Restoring Dignity, Developing Community

Housing and Homelessness

South LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

We do not accept the degradation visited upon our neighbors who cannot find a place to live, and consequently must survive in tents, cars, trains or buses, shelters, or sidewalks. RCDC's focus is to end homelessness and prioritize access to essential services such as hygiene, nutrition, and housing for historically underserved populations. We achieve this through a mobile shower truck program and community resource events. RCDC intentionally works within communities of color; black people represent 40% of those who are homeless in America even though they are only 13% of the population. Addressing homelessness requires cultural competency, which comes from long-term knowledge-making and the home-grown intellectuals of South LA. Therefore, our outreach (while non-religiously affiliated) is intentionally based out of local churches - places which are a home away from home to members of our community, and a crucial historical resource for black people in LA and around the U.S.

We begin addressing homelessness by restoring dignity to the people experiencing it. To do this, RCDC holds events at black churches in South LA; these events assemble essential services where our target population lives, and in spaces where they feel fellowship and respect. Our events feel like a church picnic or neighborhood cookout and that's intentional. To get in the mental space to seek help, we understand that people need their basic needs met first. That's why we always provide hot showers, delicious meals, and new clothes on site. We want to meet people's short-term needs, so they have the self esteem to seek longer-term aid. We know that every journey into and out of homelessness is unique and requires different interventions. That's why we partner with dozens of nonprofits and government services who attend our events. HOPICS and LAHSA help attendees get housed. We address health barriers by offering addiction treatment through SCHARP, mental health support through LACDMH, and vaccinations and physical healthcare through Benevolence Health Centers. Legal barriers to housing are tackled by Public Counsel and the Criminal Record Clearing Project. Family reunification services and creative writing workshops rebuild social support networks. And this is just a sample of our partners. By organizing these services into a single space, we help attendees regain their agency and decision-making. We make sure that no need is left uncovered so that every need is met.

We know that the solution to homelessness is community. Homelessness affects everyone - whether we are a person experiencing it or a person witnessing it - and therefore the solution requires everyone as well. RCDC's programs bring in members from all walks of life to solve the County's most pressing crisis. We envision a Los Angeles where everyone is entitled to respect and decency. We envision a Los Angeles where we work together to address a person's needs as opposed to finding a way to pass the buck to another agency or program. We envision a Los Angeles where there are not "resource fairs" but community events put on by the very people who live and work in those communities. We envision a Los Angeles where our program can continue to support people in South LA achieve their dreams and goals, but where we no longer have to provide their most basic needs.

To date, RCDC has: -Provided 11,000 meals -Distributed 5,000 articles of clothes -Provided 3,000 showers -Delivered 2,000 vital records -Housed 1,200 unsheltered people -Connected 800 people to mental health services While these numbers tell the scale of our success, the personal impacts go well beyond statistics. Grant and Tracey are two guests who attended RCDC events regularly prior to the pandemic. They had this to say: "My wife and I have been homeless for 1.5 years...We come to get a shower, food and clothing. Thank you very much... we signed up for this new shelter that was in the process of opening from HOPICS. The Lord above and RCDC got us in. This place is GREAT! Now, we have a place to lay our heads... Thank you to everyone involved." After writing this, Grant and Tracey continued to be regular participants in RCDC programs and they now live in permanent housing. Their multi-year journey speaks to the importance of RCDC's commitment and consistency in building community.

Although RCDC partners with dozens of nonprofits and government organizations who attend our events and serve our guests experiencing homelessness, for the purposes of this grant, RCDC will be solely responsible for expanding programming, recruiting providers to said events and performing all other initiatives funded by this grant.