Growing up, Levine said he didn\u2019t have a good relationship with his father, as he often worked long hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was working 14-15 hours a day to try to get our family out of the financial situation we were in,\u201d Levine said. \u201cGrowing up in a slum, it was infested [with] cockroaches and fleas and I remember wearing long socks to cover the flea bites that were all over my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his senior year of high school, Levine\u2019s father unexpectedly died of a heart attack. His father left behind $300 in his wallet and, unknown to the family, a mountain of debt with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Chacko_Jeff_Levine_1.jpg\")
Jeff Levine, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Long Beach Rescue Mission, has photos of his family and kids spread across his office, alongside awards commemorating his work over the years. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my grief at the time is more that he [his father] never got to see me sober, didn\u2019t see me graduate college, didn\u2019t see me married, didn\u2019t meet his granddaughters and I know he would\u2019ve loved them,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n
When his father passed away, Levine said he had a lot of resentment and anger towards his dad that he needed to heal from and forgive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I\u2019ve experienced in life, from growing up in poverty, to addiction to recovery, my time on staff, my education, my time at the church, has prepared me for the race and there\u2019s a desire to finish well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Jeff Levine<\/p>\n
Levine said he spent 12 years of his life addicted to methamphetamine before God spoke to him in 2003. \u201cI got down to my knees and asked Jesus to save me \u2014 when I called on Jesus\u2019 name, it changed me and it gave me an incredible amount of hope,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, he had a long road of recovery ahead of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Levine said Bethany Church in Long Beach was a contributing factor in his sobriety, bringing in the community, accountability and the support he needed when he was coming out of his addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His involvement with the Long Beach Rescue Mission began a few years later, when he became a volunteer and then a part-time chaplain in 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Chacko_Long_Beach_Rescue_Mission_1-2.jpg\")
Workers at the Long Beach Rescue Mission prepare food at the Samaritan House on Nov. 19, 2025 as the Thanksgiving week comes closer and closer. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n
\u201cI started to do some mission trips and one of the board members [Will McClung] was on the board here at the Rescue Mission [and] said, \u2018You should pray about getting involved with the mission. I think your story would intersect well with the people that are there,\u2019 and I took that very seriously,\u201d Levine said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Levine was on staff for 12 years, five as the organization\u2019s Program Director. He was then called away to be the lead pastor of Bethany Church in 2018, but remained on the Mission\u2019s Board of Directors. In June 2022, Levine says God called him back to the Mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my home and I feel like God has made it clear that this is my last ministry calling,\u201d he said. Since then, he has been the President and CEO of the nonprofit.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I\u2019ve experienced in life, from growing up in poverty, to addiction to recovery, my time on staff, my education, my time at the church, has prepared me for the race and there\u2019s a desire to finish well.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Levine was able to build the Long Beach Rescue Mission into something special \u2014 taking the owners Wayne and Janet Teuerle\u2019s initial vision and evolving it. From the 40-bed mission in 1972 then 133 beds in 1982, the Mission now has a 215-bed shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Levine doesn\u2019t just focus on the numbers. Instead he goes out of his way to connect with people around the mission, creating a culture of trust that spreads to every employee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Workers like Chaplain Torie Russell carry the same care in his work, greeting every guest at the Mission and talking to them like family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe [Jeff Levine] makes time for the staff. He hears [and he] prays with the staff. He shakes hands with program folks, so he\u2019s someone who is very approachable,\u201d Russell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Chacko_Long_Beach_Rescue_Mission_1-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Though Levine is proud of the connections he makes with the Mission\u2019s guests, it also impacts him more deeply when someone is lost to the cycle of homelessness. He recalled one experience with a man named Taylor Tedesco, someone who he\u2019d banter with during his work in the evenings as a volunteer for the Long Beach Rescue Mission back in 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n The police showed up one night asking if Levine could recognize a body outside the parking lot of the mission.<\/p>\n \u201cTaylor had these piercing blue eyes and his eyes were open and he was looking and it was like he was looking up to heaven being received \u2026 and I think at that moment, I know that this is life and death,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t talk about it that way. They talk about it as housing or they talk about it as employment and those things are important, but they\u2019re not a silver bullet \u2026 every time I come in, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be my last time that I\u2019ll see this person.\u201d<\/p>\n Tedesco\u2019s death, along with the yearly memorial service for people who have died in Long Beach experiencing homelessness, serves as a reminder to Levine that every life is valuable, as is the work they do at the Mission.<\/p>\n Levine\u2019s experience with addiction, poverty and even losing his father at a young age, have all\u00a0helped him more deeply understand both members and guests of the Mission. His lived experiences help him build those relationships of trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know what it\u2019s like to not be able to get out of bed without getting high,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Levine has been an example of dedication to the city\u2019s most vulnerable populations across Long Beach. He was presented with the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership\u2019s Nell and John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award<\/a> for his efforts on Nov. 6.<\/p>\n \u201cMan he\u2019s a go-getter,\u201d Russell said. \u201c[He\u2019s] just down to Earth, committed husband, father, pastor. He has a shepherd\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell brought up the example of when the Lydia house was set on fire<\/a> on Dec. 23, 2024 as one of many instances of Levine being a leader. He said that they had to get the ladies out and Levine got out of his warm bed to come down to work.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll jump in the mud with you \u2014 he\u2019ll get dirty with you, servant leader man,\u201d Russell said. \u201cJeff is somebody who attracts the best. He makes time for the staff. He hears, he prays with the staff, he shakes hands with the program folks so he\u2019s someone who is very approachable and he\u2019s very approachable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Levine\u2019s goal for 2026 is simple, to get the Lydia House 60 additional beds and the Timothy House operational.<\/a><\/p>\n The mission will have a Christmas Day toy drive for low income neighborhoods, Christmas dinner and Christmas breakfast. You can make financial donations to the Long Beach Rescue Mission on their website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Samuel Chacko is an award-winning photojournalist from Long Beach, California. Samuel currently works as a freelance journalist for multiple publications and he is a class of 2025 Cal State Long Beach graduate. Samuel loves watching sports (the Ravens and the Yankees) and taking photos.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Chacko_Jeff_Levine_4.jpg\")
President and CEO of the Long Beach Rescue Mission, Jeff Levine, poses near the Long Beach Rescue Mission office next to the Lydia House on Nov. 25, 2025. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Samuel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766366049_32_Screen-Shot-2025-11-17-at-5.51.27-PM.png\")
Samuel ChackoPhotojournalist<\/p>\n
Check out more of Samuel\u2019s work here: https:\/\/samuelchacko.com\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766366049_570_If-you-enjoyed-what-you-read-consider-donating-to-the-Signal-Tribune-one-of-the-only-independently-o.png\")
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