Throughout the past month, we checked in with our 2025 grantees to learn how their funded programs, projects, and initiatives are progressing – and to better understand the impact they’re making across Los Angeles. Now, we are excited to share these interviews, with stories of growth, challenges, and community transformation. [Find each of their stories here.]

Creating Justice LA received funding through the LA2050 Grants Challenge from the Goldhirsh Foundation to support the Peace and Healing Center and its community-rooted social enterprises, including the Skid Row People’s Market, The Hip Hop Smoothie Shop, and Skid Row Coffee. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation with their team.

Interview Participant:

Pastor Cue, Founder

Kayo Anderson, Creative/Development Director

LA2050: How are you navigating the challenges, if any, in operating the peace and healing center as a place for culture programming, nutritious food & drink, and other benefits of a third space?

Creating Justice LA: It has been a difficult year, especially in terms of funding and staff capacity. Our organization has had to scale some programming back while continuing to keep the Peace and Healing Center active through volunteers and a small but deeply committed team. Even with those constraints, we have continued to serve as a vital third space in Skid Row: a place where people can gather, create, be nourished, and experience care without judgment. What has been most encouraging is how strongly the community has embraced the Center and its programming. That response has reinforced that our model is working and that the space is meeting a real need.

Some of the biggest challenges are not only internal, but environmental. Operating in Skid Row has meant dealing with issues in the physical building and the surrounding conditions, from plumbing and water damage to sanitation and safety concerns outside the market. At the same time, we have worked with city and county partners to improve those conditions and better align the outside environment with the healing, welcoming space it has created inside. For our team, operating the Peace and Healing Center is not just about what happens within four walls, it is part of a broader effort to create a healthier and more dignified community environment.

LA2050: How has the Skid Row People’s Market, The Hip Hop Smoothie Shop, and Skid Row Coffee, addressed the income inequality of residents in the community?

Creating Justice LA: Our community-rooted social enterprises respond directly to the economic realities of Skid Row while also creating ownership, dignity, and participation. What makes these efforts different is that residents are not simply recipients of services, they are part of shaping what is offered, how the space functions, and what the businesses become. That spirit shows up in both our programming and our market itself, where community members regularly share feedback, influence decisions, and help define what is useful and affordable. The Skid Row People’s Market, for example, has become a trusted community resource, with many residents using EBT there and directly reinvesting in a business designed to serve their neighborhood.

Beyond access to food and goods, these enterprises create pathways for leadership, skill-building, and self-worth. Our staff and community members step into more responsibility, build confidence, and grow through the work. Our Peace and Healing Center is a place where people are invited to participate, express themselves, and move through conflict or crisis without being pushed out. In that way, the work of the market, smoothie shop, and coffee space is not only about commerce, it is about building economic participation alongside healing, mentorship, and belonging.

LA2050: What do you hope to achieve in the last six months of the grant, and how can the broader LA2050 community support?

Creating Justice LA: Our primary focus is building capacity. That includes stabilizing current programming, strengthening fundraising and development strategy, and making sure the organization has the staffing and operational support needed to sustain what it has built. Recent planning made clear just how much the organization has been accomplishing with limited resources, and that the next phase will require stronger infrastructure to match the scale of its impact. Maintaining and strengthening the Skid Row People’s Market is also a key priority, especially after seeing how much the community relied on it during temporary closures.

The broader LA2050 community can support our work by helping us build the long-term stability needed to keep these spaces and programs alive. That could include funding support, visibility, and connections that strengthen the organization’s capacity as both a grassroots nonprofit and a set of social enterprises. More broadly, our team hopes the community will continue to recognize the value of places like the Peace and Healing Center, spaces where healing, creativity, economic participation, and cultural expression are all treated as essential to community well-being.

Photo Credit: Creating Justice LA