, transportation and other basic needs to calculate the “real” cost of living.

The state considers a $39,000 annual income as the poverty level for a family of four, the federal government sets its at $32,000. But using the minimum wage of $15.50 an hour and the cost of all those realistic drains on a family’s budget, the report’s authors estimate the “real cost measure” to get by in Orange County is $127,888, according to United Way officials.

A few of the key findings include:

• 41% of households in Orange County spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
• 52% of households in Orange County with children younger than age 6 fall below the real cost measure.
• More than half of Latino families are estimated not to earn enough to make ends meet.
• More than 7 in 10 households without a high school diploma or equivalent fall below the Real Cost Measure, compared to those with a high school diploma (54%) and those with a bachelor’s degree or higher (20%).

“We are seeing families forced into impossible choices, like forgoing adequate childcare, delaying health treatments or going hungry,” Pete Manzo, president and CEO of United Ways of California, said in a statement. “California leaders must pursue policies that will make a difference for working families, starting with expanding tax credits, improving Californians’ access to income support programs and increasing support for renters.”

There have been some positives, such as the increase in minimum wage and reduction in the unemployment rate, Manzo said, but it’s not enough to keep families from falling below the real cost measure.

Andrew Fahmy, executive director for the United Way of Orange County’s United for Financial Security initiative, said people are making more money, but at a slower rate than the cost of living. Between 2021 and 2023, the O.C. median household income increased by $12,000, but the cost of living for a family of four rose by $18,000, he said.

“It’s great that people are making more money, and the minimum wage increases have helped, but the cost of living in Orange County has increased a little faster, so people haven’t been able to keep up,” Fahmy said.

The report paints a picture of the reality of living in Orange County, Fahmy added.

“It’s a little bit of a tale of two cities — or tale of two counties — kind of story where on one hand, you have a lot of wealth. You have some of the wealthiest people in the world living in Orange County. And on the other hand, you have some of the people who are struggling the most,” Fahmy said.

A majority of struggling families are hardworking adults, Fahmy added.

“A lot of people see poverty as people who are lazy or people who aren’t working, or just not wanting to better themselves. The truth is that there are dual working households, two people working in the household, not making enough to live here, but it’s close enough that they don’t leave,” Fahmy said. “What ends up happening is that the debt starts to accumulate. You put off saving for retirement. You put off saving for a rainy day because you need to use all of your money for rent.”

Whether it’s with multiple jobs or side hustles, Fahmy added, people are doing their best.

“It’s inspiring, on one hand, but it’s also a scary tale when you start to look into the details and you start to really see what it takes to live here,” Fahmy said.

Fahmy said the hope is for local and state governments and other groups to use the data to understand that the current poverty line is no longer relevant.

“The official poverty measure in Orange County would be $30,900 for a family, two adults, one preschool- or one school-age child. That’s not relevant,” Fahmy said. “We all live here. We know that it’s not enough money to survive. It’s impossible to find an apartment, and impossible to pay for food and transportation and childcare and healthcare and housing, all of that, with that much money,” he said.

“When we decide on social supports, when we decide on what the minimum income requirements are to receive safety net programming, when we decide what the cap is in your earning before you can receive CalFresh, or other social services, I think we should be following measures like the real cost measure to better accurately understand how much it takes to live.”

OneOC, an organization dedicated to uplifting and accelerating the success and reach of Orange County’s nonprofits, hosted the ceremony on Thursday, April 24, at the Grove of Anaheim, joined by hundreds of attendees gathered to salute the work of individuals, groups and companies whose volunteerism has directly impacted people in the county and beyond.

Keynote speaker Jennifer Sirangelo, CEO of the national Points of Light, spoke to challenges that have led to the decline of volunteering in America over the last few decades.

According to a recently published report by Points of Light, about one-third of nonprofits’ workforce is driven by volunteers, but 47% of organizations are struggling to recruit. In the U.S., 64% of nonprofits reported an increase in demand for services, while 29% of groups reported having less funding and staff.

“That means seniors aren’t getting visited,” Sirangelo said. “Young people don’t have tutors. Some of our shelters for both animals and people, and our food banks, they’re not able to do as much as they could if they were fully staffed with the volunteers they need.”

Nonprofits, governments and communities have important roles in reversing this trend, Sirangelo added.

“We know that people are struggling,” Sirangelo said. ” We already know young people are in a mental health crisis, and we know our communities are dealing with bigger challenges with fewer resources, and volunteers are needed more than ever. We know that throughout our society, there are issues of division and bridges that need to be built in our pluralistic society.”

Among those honored for showing up for communities in need were Henry Nielson and Mila Rubin, high school seniors who lead Empower Education, a nonprofit with the vision of improving educational opportunities for underserved youth.

Two years since its creation, Empower Education has raised more than $28,000 to build two classrooms in a rural village in Uganda, and hosted a student-led meal packing event to send more than 5,000 meals for children in the African country.

