Hundreds of men walk through the large double doors of the Los Angeles Mission every day. Many of the men are dealing with drug addictions and even more are homeless.

"They come over here to receive clothing, take showers, get food, shelter, medical care, or hygiene kits," said Chaplain Jorge Espinoza. "There is also a Fresh Start component, which is a rehabilitation program for people who may be struggling with alcohol or drugs."

Hylas Allen was one of the men who walked through the mission's doors with a drug addiction and no home.

"I needed help with me," said Allen. "I started with marijuana, and from marijuana, I went with the next best thing. I wanted to feel good. Marijuana helped, and then when I came to crack cocaine, that made it feel a little better. I had money, a family, and I'm telling you, all I had, I couldn't keep."

The L.A. Mission is a nonprofit organization that serves the homeless living on the streets of Skid Row. In addition to providing showers and other resources, the mission offers free breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The mission serves around 1800 donated meals a day, said Espinoza.

Along with these resources, a rehabilitation program is available for people suffering from the effects of homelessness or substance abuse. The rehabilitation program begins with the Jump Start phase, an introduction, and moves quickly into the Fresh Start phase, in which students start rehabilitation and pursue academic studies and vocational training. The last phase is Work Start, in which the student transitions back into society with the help of the Career Development Department, which connects graduates with employment and affordable housing.

Allen became a "student" at the mission and participated in the rehabilitation program for six months.

At any given time, as many as 250 male students participate in the rehabilitation program. For the first time in eight years, Espinoza says there is a wait list.

"The program works really well," said Allen. "But the key to everything is if the person really wants it, he can get it. Once a person is focused, says 'I want to do this,' you can get far. This program has very good information, very good guidance, to where you can come back and people look at you and say, "Look at the success. Look what the L.A. Mission has done for him."

Espinoza estimates the mission's rehabilitation program has more than a 60 percent success rate of getting people off the streets and back on their feet. Some graduates of the program feel compelled to return and work at the place they credit with helping them get their lives on track.

Allen is now the operations coordinator of the mission and is proud of what he has accomplished. When he receives a call on his cell phone, he holds it up with a wide smile and says, "See, this is one of the phones they give the staff to communicate with the other staff." He is proud to be given responsibilities and is quick to rattle off his duties as operations coordinator.

"I'm in charge of the baggage room, the general common room, the laundry room and the clothing room," said Allen. "It's my job to make sure students come to work, they do what is asked of them, and to make sure they serve other students and the public in a professional way."

Allen has five children. He feels like he is finally worthy of the name "father."

"Now, I'm a good father," said Allen. "I can talk to them, I can respond to them, I can help them."

He lives with one of his daughters in a studio apartment near the L.A. Mission. "You know what?" asks Allen. "It feels good to have my own [independence]. I pay bills, I have my own money, I'm being responsible, and before, I had nothing. Nothing. Nowhere to live, no clothes, no money. Now I can go somewhere with my life and I have even established credit. Things are getting better as time goes on."

Allen credits the chaplains with motivating him to succeed. Espinoza, one of the 16 chaplains at the L.A. Mission, met Allen when he arrived at the mission and helped him through his time there.

Espinoza has his own story of dealing with addiction. He was facing a prison sentence of 15 years to life on drug charges before he decided to reform and ultimately began working at the mission.

Born in Mexico City and brought to the United States when he was 6 years old, Espinoza became involved in drugs and gang activity at the age of 10. He ran away from home when he was 10 years old with his brother, who was only 11 years old at the time.

"I was growing up in the system," said Espinoza. "I stopped cocaine for a year or so but then I started getting into the hardcore stuff: heroin." Faced with a daunting prison sentence, he chose what he refers to as "alternative sentencing," in which he successfully completed a rehabilitation program instead of going to a penitentiary.

He laughs when he talks about the irony of working at the L.A. Mission. "I used to come and buy drugs on this corner right here," he said.

Now a chaplain, he works under the L.A. Mission's president, Herb Smith. They have known each other for several years and the camaraderie between the two is evident.

One way or another, Herb Smith affects the lives of all the men who walk through the mission's doors and he says he finds great joy in that fact.

"I love the job," says Smith. "What we do here is change lives. And we change it at the most basic level of people coming off the street, people coming from other homeless situations from couch to couch or from living in a car, and we have something to offer them. We have tangible resources, the food, the clothing, and the shelter. And we have rehab programs to help people change their own lives."

Smith also explained that the aid does not stop there. He says he hopes the mission's Work Start program will "get them back out into society, working productively and able to sustain themselves with housing and the things that are needed to not [become] homeless again."

The L.A. Mission has been a blessing to Allen, Espinoza, and Smith, and it continues to be so to many other men, too. All three men credit God with giving them the opportunity to better their lives within the walls of the mission.

"I'm living testimony to say I chose God," said Allen. "I went with God and God allowed me to understand, hey, that my way wasn't the best way. Now I'm happy. I plan to grow here and I plan to help whomever I can and at the same time, keep helping me."