We are committed to filling two much needs areas of lack in Skid Row. The first is providing positive activities during the day times hours when people are not allowed inside the missions. Secondly we are committed to building personal one on one relationships and friendships while building a vibrant Christian community amongst the people of Skid Row.
The Jonah Project is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization dedicated to helping the homeless community on the streets of Skid Row in Los Angeles. Reaching out to the poor and brokenhearted was an important part of Jesus’ ministry, and certainly is still a vital part of the ministry of the Body of Christ today. http://www.jonahproject.com/
DWAC’s mission is to empower women who live and work downtown to influence public policy change that promotes health, safety, and economic and social justice for women through collective action, public education, community building, advocacy and leadership opportunities.
downtown area. We are working to: 1) create strong leadership that reflects the changing demographics of the community; 2) organize a diverse base of stakeholders to advocate for public policy and other public decisions that specifically benefits and addresses the needs of women in our community; and 3) eliminate gender-bias which is inherent in the service delivery models in the area, historically designed to meet the needs of single men. LA CAN provides the home organization and coordination of DWAC and shares leadership in the Coalition with Downtown Women’s Center and SRO Housing. DWAC’s work includes the 7 out of 10 Campaign, community-based research, leadership development, community-based trainings on women-specific issues, and community events.
OUR MISSION
The mission of School on Wheels is to enhance educational opportunities for homeless children from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Our goal is to shrink the gaps in their education and provide them with the highest level of education possible.
School on Wheels, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1993 by Agnes Stevens, a retired teacher. After reading Jonathan Kozol’s Rachel and her Children, Agnes realized the extent of homelessness in the USA. She began tutoring homeless kids in a park in Santa Monica, encouraging them to stay in school and participate in school activities.
Today, hundreds of volunteers work one-on-one with children whose homelessness prevents them from getting the academic stability and help they desperately need. The heart of the School on Wheels’ programs is the volunteer tutors who come from all backgrounds and professions, with a shared goal - to reach out to a child, to teach, to mentor, and assist in their educational life.
There is the " love for basketball", but for the Skidrow 3on3 Streetball League, it's fans and community, there is a love for one another and for the " goals of this organization". To inspire an entire community requires much more than just the love of basketball. It's about family and friendships. It's about taking our individual talents and gifts, combine them and use them for the benefit of all.
The league consists of so many people with so many ideas and skills. There are artists, singers, writers, poets, carpenters, counselors, audio technicans, etc....it's has to be more than just a game! The future is what we are striving to make better in all areas of our lives.
We believe that the Incarnation is the basis of the Christian message. We are called to make the Word of God flesh by responding to the suffering Christ incarnates among our poor and marginalized sisters and brothers. The homeless, the addict, the mentally ill, the AIDS victim, the infirm, the politically and culturally oppressed are the ones who Christ has told us will be first in His Kingdom. If we too desire to become citizens of His Kingdom, then we must live our lives in proximity to and in solidarity with those who are at the margins of our society.
Founded in 1970, the Los Angeles Catholic Worker is a lay Catholic community of men and women which operates a free soup kitchen, hospitality house for the homeless, hospice for the dying, a newspaper, and regularly offers prophetic witness in opposition to war-making and injustice.
Our soup kitchen, known commonly on the street as "The Hippie Kitchen" is located in the central city ghetto of L.A.’s Skid Row. With over ten thousand homeless, poor and marginally employed residents, this area, with its numerous street encampments and rescue missions, has been dubiously nominated "the homeless capital of the nation."
The Los Angeles Catholic Worker community is part of the lay Catholic Worker movement founded over seventy years ago by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin to "feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner" and offer a gospel-based critique of the dominant culture within the Catholic tradition but outside the institutionalized structures of the church.
The LAMP Art Project offers clients a safe and encouraging environment in which to express themselves creatively, find empowerment, and supplement their income through artistic development.
Guided by professional artist Hayk Makhmuryan and guest instructors, participants receive training and technical support in drawing, painting, photography, and other media. But more than simply providing an opportunity to develop skills and technique, the Art Project plays a central role in the recovery and stability of numerous clients.
The Gallery Row Photo Exhibit is really taking off with several outstanding& very artistic images from those involved it looks to become a real gem, a jewel for the whole community.
Los Angeles Poverty Department, founded in 1985, is made up of people who make art and live and work on Skid Row. LAPD tells the rest of the story, what you don’t hear elsewhere. We create change by telling the story of the community in a way that supports the initiatives of community residents. We want the narrative of the neighborhood to be in the hands of neighborhood people. We work to generate this narrative and to supplant narratives that perpetuate stereotypes used to keep the neighborhood people down or to justify displacing the community. We want to create recognition of the community and it’s values.
Over the past two years Los Angeles Poverty Department created events that engaged community brain-power to identify initiatives and people who had made positive contributions to Skid Row. We invited some of the most widely recognized social visionaries from the neighborhood, and they were asked to speak about other people and initiatives that they valued. The input led to the installation, Skid Row History Museum, at The Box Gallery, which included more performance and public conversation events, to solicit further community input.
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) creates performances and multidisciplinary artworks that connect the experience of people living in poverty to the social forces that shape their lives and communities. LAPD’s works express the realities, hopes, dreams and rights of people who live and work in L.A.'s Skid Row.
MADE by DWC is a café and gift boutique offering fresh food, organic coffee & tea, and handcrafted products created by the women of the Downtown Women’s Center. This innovative program was created to break the cycle of poverty and chronic unemployment by helping low-income and homeless women discover talents and develop skills through job-readiness training and product development opportunities.
