Women’s Empowerment: Giving Homeless Women the Tools for Employment

Women’s Empowerment is a non profit organization who gives homeless women the skills and confidence they need to get a job and live a healthy lifestyle. This way they can get a home for themselves and their children back.

Homeless women created the Women’s Empowerment charity that brought together people as a community in order for women to express what they need. They work with focus groups to give women who are stuck in the cycle of poverty the tools they need in order to get jobs and become self sufficient people.

Noted Accomplishments

Women’s Empowerment officially became an independent nonprofit in 2004. Since then, they have grown to a board and staff with a great overview of what the community actually needs which includes a lot of volunteers and mentors who help homeless women rise out of poverty.

They have served over 771 women and 800 children since the start of their program. May 2009 market a great accomplishment – Women’s Empowerment was named Nonprofit of the Year by the Nonprofit Resource Center.

Giving Back to Women’s Empowerment

People living in Los Angeles can donate to Women’s Empowerment because it is up at our state’s capital of Sacramento. Only 19% of all donations go to administrative costs, which means you can “donate with confidence.” Donate today to Women’s Empowerment.

You can contact Women’s Empowerment at 1400 North C Street, Sacramento, CA 95811. Call them at 916-669-2307 or email them at support@womens-empowerment.org.

Food on Foot: 787 Consecutive Weeks of Service and Counting

Food on Foot focuses on giving the Los Angeles poor and homeless meals, clothing, and job assistance in order to transition them from life on the streets to an independent life.

Starting off as a weekly meal program in Hollywood, Food on Foot graduates people from their program as self-sufficient people who do not need government assistance. They are able to support themselves and pay for their own apartment.

Foundation for a Better Life

Neil Patrick Harris won money for Food on Foot at the Jeopardy! Celebrity Invitational.

Food on Foot provides the foundation for a better life. By providing warm meals and a place to stay, people have the confidence to go find a job, and a place to go to and from the interview.

Here is a list of some of the Food on Foot graduates straight from the Food on Foot website:

October 2006 – Sonia joined the maintenance crew at Whole Foods in Beverly Hills.
January 2007 – Kim D. joined the CPA firm Singer Lewak Greenbaum & Goldstein, LLP as a bookkeeper.
March 2007 – Haggit R. was hired at Ralphs as a grocery bagger and now runs the deli.
July 2007 – Ken D. began work as a Property Manager at an apartment complex in Glendale.
February 2008 – Danny G. joined the maintenance crew at an aircraft parts company in Inglewood.
March 2008 – Deborah S. began work as a cashier at Food 4 Less in Hollywood.
July 2008 – Paul M. was hired at Martin Motors in Los Angeles washing cars.
November 2008 – Paul D. was hired at the Law Offices of Jeffrey Sax in Downtown LA as a clerk.
December 2008 – Walter P., after 10 years of homelessness, was promoted to Head of Client Relations for Food on Foot.
April 2009 – Gina L. was hired as a caregiver for an elderly man in Hollywood.
May 2009 – Peter R. was hired at a Jamba Juice in Hollywood.
June 2009 – Robin L. was hired at Martin Motors as a security guard.
February 2010 – Rebel S. was hired at Tender Greens in Hollywood as a food prep.
October 2010 – Jennifer M. was hired at IHop in Hollywood as a hostess.
December 2010 – Joliff S. was hired at Martin Motors as a lot attendant.

Give Back to Food on Foot

You can volunteer with Food on Foot by signing up at one of their locations. Volunteers distribute food and clothing – you sign up and you show up. You can show up just for an hour on Sunday.

You can donate to Food on Foot as well. If you don’t want to donate online, you can donate to Food on Foot at 9663 Santa Monica Blvd #743, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

You can also donate clothing at 1625 N. Shrader Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90068 between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm every Sunday.

Chrysalis: Changing Lives Through Jobs

One obstacle that the homeless and underprivileged population faces is joblessness. Chrysalis is dedicated to giving homeless and impoverished people the tools, resources, and support they need in order to not only get hired, but to keep their jobs.

To meet the increasing demand for jobs, Chrysalis is constantly expanding. They provide staff, volunteers, and an environment that gives many the opportunity for personal growth. Their Transitional Jobs Program has offered over 220,000 hours of employment with $2.5 million in wages.

Unemployment in Los Angeles

Currently, Los Angeles’ unemployment rate is at 12.3 %.  There are 82,000 people homeless on any given night and 38,375,819 people without jobs. The percent of people living under the poverty level is around 20% of the population.

Charities like Chrysalis offer great opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunities for more.

Giving Back to Chrysalis

Volunteer with Chrysalis or donate to Chrysalis in order to give back. Volunteers are asked to help prepare resumes, practice interviews, facilitate workshops, help in computer labs, and provide administrative assistance.

You can also contact Chrysalis for more information.

Community Coalition: Celebrating 20 Years of Change in South LA

The Community Coalition works to ameliorate the South LA social and economic conditions that create people who are prone to addiction, violence, crime and poverty. They strive to create a community that incorporates thousands that change and influence public policy.

Community Coalition’s Stance

• Community: In order to instill core values among South Los Angeles, Community Coalition pushes to actively involve the primarily Latino and African America community to serve as a means of community activism.
• Leadership: Instead of striving to get celebrity sponsors, Community Coalition works to create leaders out of the community. This means that these people will be able to relate on a personal level and people will work together to overcome addiction and violence.
• Education: By using education to develop community knowledge, Community Coalition believes that anyone can have the right tools to push away from falling into the poverty cycle that often leads to addiction.

These three aspects along with advocacy have made Community Coalition build a social movement to push through poverty and the conditions people experience when they fall into the cycle of poverty.

Give Back to Community Coalition

Get involved with Community Coalition. You can volunteer by emailing kusema@cocosouthla.org or call 323-750-9087 or see a lot of different, unique opportunities on their website.

You can also donate to Community Coalition.

You can contact Community Coalition at 8101 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044.

Union Rescue Mission: The Way Home

The Union Rescue Mission is a embraces homeless people with addictions by giving them hope for a changed life and finding a way home. It is a private organization that works to restore lives to normalcy for the homeless people in LA, hoping to break the cycle of homelessness and lead them to live self-sufficient, self-confident lives.

“Thanks to Union Rescue Mission, I have my son back…” – Andy, father of Marty who was helped by Union Rescue Mission.

Union Rescue Mission Helps People Like Tom Battling Addiction

Tom lost his job to due to a construction accident where he broke his hip. He turned to Union Rescue Mission for help when he was disconnected from his family. Union Rescue Mission works to help people like Tom find a way home.

Giving Back to Union Rescue Mission

You can volunteer and donate with the union rescue mission. Visit their website to get involved with the projects that need immediate attention. In order to volunteer with the Union Rescue Mission, you will need to attend an orientation and pick a place to volunteer. See the volunteer opportunities at Union Rescue Mission.

You can also donate to Union Rescue Mission. You can donate online, or by phone or mail. Their phone number is 1-888-77-THE-WAY-HOME or by mail at Union Rescue Mission, Internet Donations, 545 S San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA 90013.