Rev. Mario Villa, president of A Place of Hope, is also founder of Shining Light Church which was founded in 1987.
The Shining Light Church congregation decided to be proactive in addressing substance abuse and gang affiliatio among men
in the La Puente area by opening a residential treatment center.
In January 2001, the church bought a lrge 5
bedroom house in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. Fourteen to sixteen adult men live in teh facility for
one year duringtheir recovery from drugs and gangs. The center is named A Place of Hope. It operates on the volunteer
labor of the men in residence.
