Transforming the way families experience homelessness.

Affordable housing and homelessness

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Our understanding of the issue is that people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles face significant emotional and psychological challenges. These children often miss out on the joy and normalcy of celebrating birthdays due to their unstable living conditions. This lack of celebration can impact their self-esteem, sense of belonging, and overall mental well-being. By providing memorable birthday parties, we aim to offer these children moments of joy and normalcy, fostering a sense of community, value, and hope during difficult times. With our new initiative we also hope to provide the mothers of these children a sense of belonging, autonomy, independence and financial help.

Our team of volunteers will ensure that each child feels special and celebrated, with activities tailored to different age groups. We will also provide small gifts and essential items to the children and their families, helping to meet some of their basic needs. By consistently delivering these celebrations, we aim to offer a sense of normalcy, community, and joy, positively impacting the mental and emotional well-being of these vulnerable children. Additionally, the grant will enable us to expand our reach, ensuring more children across various parts of Los Angeles can experience the joy of a birthday celebration. It will also help us to enhance the quality of our events by securing better venues, entertainment options, and more comprehensive care packages for the families we serve.
Furthermore, Worthy of Love has introduced a new initiative to empower the mothers of the children we serve. We aim to provide these women with opportunities to gain autonomy, income, and self-worth by teaching them how to make, braid, and bake Challah bread. We will also assist them in selling their baked goods, providing a source of income and a sense of accomplishment. The grant will help the new initiative, Worthy of Love Bakery and Cafe, get started by covering costs for renting a ghost kitchen, providing all the necessary supplies (ingredients for the dough, kitchen utensils, etc.), and helping pay for the women’s salaries.

The immediate impact will be seen in the smiles and joy of the children who attend our birthday parties, boosting their self-esteem and providing them with cherished memories. Over time, these positive experiences can contribute to their emotional and psychological resilience, helping them to overcome the challenges associated with homelessness.
Our initiative will foster a stronger sense of community and solidarity, encouraging more residents and organizations to get involved in supporting vulnerable populations. By addressing the emotional needs of these children, we will also be indirectly supporting their academic and social development, potentially reducing the long-term effects of homelessness on their lives.
Moreover, by providing mothers with meaningful employment, we empower them with income and a sense of pride, fostering resilience, capability, and value within their lives.

We measure the success of our initiative primarily through:
- Participant Engagement: We track the number of children and families participating in our birthday parties.
- Feedback and Surveys: We gather feedback through surveys from children, parents, and shelter staff after each event to assess their experience and satisfaction.
- Attendance and Engagement: We monitor attendance levels and the level of engagement of children during our events, looking for sustained and growing interest.
- Community and Volunteer Involvement: Success is also measured by the level of community support and volunteer participation in organizing and executing our events. These metrics help us see the immediate impact of our activities on children's well-being and allow us to continually improve and expand our program to better serve the needs of children experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles.