Los Angeles, CA. The pandemic has turned school into a virtual experience for millions of kids and researchers say it has given cyberbullies more opportunities to attack others. Speak Out Against Bullying Inc., is trying to do something about it. The organization is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing, “social and civic changes to inspire a call to action against bullying and cyberbullying through public advocacy, prevention, and awareness.”
Hundreds of kids attend a Speak Out Against Bullying workshop before the pandemic.
When asked how the organization is fairing during the pandemic, Executive Director, Monica Harmon says, “It has been a struggle for a lot of nonprofits. I have seen some of my friends go under. I am thankful to our partners and volunteers who have continued to support our mission. ” Like many organizations, Speak Out Against Bullying Inc. had to pivot day-to-day operations to sustain its mission. Prior to the pandemic, the organization was bringing awareness by hosting in-person auditorium-sized workshops, holiday events, and giveaways. Now, the Speak Out Against Bullying team is hosting zoom meetings, making phone calls and sending out emails to stay up to date with families.
A pre-pandemic Speak Out Against Bullying workshop
Speak Out Against Bullying Inc. tries to bring joy to the children it serves. For the 2020 Speak Out Against Bullying Toy Giveaway, organizers didn’t know if they were going to receive enough donations, due to the financial strains many Los Angeles families were, and are, experiencing. Monica Harmon used her extensive civil service and law enforcement background to partner with six Los Angeles Police Department organizations. Last year’s toy drive received a record-breaking 3,000 toys. How do you safely give thousands of toys to the children? With the help of community partners. Speak Out Against Bullying organized a grab-and-go, drive-through, and delivery service.
Speak Out Against Bullying 2020 Toy Giveaway
On Valentine’s Day the organization partnered with Watts Community Core Group. Hosting a Valentine’s Day event at Nickerson Gardens for the children. Nickerson Gardens was featured in the Netflix film “A Week in Watts.”
Monica Harmon has spoken with thousands of youth since 2013. Prevention and confidence-building start at home she explains, “The positive thing about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it gives a break to the victims who are being bullied physically and mentally. They don’t want to go to school. The students prefer virtual learning so they do not have to face the bullying from the peers.” She has received many calls from parents regarding their children. With the new administration and a plan to steadily roll out the vaccine; the anticipation of going back to school for many students is causing unease. If you would like to find out more information about, donation or volunteer opportunities please visit Speak Out Against Bullying Inc.
Here’s a video about National Bullying Prevention Month
From Speak Out Against Bullying Inc.:
Speak Out Against Bullying Inc is a 501(c)(3) non-profit for social and civic changes to inspire a call to action against bullying/cyberbullying through public advocacy, prevention, and awareness. We have provided education and resources to tens of thousands. Working with our community partners of schools, students, parents, educators, law enforcement, businesses, elected officials, and neighborhood councils, our highly-touted public safety program teaches how to identify, prevent and speak out safely about bullying/cyberbullying. We advocate for a safe school campus that is respectful, tolerant, and inclusive.
Speak Out Against Bullying Inc. was founded in 2013 by Monica Harmon a Public Safety Advocate for over 30 years.
Ms. Harmon has been a guest speaker on Public Safety issues, bullying, cyberbullying, social media, Safe School Campus, and community issues. Speaker engagements include Public Policy Exchange “Tackling Bullying in California Schools,” California Association of Student Council’s Youth Action Summit, Special Needs Network Youth Bullying Summit at USC, Fox Studios “Future Professionals”, AEG Worldwide’s “Bring Your Child to Work Day,” Riverside Medical Foundation’s 1st Annual Anti Bullying Conference.
Speak Out Against Bullying Inc. was honored by Los Angeles City Council with a resolution signed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin and all City Council members. Ms. Harmon is a community organizer, community outreach specialist, community policing advocate, and believes in community engagement and investment.
Los Angeles, CA. Project Ropa is a nonprofit foundation based in Los Angeles serving the homeless community. The nonprofit works to restore dignity by bringing clean clothing and hygiene kits directly to people experiencing homelessness. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority, there are a total of 63,706 people homeless and 46,090 still in need of shelter. Over the past year, there has been a 12.7% increase in homelessness in LA County alone. Community members who are experiencing homelessness do not have easy access to bathrooms let alone showers.
Like many organizations, Project Ropa has seen a massive decline in monetary donations as a result of the global pandemic. While the monetary donations have declined by 75%, there has been a 300% increase in clothing donations.
Overhead has not declined but rather increased for the organization during this time. Project Ropa’s storage units are at full capacity, so the organization had to acquire a third unit for the influx of supplies.
