Peace and Healing in Skid Row

Community safety

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

Our understanding of community safety and income inequality as it pertains to the culture of Skid Row is rooted in lived experience. CJLA Directors Pastor Cue and Kayo Anderson have both experienced houselessness, including on Skid Row. They've recognized the need for economic systems that were not based on capitalism, because they see what capitalism is doing to people in Skid Row – people outside the economic, experiential, cultural bubbles of traditional advancement. Community safety and income inequality go hand in hand, and as artists whose work is rooted in socioeconomic justice, they are flipping the narrative on houselessness from the worst time of someone’s life to one of growth and transformation. They’re developing alternatives to existing responses to community safety and income inequality, and this purpose is manifested through various initiatives over 18 years serving Skid Row, most recently the Peace and Healing Center.

The Peace and Healing Center provides economic, social, and environmental healing in an inclusive, accessible and equitable space. It has partnerships with groups like The Row Church, Eayikes, Skid Row People’s Market, Skid Row Coffee, and Polo’s Pantry, to be a resource for Skid Row residents, sheltered and unsheltered, in accessing free programming, nutritious food & drink, and all the benefits of a “third space”. Ray Oldenburg in “The Great Good Places” argues, “For healthy existence, citizens must live in a balance of three realms: home life, the workplace, and inclusively social places.” Between rising rents, increasing homelessness, gentrification, structural violence and public health crises, we believe inclusively social spaces are a vital component for addressing community safety and income inequality. In its first year, the center has addressed community safety and income inequality by bringing resources directly to the people. Clean clothing, hygiene supplies, PPE, Narcan, groceries and meals, games, and a weekly book club and open mic contribute to the center being recognized as a safe place to heal and grow. Awarded grants have developed jobs and paid gigs for local artists and vendors. Visitors reside in shelters, SROs, and tents, so the center is an oasis - complete with air conditioning and a meditation room. This grant will support deeper development of the center’s offerings and accessibility to the public.

Accessing resources like a restroom, clean water, and free wifi is already possible for many Angelenos who can afford market-rate goods at a local coffee shop. When we think of a safer LA County, one with a diminishing wealth gap, we believe our work in Skid Row is a replicable model. As the county works to build up more affordable housing and address the homelessness crisis, dynamic services and solutions like ours to uplift marginalized people will be critical for developing and sustaining our region’s incredible potential. If our work is successful, it will be successful because it’s “equitable, thriving, engaged, and empowering”. We imagine a more dignified, human-centered LA County. In one year of operating the Peace and Healing Center, it’s clear to us third spaces that generate social, environmental, and economic healing are vital for public health. People need places to go where they can feel seen, heard, and have peace of mind.

We measure impact through quantitative and qualitative metrics. Quantitative measures include community member attendance, identity markers, and surveys. Qualitative measures include testimonials and informal interviews. Evidence shows increases in the amount of people we’re serving, recurring attendance, and diversity.