In this Community Spotlight series, we are showcasing other organizations making big differences in Monterey County. For the first installment in our series, we sat down with CEO Mary Carl to talk about Miracle Messages, its programs, and the differences it’s making in people’s lives.
Organization: Miracle Messages
Miracle Messages was founded by author Kevin F. Adler in 2014. Their focus on tackling the problem of “Relational Poverty” makes them stand out in a sea of service providers – and a perfect community partner for Gathering for Women!
“As many as 1 in 3 people experiencing homelessness have lost their social support systems. This leads to nearly unimaginable levels of isolation, stigma, and shame. ‘Relational Poverty’ is a deadly, often-overlooked form of poverty that is pervasive among people experiencing homelessness.”
Miracle Messages’ mission is to end this relational poverty on the streets and, in the process, inspire people everywhere to embrace their unhoused neighbors not as problems to be solved, but as people to be loved.
Programs: Reunion Services, Miracle Friends, & Miracle Money
Miracle Messages’ first program was their Reunion Services. All it takes is a short video message to a loved one from a person isolated by homelessness. A team of volunteers then attempts to locate the loved one through online sleuthing skills and deliver that message. This simple process has reunited over 1,000 people experiencing homelessness with their loved ones since 2014.
Another hugely successful program is Miracle Friends. This is a “phone buddy” system that allows volunteers to connect regularly with their unhoused neighbors as friends. There is no pressure to be a case manager or a resource, simply a listening ear and reassuring presence. This program is a way for people isolated by homelessness who do not participate in Reunion Services to still receive a new social connection.
The most recent program from Miracle Messages is Miracle Money. Started in 2021, Miracle Money is a regular, direct cash transfer for those experiencing homelessness and who are engaged in at least one community resource or partner program. Backed by Google, Miracle Money is a study on cash transfers and their effect on those experiencing homelessness. For those interested, more information on the study and its current implications is available here.
Miracle Messages in Monterey County
After Kevin F. Adler, Founder of Miracle Messages, spoke at Casa de Noche Buena’s fourth anniversary celebration, one of our community members reached out to form a Monterey Chapter of Miracle Messages. This chapter is set to launch in the late summer or early fall of 2025, and GFW is excited to explore further opportunities to connect and partner with this organization.
In the meantime, you can head to Miracle Messages community event in Harvey West Park Friendship Garden Lawn, Santa Cruz on August 22, 2025, from 1 PM to 3 PM to meet the Miracle Messages team!
If you are interested in joining the Monterey Chapter of Miracle Messages, or getting more information about the upcoming event in Santa Cruz, you can contact Marlena De Castro, Community Outreach and Engagement Specialist, for more details.
Reuniting 1,000 Families, One at a Time: A conversation with Mary Carl, CEO of Miracle Messages
Kevin F. Adler was the keynote speaker at an April 2025 event marking the fourth anniversary of Casa de Noche Buena, the emergency shelter for homeless women and families in Seaside that was founded by Community Human Services and Gathering for Women. This interview with Miracle Messages CEO Mary Carl took place at mid-summer, as the organization was working towards launching a Monterey-area chapter.
Gathering for Women: What is the purpose behind Miracle Messages?
Mary Carl: Our mission and vision is that we are supporting our unhoused neighbors so that nobody experiencing homelessness is alone and nobody feels helpless around the issue of homelessness. We offer three program services that support individuals and community members to make that reality in communities across the country.
GFW: When do you hope to become active in Monterey County?
Carl: We’re hoping to be ready to start activities in Monterey County by late summer or early fall. Monterey is next on our list of chapters to kick off, so it’s an exciting time.
GFW: It was wonderful to have Kevin speak at our event this April. Going forward, how will Miracle Messages partner with GFW?
Carl: I believe the founders of the new Monterey chapter heard about us through your event, so in a sense we are partnering already!
GFW: Which of Miracle Messages’ programs do you feel has had the biggest impact? Could you share a success story from that program?
Carl: Our programs are designed to support a variety of needs that people have while navigating homelessness. One example that intersects with two of our programs was an individual who our staff met with and realized really loves to talk and engage with people. So they were referred to our Miracle Friends program and have a phone buddy that they’ve been talking with for over a year. Through those conversations, our staff learned that this individual wanted to physically reconnect with their family. We were then able to support them and facilitate a reunion with their son and daughter and grandchildren for the first time in over 30 years. It’s really a network of support that helps to connect people based on their individual needs and desires.
GFW: What do you think is the most helpful thing a community can do for people experiencing homelessness? And what do you wish people knew about people experiencing homelessness?
Carl: One of the things that people can do is acknowledge, and say hello to, and get to know their unhoused neighbors, in a way that does not begin with assumption or judgement of why they are in the situation that they’re in. I hope that, as a society, we can start to shift to seeing the person first, and seeing the situation of homelessness as being a circumstance that they’re navigating, versus the defining factor of how we perceive them. I often go back to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the work that was done around that movement where ability came to be seen as a subset of the person versus the defining factor. It takes a lot of work to make a shift like that happen.
GFW: What’s your favorite memory of working with your organization?
Carl: There are so many. One of the things that has surprised me over the past couple years is how deep of a community network gets established, despite the fact that we’re a virtual organization. A month ago I went to visit a service provider we partner with in San Francisco and ran into a member of our Miracle Messages Advisory Council who was volunteering there and helping the unhoused neighbors in their community. That felt like a really special moment, realizing that I’m part of a much larger movement, and everybody who’s in it is engaged to the best of their ability. With that, we can make change.
GFW: Is there anything else you would like to share right now?
Carl: We will share information with you and the community about the Monterey chapter as we get it off the ground. I think, in this moment, in our society, it’s so important for us to build bridges and create better understanding of our unhoused neighbors and continue to build an environment where we are all seen as people. I want to lean into that more than ever right now.
Want to get involved?
If you are interested in more information on Miracle Messages and how to get involved in the upcoming Monterey Chapter, you can find more information at www.miraclemessages.org. If you are interested in supporting GFW’s work, you can do so by:
- Supporting local efforts to build more affordable housing
- Supporting local homelessness prevention efforts like rental assistance and financial education programs
- Volunteering your time and talents to local homeless service providers
- Donating clothing or personal care items, or making a monetary contribution to your local homeless service providers
- Becoming an ambassador and telling everyone you know about your favorite non-profit and what we are doing to help!
If you are ready to be part of the solution, you can find ways to get involved at GFW on our website, or contact us at info@gatheringforwomen.org.
The Main Contributors for this post are:
Further information available at: https://www.miraclemessages.org/