“But their mission doesn’t stop there. Empower Education’s work extends to communities in Mexico and Korea with initiatives focused on literacy, school retention, gender equality and youth empowerment,” YJ Oh, a member of the OneOC board of directors, said. “Their goal is to equip students with the tools and opportunities they need to succeed and to uplift entire communities in the process.”

Nielson said it was “super awesome” for their work and for Empower Education’s more than 100 volunteers to be recognized.

“I’m really excited for the future of this group as it continues to grow with each new meeting that we hold every Sunday … and all the great things that we’ll be able to accomplish working together as a team,” Nielson said.

Illumination Health +Home received the Innovation Impact Award for the group’s work providing housing and health care services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

“This award isn’t just about our organization, it’s really a tribute to the people who power it,” Pooja Bhalla, CEO of Illumination Health + Home, said. “At Illumination, we believe innovation isn’t just about ideas, but it’s about courage, the courage to do things differently, the courage to listen deeply, act boldly and reimagine what’s possible. Today, the issues we face — mental health, homelessness, access to care — demand more than traditional solutions. They require collaboration, creativity and unwavering belief in the power of people.”

Throughout the event, dozens of volunteers and groups were flashed on the big screen, calling out their contributions. Some groups honored were featured with special presentations, including Homeaid Orange County, the Institute for Community Impact, No Limits Learning Center, the Passkeys Foundation and PNC Bank.

“Our volunteers are needed now more than ever,” Tim Strauch, president and CEO of OneOC, said. “There’s so much uncertainty and our nonprofits cannot do that without (volunteers).”

Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of Illumination Health + Home.

Though it didn’t receive the unanimous support that the board’s chair, Fourth District Supervisor Doug Chaffee, initially wanted if the request was going to be made, a majority of the board agreed to ask federal prosecutors to reassess Do’s plea agreement and possible sentencing.

Supervisors Chaffee and Janet Nguyen first asked their colleagues at the board’s April 8 meeting to consider making the request.

Do pleaded guilty in October to accepting at least $550,000 in bribes to direct millions of public dollars, mostly from his First District office’s discretionary funds, to the nonprofit Viet America Society to serve meals to seniors in his district. Of the $9.3 million received by the group, only about 15% was spent on the meals, according to Do’s plea agreement.

There is no minimum amount of prison time outlined in the plea agreement Do signed, however, federal prosecutors previously said the bribery charge carries a statutory maximum of five years in federal prison and there was “a good likelihood” that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would pursue that sentence.

Though they aren’t asking for a specific sentence to be considered, the board is asking that the DOJ ensure “that his sentencing aligns with the severity of his subsequent offenses.”

“This blatant attempt to assert political influence in a federal matter is reprehensible,” Paul S. Meyer, Do’s attorney, said Wednesday in response.

Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, the sole supervisor to oppose making the request, said the board is acting “way outside of our lane.”

“We’re asking for additional charges. We don’t know whether those charges are coming or not with this reassessment. We don’t know whether the charges have not been brought as a result of participation in this plea deal, testimony from Mr. Do, cooperation or the lack thereof,” Wagner said. “There’s a whole lot we don’t know.”

The supervisors are also asking the DOJ to continue its investigation of where the public funding went.

“Mr. Do didn’t act alone. That is for certain,” Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said. “To the extent that there continues to be an investigation, I certainly hope that we start seeing some more activity.”

Do’s sentencing hearing before a judge is scheduled for June.

In 2021, a new state mandate required ethnic studies to be offered in all California high schools by 2025 and made it a graduation requirement by 2030. The state provided a framework for the courses, leaving school districts responsible for creating the curriculum.

Last September, the O.C. Board of Education directed Superintendent Stefan Bean to work with OCDE staff in creating the curriculum. The result was a course “intended to empower students, foster civic responsibility and promote a broader understanding of the American experience,” Bean said in a statement.

“We’ve worked thoughtfully to develop an academically sound curriculum that reflects shared values and supports student success by exploring the histories, contributions and experiences of communities that have helped shape our state and nation,” Bean said.

Public feedback will help ensure the final version is “inclusive, balanced and responsive to the needs” of students and educators, officials said.

The county department’s ACCESS — Alternative, Community, and Correctional Education Schools and Services — program serves more than 2,300 students annually in community day schools, county correctional programs and independent study programs. The county education department does not regulate school districts’ policies or curriculum, but could offer its ethnic studies curriculum for their use.

The course materials — a course overview, five instructional units and the course’s purpose and approach — are available for public review until May 2. All feedback will be confidential, officials said.

The curriculum can be requested digitally by emailing espublicreview@ocde.us or reviewed in person at the department’s Argosy Campus at 601 S. Lewis St., in Orange.

For more information, visit link.ocde.us/ethnicstudies.