Project Ropa has more than doubled weekly donations. Prior to the pandemic, the organization directly provided hygiene kits and clothing to 200 people directly on a weekly basis. Today after teaming up with local nonprofits they are serving over 5,000 people a month. Caitlin Adler Founder and Executive Director says, “We expect that number to continue to grow. We have figured out a way to increase capacity with less money.”
As a result of Covid-19, the demand and quantity for hygiene kits has substantially increased. With social distancing mandates in place getting essential personal protective equipment together has had its fair share of challenges. Due to hygiene regulations and sanitation recommendations, clothing is quarantined for 7-days prior to distribution. With major pivots implemented (i.e. quarantine of shoes and clothes, halted entry into mobile hygiene vans, and meeting sanitation standards etc.). Volunteers are no longer able to assist in the vans and volunteer opportunities have been cut in half.
With the elevated health risks associated with the virus, Project Ropas partnership with Saint Francis Center has been a saving grace for thousands of people.
During this time there are no holiday events planned.
Volunteers are encouraged to engage in Project Ropa’s virtual volunteer opportunities. Where individuals go out into the community to collect a list of items. Merchandise can be dropped off at the facility and or pick-up can be coordinated at a nearby location.
From Project Ropa:
It is in times like these that your donations are needed the most. Find out more at Project Ropa. Monetary donations can be made on Donor Box here and to our Venmo account @ProjectRopa.
Mission
Project Ropa helps restore dignity, rekindle optimism, and empower lives by providing clean clothing, hygiene kits and job opportunities to people experiencing homelessness.
Our Mailing Address
4712 Admiralty Way #1226 Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Our Warehouse Address
12681 W Jefferson Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90066
Donation Drop-off Information
We accept clothing donation drop-offs at our warehouse by appointment only. Email us: [email protected]
About Us
Project Ropa was founded in 2016 by Caitlin Adler to address the challenges that homeless people face in obtaining and keeping clean clothes. Though homelessness is accompanied by many deprivations — from food, to shelter, to safety — one of its greatest indignities comes from the absence of hygiene services.
When you’re homeless, it doesn’t take long to look that way, and the world and your options in it shrink. Access to hygiene services is a human right yet for many people experiencing homelessness there are often significant barriers to proper hygiene. Most homeless people literally have only the clothes on their backs. Access to clean clothing is essential to the overall well-being of a person and can be the key to opening doors to employment and housing.
We believe everyone deserves to be treated with respect. How you look affects how you feel about yourself and how others treat you. Now, because of the health threats posed by the coronavirus, the need to overcome those challenges has become ever greater. People who are experiencing homelessness often wind up wearing dirty and wet clothes for long stretches of time, making them vulnerable to the spread of transmissible diseases, including Covid-19.
No one should have to wear dirty clothes or clothes that are ill-fitting. It is more important than ever that our homeless neighbors have access to new and gently used donated clothing in a safe, humane and dignified setting.
That’s where we come in.
Project Ropa provides a curated selection of new and gently used high-quality men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories, along with personal hygiene products — all donated by local manufacturers, retailers and nonprofit partners — which we bring to locations throughout the city each week in a retrofitted van that acts as a mobile walk-in closet. At the same time, the people we serve can take a shower offered by another service provider with whom we work in tandem.
The need to provide clean clothes to our homeless neighbors has never been more urgent. Read this article to learn more about what makes our service different. For additional information about why it is so important to provide people experiencing homelessness with access to clean clothes in a safe, humane and respectful way read this article.
We believe in second chances for people who want to turn their lives around. Our vision is to help break the cycle of homelessness by restoring dignity and creating living-wage job opportunities for people with barriers to employment.
Los Angeles, CA. All Peoples Community Center Executive Director Saundra Bryant talks about the difficulties young children are facing in a virtual academic setting and how the center has adjusted its programs to fit the state’s current public health guidelines. Annually, All Peoples hosts a “Back to School” night for youth. This year, to help with the adjustment to remote learning, staff distributed Back to School “remote learning” supply bags. 300 youth received school supplies for the upcoming school year, as seen above.
Bryant explains, “It’s trying to adjust to a new learning curve.” All Peoples Community Center primarily focuses on helping the local youth’s education and wellbeings with the center’s events and activities like extended child daycare, after-school programs, and summer camp.
Bryant notes that children between grades 1-4 had an especially difficult time with distant learning in comparison to other age groups. The staff has found over time that this age group is more focused and easier to help within scheduled one-on-one virtual tutoring sessions.
The organization had to make significant adjustments this year to provide opportunities to kids without risking the spread of the coronavirus in large groups. The staff started to understand the issues surrounding distance learning from contacting parents and the youth of the center’s after-school programs in the first months of the pandemic.
Bryant listed a number of issues exemplified by the parents that include a lack of access to reliable internet and not having responsive, functional equipment needed for virtual learning.
Additionally, while some households are able to function within a stay-at-home environment, other larger households aren’t able to afford the same luxuries.
There can often be multiple people in one household who all need to use their one or two computers for meetings and work at the same time. This can create difficulty for everyone in the household in maintaining a regular routine for school and work fairly.
There are a number of virtual tutors that reach out to specific areas of the center’s youth like beginner art lessons led by Teens Youth Coordinator Erick “Sen” Moreno who has a Youtube channel where he posts his art lessons online like the one seen below:
Bryant’s staff has come up with a variety of ways to keep kids of all age groups engaged in a virtual setting by adding in fun activities that emphasize the main lessons and have talked about starting a book club as well.
The community center hasn’t completely shut down as the 20,000-square-foot building allows for the staff and a select few children to practice social distancing effectively.
“In some cases, we’re able to actually have students to come in for the tutoring sessions,” Bryant said, “that’s been more effective for some of our youth.”
The other reason the community center has stayed open is due to the active participation in certain campaigns with other nonprofits like the Angeleno Campaign which provided thousands of prepaid cards for struggling families, assistance in the ERAS application process for those unable to apply at home, and a weekly food distribution program.
All Peoples will continue to make important decisions for events and programs as the holiday season approaches.
“Normally we would do a Thanksgiving dinner where we would feed between 800-1,000 people,” Bryant said, “we are going to cancel that and we talked about doing a major food giveaway instead.”
Bryant listed an additional concern for the community in February 2021 where several unemployed LA residents could become homeless as a result of the expiration of LA County’s Temporary Eviction Moratorium for Residential Tenants.
“The other major concern that we are focused on is really about the education of our young people,” Bryant explained, “we know that our schools aren’t able to open safely, so what we’re looking at is our young people will have lost a year to a year-and-a-half of education.
“We’re already in a community where there is a concern about the education that our young people are receiving and the support that they need to be able to compete and now they’re a year-and-a-half behind.”
All Peoples Community Center will continue to keep the center open under strict social distancing for the youth who prefer a classroom learning environment and assisting individuals in the community for certain social services and programs.
The center launched the All Peoples Senior Food Delivery Service in October and are currently delivering to more than 40 seniors a week.
The center is labeled by the city’s mayor as an essential services provider and has subsequently seen a large increase of families needing assistance with food and other living essentials. Their donation page is here if you have the means to assist the center to continue operations during this unprecedented time.
From All Peoples Community Center:
Our mission is to provide social services and programs that empower individuals and promote community respect and self-determination for all.
All Peoples Community Center has become a comprehensive community center, delivering a myriad of social and educational services and activities. Our services and activities are driven by the purpose of:
Helping Children Succeed at Each Stage in their Development
Strengthening and Supporting Individuals and Families and Building Community
Preventing Violence and Crime, in the Community and in the Home
Addressing the Root Causes of Gang Involvement
Providing Job Training and Creating Job Opportunities
Los Angeles, CA. Over the last forty years, The Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) has helped nearly 110,000 disadvantaged women with meals and housing. DWC was launched in 1978 because of the friendship between two women; Jill Halverson (pictured on the right above) created the nonprofit to help an inspiring homeless woman, and friend named Rosa (pictured above on the left). During the four decades that followed, DWC has grown into a nonprofit providing many vital services to disadvantaged women. DWC is the only organization in Los Angeles focused exclusively on serving and empowering women experiencing homelessness and formerly homeless women.
DWC representative Anita Vukovic says it’s hard to keep up with all the need, especially during a pandemic. “A lot of DWC work had to change due to consideration of social distancing measures, our community is especially vulnerable to COVID-19 due to underlying health conditions that many women experience. Our community is usually 55 years old and older,” Vukovic explained. DWC is able to provide more than 800 meals a day and offer on-site services in its parking lot, which enables social distancing. “Our health clinic also continues to operate Tuesday to Friday.”
Today, DWC manages 119 units of permanent housing across greater Los Angeles (like the apartment seen above) and has grown to serve more than 5,400 women annually.
