Dan De Vaul, founder and operator of Sunny Acres, a 72-acre rehabilitation property on Los Osos Valley Road just outside the San Luis Obispo city limits, died on March 6 at the age of 82.
The property has long served as a refuge for a few dozen residents, many of them registered sex offenders, people recovering from addiction, or those in need of a second chance.
Becky Jorgeson, a friend of De Vaul's and founder of Hope’s Village of SLO, lived at Sunny Acres for several years and remembered him as a man devoted to helping those society often overlooks.
“He helped so many people. I mean, hundreds of people went through that place in the last 20 years,” she said. “He was amazing, I don’t know anybody who could do what he did.”
Over the past two decades, De Vaul faced legal challenges with San Luis Obispo County, most notably in April 2022 when the county sued him over living conditions at Sunny Acres, citing concerns about health, safety, and illegal dwellings.
In 2023, the California Receivership Group was appointed by the court to bring the property up to code, with President Mark Adams noting that water was the major issue and that unsafe structures, including a barn where DeVaul once lived, had to be torn down.
Adams said the group is in negotiations to sell Sunny Acres to Restorative Partners, a nonprofit that provides services to individuals in custody and those released from San Luis Obispo County correctional facilities, but the sale is dependent on a state grant.
“It’s really in the hands of the state government,” he said.
Sister Theresa Harpin, Executive Director of Restorative Partners, said they intend to use the property as a campus for healing and restoration.
Jorgeson hopes that mission will closely mirror De Vaul’s vision.
“I’m hoping it’ll be a lot like Dan’s except she serves felons and Dan served homeless people and 290s,” she said, referring to the designation for registered sex offenders.
