Project Dignity is a collaboration between AOC7, Peer Education Community Center, Beacon for Him, Care Closet, and Eaststake LDS to bring dignity to neighbors who are experiencing homelessness and meet them where they are.
Project Dignity began February 14, 2022 as a way to build a sense of community between housed and unhoused community members by sharing food, resources, and community conversations. Since our first “Mondays Matter”, where we served cookies and hot chocolate to a small handful of unhoused neighbors at McArthur Park in Central Long Beach, California, we collaborated on resources and supplies.
Over the past months, our efforts have become a reliant source of mutual aid, connections to city-led resources, system navigation, and neighbor-to-neighbor connections with community volunteers who also simply listen.
Project Dignity efforts created collaborations between neighborhood associations, community organizations, religious groups, and the government to bring dignity to neighbors who are experiencing homelessness. While we are aware that these efforts are "band-aids" where a tourniquet is needed, it is better to make connections and bring dignity and hope while real solutions are being developed to break systematic cycles.
Over the past months, our efforts have become a reliant source of mutual aid, connections to city-led resources, system navigation, and neighbor-to-neighbor connections with community volunteers who also simply listen.
The event has grown: we are now serving an average of 120 community members at our supplies and resource table, upwards from the 30-40 people who started with us. By adding WeHOPE showers/laundry truck that averages 18 showers and 11 loads of laundry per week, Monday Matters brings basic needs to ensure some dignity and support.
Because of the efforts of Project Dignity of self-funding showers for 2 weeks, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hahn funded the weekly showers for the next 10 weeks over the summer. They will be funding another 14 weeks of showers. We will be stretching the next 14 weeks out with twice monthly shower/laundry services on first and third Mondays from October 2022 to April 2023.
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All donations are tax deductible, PECC is a 501(c)3 EIN: 85-1481975
While the local and state government tries to figure out infrastructure to break the cycle of the way people become unhoused, more community services will be added to the outreach, including haircuts, manicures, support group circles, medical outreach and mental health outreach. City resources also join the outreach and help people navigate the systems.