When Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, Calif., made the decision to increase local outreach efforts, its leaders didn’t realize how serving their unhoused neighbors would change them along the way.
For Robin Spurlock, outreach associate director, serving unhoused individuals in Santa Cruz County began with saying a simple “yes” to the job invitation. Having served as an administrator to the pastor of outreach, missions and adult education, Spurlock already had a heart for serving others, both globally and locally. When Lead Pastor René Schlaepfer desired more of a local outreach presence in the area, Spurlock seemed right for the role.
Robin Spurlock
“I believe we’re called to love people around the world and right here in our community,” she said. “And here in Santa Cruz, this means we feed the poor, house the unhoused and visit the prisoners.”
For the last seven years, Twin Lakes’ outreach to the local community has grown. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the seven main ministries to people experiencing homelessness.
When the pandemic hit, the food pantry exploded in growth. With unemployment rates surging to 13% during the second quarter of 2020, California’s homeless crisis steadily grew by an estimated 15%. Although Santa Cruz County experienced a smaller rate of increase than the state average, September 2025 data show 1,473 people still experience homelessness in the county.
For Twin Lakes, which is a part of Venture Church Network (formerly known as the Conservative Baptist Association of America), plenty of opportunities exist to reach out to the homeless in their community. But Spurlock is the first to highlight how much the church does in connection with other area churches, faith communities and county services.
Twin Lakes is part of Association of Faith Communities, an interfaith coalition made of up nearly 40 faith communities working to alleviate suffering for those experiencing homelessness. According to their website, the association offers physical resources, like buildings, meals and financial support, as well as community, relationship and access to housing and job networks through four main programs:
- SafeSpaces, which allows folks who are living out of their vehicles a safe place to park with access to sanitary facilities and other amenities
- Faith Community Shelter, a nightly transitional shelter for 15 participants at faith communities throughout the county
- Mobile Showers, a trailer that moves to where unhoused residents congregate at shelters and camps
- SPIN, a sock distribution program
The church — which is one of the largest in Santa Cruz County, with weekend attendance close to 3,000 people — has participated in each of the association’s four programs at different points in time.
“Part of my role is to encourage volunteers to build relationships with unhoused folks and with those who haven’t been able to get back on their feet,” Spurlock said, noting if churchgoers want to serve the unhoused, they can monitor showers, prepare and serve meals for up to 20 families, or collect supplies for the rotating shelter.
Apart from the association, Twin Lakes also runs a winter coat drive for the unhoused and operates Lolo (Loads of Love) Laundry Van, which provides mobile laundry services to the unhoused once a week in downtown Santa Cruz. Church members can additionally receive training through WINGS, an advocacy group that helps the unhoused get into homes, and with Homeless Garden Project, a local nonprofit that believes gardening is essential for helping unhoused individuals heal, grow and thrive.
“I do feel like there’s a desire within the faith community to work as best we can within the city and county as a whole,” Spurlock said. “We have to work together, rather than be in competition with one another or not get along. How can we work together? That’s the question we have to ask ourselves.”
For now, Twin Lakes Church seems to be answering that question in full by providing a myriad of real and practical service opportunities. Twice a year, the outreach team assembles thousands of hygiene packets, filled with toiletries, snacks and a note about the food pantry; those packets are then made available to the congregation, so folks can keep them in their cars or on their person, as they encounter people on the street.
Perhaps more than any other outreach ministry of the church, People’s Pantry’s exists to share Christ’s love through the sharing of food and lives, and to provide their community with an opportunity for service and fellowship. Serving those who are food-insecure means the director and her team serve at least 180 households a week at the drive-through distribution site.
If the team knows someone is experiencing homelessness, they tend to make their bag “more unhoused-friendly,” Spurlock said. Instead of packing raw chicken, they might instead throw in an extra can of tuna.
The food pantry doesn’t come without its difficulties, however. Food sources have dwindled due to federal funding cuts; although Second Harvest Food Bank provides the church with a variety of food items, a reduction in government-provided food and financial support means distribution sites like Twin Lakes receive fewer donations — and fewer donations from food banks means the congregation has to make up the difference.
But Spurlock is not deterred. Just as she’s been changed by meeting people who are experiencing homelessness, she remains motivated to love her unhoused neighbors in Santa Cruz County and empower her community to do the same. Perhaps more than anything, she simply desires to give the unhoused dignity and make them feel seen and loved.
Because when people step out of their comfort zones, fear of the unknown dissipates. Then, according to Spurlock, you start to realize, “Oh, you’re just like me. Let me hear your story. You’re not so scary. You’re not just the person on the street corner or the bad stuff you hear on the news. You’re a human, just like me.”
And through that, humans are changed.
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