Advent Group Ministries
Our Story Through the Years
For nearly a century, Advent Group Ministries has walked alongside children, youth, adults, and families facing poverty, addiction, trauma, and instability. Through every season of change, Advent has remained committed to one enduring purpose: serving underserved members of the community with compassion, dignity, and hope.
From its beginnings as a home for vulnerable boys during the Great Depression to its current focus on counseling and community-based services, Advent has continually adapted to meet emerging needs while preserving the spirit of care at the heart of its mission.
1930s | A Home Opens Its Doors
This home became the original Summit Ranch—the beginning of Advent’s legacy of caring for vulnerable children.
1967 | Summit Ranch Expands its Reach
Summit Ranch was given to the San Jose Rescue Mission and renamed the Arbutus Youth Association.
1970s | Services Grow in San Jose
The organization expanded its residential services to include:
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A home on Hamilton Avenue for adolescent boys ages 13–17
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A home on Third Street for girls ages 13–18
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Additional homes serving youth who were wards of the court
A Future Leader Joins the Ministry
1980 | Foster Family Services Begin
Arbutus began licensing foster families, starting with three families. Aunty May received the first foster child placed through Santa Clara County.
Dale MacGowan, who began his career at Arbutus in 1973, later led the program for many years. Although the Foster Families Program concluded in 2012, it positively impacted countless children and families throughout Santa Clara County.
Dale continues to serve Advent through the Strengthening Families Program, which provides prevention and support services for adolescents and their families.
1980s | A Broader Organization Emerges
1986 | Advent Group Ministries is Established
Arbutus separated from CityTeam Ministries and became Advent Group Ministries, an independent nonprofit organization.
This transition marked an important step in Advent’s evolution and strengthened its ability to respond directly to the needs of the community.
1986 | The Counseling Center Opens
Bruce Pickett, Advent’s Director of Counseling Services, began his career with the organization in 1989. He continues to oversee the Counseling Center and provide clinical supervision for Advent’s programs.
1987 | A Focus on Recovery Takes Shape
Ann began her career at Arbutus in 1977 and continued to help shape Advent’s commitment to recovery-centered care.
1990 | Advent Secures Its Future
Advent launched a major fundraising campaign and successfully purchased the five former Arbutus homes from CityTeam.
This achievement strengthened Advent’s independence and preserved important residential resources for the community.
2006 | Step Up! Outpatient Program Begins
The Counseling Center formally opened Step Up!, an intensive outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program for adolescents.
Step Up! provided services through:
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Its San Jose location and Morgan Hill locations; and
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Partnerships with alternative schools throughout the Bay Area
The program helped adolescents and families access meaningful support while remaining connected to their schools, homes, and communities.
2012 | Foster Family Services Conclude
After more than three decades of service, Advent’s Foster Families Program concluded.
Although the program ended, its legacy continues through the children, families, and communities it served—and through Advent’s ongoing commitment to family strengthening and prevention.
2013 | The Nest Provides Specialized Support
Ann MacLaren developed the program for The Nest, a home for girls who had experienced sex trafficking, in partnership with Freedom House.
This collaboration reflected Advent’s willingness to respond to emerging needs and advocate for young people facing extraordinary hardship.
2024 | A New Direction
Change in funding made it financially infeasible to continue operating Advent’s residential homes. Although the residential programs were effective in helping young people overcome addiction and rebuild their lives, Advent made the difficult decision to discontinue residential operations and focus its resources on the Counseling Center and community-based services.
This was not a departure from Advent’s mission. It was a strategic pivot to preserve the organization’s ability to serve the community in a sustainable and meaningful way.
Continuing the Legacy
Advent Group Ministries’ story is one of faithfulness, courage, and adaptation.
From the McLeans opening their home during the Great Depression to today’s counseling and outpatient services, Advent has continued to respond to the needs of underserved individuals and families.
The organization has evolved from:
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A home for vulnerable boys
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To a network of residential homes
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Extending to foster family services
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Including adolescent recovery programs
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Specialized support for trafficking survivors
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Offering low-cost counseling and community-based treatment
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To a an execeptional Counseling Center and community programming
Through every transition, Advent has preserved its roots: welcoming those who are struggling, walking with them through difficult seasons, and helping create pathways toward healing, stability, and hope.
Today, Advent Group Ministries remains committed to honoring its past while embracing new opportunities to serve. With the continued support of friends, partners, donors, and community members, Advent looks forward to carrying this legacy into the future.
During the Great Depression, Aunty May and Uncle Mack McLean opened their home at the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains to boys from broken and poverty-stricken homes.
With the help of Ina Matheson, affectionately known as the “wash lady,” they created a family-like shelter for as many as 20 boys between the ages of 6 and 18.
Donelyn Miller (not related to Mark Miller) became the first director of the Foster Families Program. She later served as a clinical supervisor at Advent until her retirement in 2015.
During the 1980s, the San Jose Rescue Mission became CityTeam Ministries, and Arbutus Youth Association became a department of CityTeam. By this time, Arbutus had grown to include five homes serving boys and girls who were wards of the court.
In 1972, Mark Miller began serving as a boys’ counselor at Arbutus. He later became a resident counselor, senior counselor, caseworker, Program Director, and, in 1977, Executive Director.
His leadership reflected Advent’s long-standing commitment to developing staff who serve with knowledge, compassion, and dedication.
Under the leadership of Residential Recovery Program Director Ann MacLaren, Advent began shifting its focus toward the treatment of adolescents struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
