The Giving Spirit - Helping LA's Homeless

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The Giving Spirit is privileged to work with the following organizations who join us in our commitment to help the most vulnerable of those who need to survive on the street - children, women and families.

Non-Profit Participation

The Downtown Women’s Center

Founded in 1978, the Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that provides 40,000 meals, 47 permanent supportive housing apartments, and a wide array of health, education, and other supportive services to more than 2000 homeless women each year. The Center’s mission is to offer a safe and supportive community along with the resources homeless women need to reconnect with their sense of self, reclaim goals lost in the day-to-day struggle for survival on the streets, and move toward self-sufficiency. In the local Skid Row community, the Downtown Women’s Center is the only resource that is exclusively for and singularly dedicated to serving the unique needs of this population. Established in 1978, DWC operates both a day center (providing meals and a wide array or resources on a drop-in basis) and a residence (47 single unit apartments providing permanent, affordable, supportive housing to formerly homeless women) out of two beautifully renovated, adjoining buildings located at 325 S. Los Angeles Street.

My Friend's Place
The mission of My Friend's Place is to inspire and assist the homeless and high-risk street youth of Los Angeles to build self-sufficient lives. From necessitites like food and clothing to education and individual case management, My Friend's Place seeks to provide the spark that awakens our young people to the possibility of life beyond the street.

The Jeff Griffith Youth Center
The Jeff Griffith Youth Center - 7051 Santa Monica Blvd. (corner of Santa Monica and Sycamore) - empowers people to lead full and rewarding lives without limits based on sexual orientation and gender identity, by providing the highest quality educational, cultural, and wellness programs to residents of Los Angeles County. The Center offers legal, social, cultural, and educational services, with unique programs for families and youth, including a 24-bed transitional living program for homeless youth.

Operation USA
Operation USA helps communities alleviate the effects of disasters, disease and endemic poverty throughout the world by providing privately-funded relief, reconstruction and development aid. We provide material and financial assistance to grassroots organizations that promote sustainable development, leadership and capacity building, income generating activities, provide education and health services, and advocate on behalf of vulnerable people. Operation USA makes life-saving supplies available throughout the world to those who cannot afford them. We are expert in facilitating material donations from pharmaceutical, medical supply, nutrition and shelter supply companies to people in need - whether it be truckloads of blankets to Native American communities in South Dakota; dispersing 900,000 doses of Vitamin A, that prevents childhood nutritional-related blindness, to Malawi, Nicaragua and eight other countries; or neonatal incubators and breast cancer medications to hospitals in Morocco.

The San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission
Established in 1998, the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission provides essential life services and referrals to homeless in the Valley. The San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission is a Mobile Mission, collaborating with local congregations to provide multiple facilities and locations to meet the needs of the homeless. Headquartered in North Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission reaches out to all areas of the Valley, from North Hollywood to Chatsworth, and from Pacoima to Woodland Hills. The San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission is an outreach ministry of the Rescue Mission Alliance, a non-profit, privately funded, faith based Christian organization providing food, shelter, clothing, counseling, and case management services to homeless families. Additional resources for the families are garnered through collaboration with other organizations providing such services as vocational training, and drug and alcohol recovery. Through the various programs, the Rescue Mission is providing over 1,000 nights of shelter and 7,000 meals per month. The San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission currently provides the homeless with food, clothing, counseling and referral to other Rescue Mission Alliance.

Ocean Park Community Center

OPCC (Ocean Park Community Center) is the largest and most comprehensive provider of housing and services on the Westside to low-income and homeless youth, adults and families, battered women and their children, and people living with mental illness, particularly homeless mentally ill women. OPCC currently operates 257 emergency and transitional beds in six facilities, and has over 150 individuals living in apartments throughout the region with rental subsidy vouchers obtained by OPCC. Staff, volunteers and clients work together with mutual respect to address the effects of poverty, abuse, neglect and discrimination. The agency’s programs are designed to empower people to access the resources they need to ensure their survival, end their victimization and improve the quality of their lives. OPCC provides a common ground for our diverse community to affect public policy and advocate responsive human resources. OPCC was founded in 1963 as a community resource center for low-income families in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica. As the needs of the community have changed over the last 45 years, and homelessness, domestic violence, and mental illness have become prominent social issues, OPCC has evolved into a multi-faceted social service agency serving more than 8,000 people annually, empowering them to rebuild their lives and become self-sufficient.

Corporate Participation

We gladly welcome inquiries from companies and organizations who are interested in supporting our cause.

There are many ways your company or organization wants to partner with us in giving back to the community:

Donating Goods – Let us know if your company/organization is interested in making a bulk goods donation
Donating Funds – Let us know if your company is interested in making a financial contribution to our cause.
Donating People – Let us know if you’d like to find out how your company/organization can participate in our events
Donating Resources – Let us know if there are there services your company/organization would like to contribute to our organization.
Matching program – Does your company participate in donation matching? You'll need to get the appropriate form from your Human Resources department, and include the completed form with your check that you send to us.