Feeding East Los Angeles: Part Two

Income inequality

East LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Older adults in LA County are facing an economic crisis, with 20% of LA County residents aged 65+, especially Latino/Hispanic adults, living in poverty, struggling with fixed incomes, and rising living costs. Food insecurity, housing instability, and isolation are worsening, especially among older adults. As of 2023, 18,759 individuals living in East LA are 60 years or over, with an estimate of 63% earning under $60,000.
Despite this reality, older adults remain invisible in our economy and overlooked in workforce development and economic mobility programs. Few programs support their financial growth or leverage their cultural skills and lived experience as potential for mentorship. The lack of pathways for investments for older adults to contribute economically represents a missed opportunity to earn income, build skills, or re-enter the workforce. This gap deepens income inequality in East L.A., where generational poverty and disinvestment persist.

Eastmont Community Center will provide industry-aligned culinary and hospitality training, combined with access to tailored/ relevant financial and business coaching to support income while connecting them to food industry specific employment opportunities.
East Los Angeles is home to a significant older Latino/Hispanic population, many of whom are on fixed income and pursue food vending to supplement their fixed income. Approximately 68% of the workforce in East Los Angeles is made up of small businesses or entrepreneurs.
Participants will receive their food handlers permit, public health permits, and vending permits necessary to vend on their own. A limited number of participants will remain employed at Eastmont with the purpose of preparing hot meals for community members that are food insecure. Through hands-on work experience in our community kitchen and tailored business and financial technical assistance, participants will build the skills and confidence needed for lasting financial stability.
Over the next year, Eastmont will deepen its workforce development efforts, expanding pathways for older adults to achieve sustainable employment in food industries, self-sufficiency, and local entrepreneurship within their communities starting with our community kitchen as an entry point.

This would be one of the first workforce programs for older adults in the culinary food hospitality sector. In this phase, the focus is on older adults gaining formal industry culinary training and entrepreneurship skills, positioning them to generate income or launch microenterprises.
Eastmont’s work will redefine how LA County addresses aging, food insecurity, and workforce exclusion and has the potential to inform county wide strategies, proving that equitable food systems and economic mobility are deeply interconnected.
By embedding culinary and entrepreneurship pathways, this project invests in older adults as mentors, workers, and entrepreneurs. We redefine workforce development to be more inclusive and intergenerational.
This initiative advances the goals of the LA County Food Equity Roundtable by strengthening food systems, expanding workforce pipelines, and building localized infrastructure that promotes long-term health and self-sufficiency.