[The following final update was written by the organization and then sent to us for further sharing.]

Over the past year, Creating Justice LA (CJLA) has deepened its mission of “advancing justice through creative expressions” through the continued operation of the Peace and Healing Center, a free public space in Skid Row rooted in belonging, dignity, and love. Funded in part by the LA2050 Grants Challenge, this initiative has transformed a vacant commercial unit into a thriving third space that provides rest, nourishment, and community for both unsheltered and sheltered residents.

The Peace and Healing Center is open to the public and operates four days a week, twenty hours total, providing free:

• Coffee, snacks, meals, drinking water, air conditioning, and a restroom
• Programming, like Healing Circle Book Club, Off The Top Thursdays Open Mic, Freestyle Fridays, Artivist Village, and donation drives
• Peer support, resource navigation, resting space, art-making, and culturally rooted conversation
• Sense of stability, safety, and belonging for residents navigating varying degrees of economic hardship, health challenges, and trauma

Between October 2024 and October 2025, CJLA served an estimated 60 community members per day, resulting in over 10,500 total individual visits during approximately 1,000 hours of service. We also created 5 part-time jobs for local community members and engaged 40 volunteers throughout the year to help sustain a welcoming, community-led third space while deepening opportunities for healing and economic empowerment. Despite our community consisting of residents with barriers to traditional employment, our approach has included and empowered community members through a strengthening of community leadership roles and pathways for advancement. Additionally, we celebrate that 2 of our staff, one who began with us while staying in a local shelter, and the other in an RV, have been able to secure permanent housing!

Community members consistently describe the Center as a sanctuary:

• “As a single mother navigating homelessness here, words can’t fully describe what the center means to me. I’m just so thankful for the safety and opportunity to have community.
• “When I came in here I knew this was going to be my spot. I felt really welcomed here by the staff and started volunteering. This place makes me want to come back more and more, and I hope it’s open for 20 years. Even if I move out of this area, I will still be here.
• “By being here I’m learning to destigmatize mental illness, even my own, because anyone can have it… just to different degrees.”

Social Enterprise is a key component in our vision for advancing justice here in Skid Row. This grant has not only strengthened community self-expression and harm prevention through healing-centered engagement, it has helped us maintain progress towards the fortification of four earned-income pathways: The Hip Hop Smoothie Shop, Skid Row Coffee, Skid Row People’s Market, and The Artivist Village. These partnerships and initiatives coalesce to engage our community through economic opportunity, cultural relevance, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and alternatives to advancement pathways typically available to Skid Row residents. The sustainability and success of these social enterprises is a major focus as we head into 2026.

While the Peace and Healing Center has achieved its key outcomes, a few of the challenges we’ve experienced are meeting increased demand for healing and basic resources beyond projected capacity, sustainable maintenance of operations amid rising prices, economic strain, federal administration agenda changes, and permitting hurdles, and staffing support needed to scale development needs, business operations, and workforce program management. However, these challenges revealed valuable lessons and continue to teach us that:

• Flexibility is essential, and our ability to shift from planned programming to peer-led changes preserves trust and momentum.
• Despite setbacks, sustained attendance and recurring engagement are indicators of collective healing and safety.
• Economic empowerment must be relational, and a rising tide lifts all boats so we are finding job creation within a culture of care leads to higher retention and morale among communities like ours.
• Whether it’s The Row Church helping engage volunteers, Skid Row People’s Market joining forces with CJLA through the sale, Eayikes & Polo’s Pantry powering healthy food to the center, or Street Company/Casters Coffee supplying affordable, high-quality beans, critical relationships matter.

With this togetherness in combination with deeper investment into earned income strategies, we are confident we can weather future challenges as they arise. We believe that safe, inclusive, and creative third spaces are a vital public health and safety intervention, especially for densely populated urban areas like Skid Row. The future we are creating is not one with more charity, it’s one where we are building community wealth. We are striving to achieve this not by offering temporary jobs, but through creating pathways to empowerment. As we continue forward into 2026, it is our intention to not just provide services. Through our social belonging, enterprise, and justice efforts, we are restoring dignity, culture, and economic power in Skid Row.