DWC was recently selected as one of the 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year by California Senator Holly Mitchell of the 30th Senate District. DWC is one of over a hundred other nonprofits that will be honored by their state senators and assembly members for their contributions. State leaders want to honor DWC staff and volunteers, because they provide women with access to basic needs and resources, housing assistance, trauma-informed case management, mental and physical healthcare, job readiness and workforce development, and advocacy training and resources. “As our services expand to meet the community’s growing needs under COVID-19, we are deeply humbled to be recognized as a 2020 Nonprofit of the Year,” said DWC Chief Executive Officer Amy Turk. “DWC’s decades-long relationship with Senator Mitchell has always been a special one, and we are thrilled to continue working with her to bring greater visibility and resources to women experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles and across California.”
Women’s Health Center Clinic, DWC.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also made it difficult for DWC to use outside helpers.
“Volunteers have been the heart of our community in everything we do and how we are able to serve women,” says, Vukovic. DWC is still looking for opportunities to get their volunteers together. In September DWC had a three-week virtual campaign. “We saw a lot of positive feedback and engagement with that, people were really excited to be able to engage. We are looking into actually continue with that into the future.”
From Women’s Health Center:
How can you be informed on Housing First and Trauma-Informed:
Access to basic needs and resources through our Day Center, where women can receive three daily meals and access to showers, restrooms, mail, laundry, and telephones.
On-site housing and supportive services, with our 119 units of permanent housing across two residences making us one of the largest housing providers for women in the country.
Community-based housing services, provided in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and various private foundations and corporations.
Health and wellness services, including individual and group counseling, medical care, mental health services, preventive screenings, Trauma Recovery Center services, and enrichment activities.
Job readiness and employment training, as well as job placement services and transitional jobs at MADE by DWC, in partnership with LA:RISE.
Advocacy training, to empower women to become successful advocates for themselves and others by participating in press interviews, public policy meetings, lobby visits with legislators, fundraising events, press conferences, and more.
Public education and volunteering, with a volunteer program that engages over 5,000 individuals annually.
We envision a Los Angeles with every woman housed and on a path to personal stability. Our mission is to end homelessness for women in greater Los Angeles through housing, wellness, and advocacy.
Los Angeles, CA. “It has been a difficult time, to say the least,” says Silvio Orlando, CEO of Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services. During the beginning of the pandemic, purchasing personal protective equipment was no easy feat. Still, resident students have been able to stay on campus while taking classes remotely. Prior to the pandemic, they’d walk from class to class, as seen above. Online learning is one of the many challenges faced by the organization. However, Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services remains devoted to the mental, educational, and physical wellbeing of all the foster children, young adults, and families they serve.
Welcome to Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services
Covid-19 continues to impact the lives of millions of American schoolchildren, including the at-risk and foster youth at Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services.
Optimist Youth Home & Family Services is still serving the community for many years.
In June of 2020, Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services was forced into lockdown when several students and staff members became infected. “The virus not brought in by a student but a staff member,” says Silvio. Continuously educating the staff on Covid-19 and how to prevent the spread remains a top priority. Since the outbreak staff have become more compliant. Working with the Public Health Department and County to ensure the health and safety of students and staff has been a tremendous success. The Public Health Department stated Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services was “doing great.” There have been no outbreaks since.
Foundation grants have been made more readily available and leniency has been given during this time. While cash donations have not seen an increase, non-cash donations have. The non-cash supplies have included face masks and hand sanitizers.
Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services have a lot of committed mentors and volunteers who work with and for the students. Unfortunately, “volunteers would like to be involved at this time,” says Silvio but due to the safety measures put in place for the children and staff, no volunteers have been allowed.
“We are coping, and our spirits continue to stay high,” as the holiday season is around the corner and major events such as the Mentor Award Gala maybe postponed or canceled. “Major events that raise money are no more,” says Silvio. The decline in monetary donations has sparked the robust creativity by Annie Nuttall, Chief Advancement and Communications Officer and staff leading to new opportunities such as drive-in events, and this year’s Holiday Wish List.
Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services continues to combat the stigmas surrounding mental health. Highly trained therapists provide a variety of integral therapeutic services tailoring to each person’s needs. Offering a wide variety of residential and community therapy programs. These programs are essential to the development and well-being of the children, young adults, and families they serve. Outpatient therapists have been a vital resource during the pandemic. Therapy sessions over zoom have worked exceedingly well. Virtual therapy sessions are safer and some clients find the alternative more enjoyable. Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services is working to keep the virtual services and outreach on mental wellness, well into the future even after the pandemic.
Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services campus building.
From Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services:
With your help, Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services can continue to provide, care for and transform the lives of the at-risk foster youth, children, young adults, and the families in the community they serve.
OUR MISSION Our mission is to provide innovative and individualized treatment, education, and support services to children, young adults and families to better their lives.
OUR VISION Optimist envisions a world where all children, young adults, and families will have the opportunity to receive the care and support they need to succeed.
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