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.]

Street Company received funding through the LA2050 Grants Challenge from the Goldhirsh Foundation to support its workforce development and transitional employment programming for people experiencing homelessness. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation with their team.

Interview Participant:Yongsuk Lee (Jesse), Co-Founder & Executive Director

LA2050: How are you navigating the challenges or barriers to help participants retain employment after the program, and what role do partnerships play to help place graduates into jobs?

Street Company: Supporting participants after job placement starts with staying connected and understanding what barriers they are facing in real time. We maintain regular contact with graduates through monthly check-ins, as well as weekly Friday community meetings where current participants and alumni come together to share updates, successes, and challenges. Those conversations help us identify a wide range of barriers, from workplace relationship issues to family or personal challenges that may affect a graduate’s ability to stay employed. Rather than stepping in immediately, Street Company works to preserve participant autonomy by offering guidance and support while encouraging graduates to navigate challenges themselves whenever possible. Our team also meets weekly to review participants and graduates by name, share updates, and brainstorm how best to respond when challenges arise.

Partnerships play a critical role in that process. We work closely with health providers, including local community health partners and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, to connect participants and graduates to services that can help them address health-related barriers to employment retention. We have also been proactive about developing employer partnerships with companies in food service, retail, and other sectors, creating more direct pathways into jobs. While retention remains difficult, these partnerships give Street Company more tools to respond quickly and support graduates as they work toward long-term stability.

LA2050: How has your peer-led, trauma-informed, and strength-based case management model improved participant workforce outcomes?

Street Company: This model is deeply tied to our identity. As an organization founded by people with lived experience of homelessness, its peer-led, trauma-informed, and strength-based approach is rooted in building genuine relationships. That relationship-centered foundation shapes everything from how participants are supported during the program to how we continue to show up for them after job placement. Because many participants have experienced trauma, instability, and a lack of reliable support systems, consistent care and trust can be just as important as technical job readiness skills.

We see those relationships as a major reason participants continue moving forward even when new challenges emerge. Through sessions like “Honest Talk,” participants regularly reflect on what has helped them most, and we consistently hear that genuine care, accountability, and ongoing emotional support are among the strongest motivators in their journey. For participants who may already have access to shelter or basic necessities, the encouragement and expectations offered through Street Company can become the reason they keep pursuing employment and long-term goals. In that way, our case management model does more than help people get jobs, it helps create the relational support system many participants need to sustain progress.

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

Street Company: We are focused on strengthening the quality, presentation, and long-term sustainability of its work. That includes improving the quality of our social enterprise products, refining program delivery, and strengthening how we present Street Company through our website, social media, uniforms, and broader public-facing materials. Our team is also thinking intentionally about the next phases of growth, including marketing strategy and back-end systems that can support long-term stability.

The broader LA2050 community can support this work in a few key ways. One is through professional support around marketing and the strategic use of tools like AI to help us expand our reach and compensate for capacity gaps while staying committed to hiring people experiencing homelessness. Another is through introductions to aligned partners and media opportunities. Our recent connection via your team to Upworthy led to a major wave of visibility and a significant increase in orders, creating real momentum for the business. More partnerships like that, along with continued connections to the right supporters and collaborators, could make a meaningful difference in the next phase of Street Company’s growth.

Photo Credit: Street Company