Midnight Mission

I might not need to tell you that it's been a hell of a year. But it's been a hell of a year.

Everybody has a story about how 2020 has challenged them. Some of the most tragic stories are the ones that aren't often told, by the people who certainly have a voice, but don't have the platform or resources to make it heard. And a lot of the time, nobody's really listening anyway...

I want to shine a spotlight on the Los Angeles homeless community. I'm partnering with Midnight Mission, a non-profit organization located in downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row.  

The doors at Midnight Mission have remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, as they have been since 1914. They provide meals, counseling, recovery services, and shelter to the homeless community, with empathy and respect.

According to Midnight Mission's website, homeless people infected by COVID-19 are twice as likely to be hospitalized, two to four times as likely to require critical care, and two to three times as likely to die than the rest of the general population.

This is the day to help some of the most vulnerable people in California, people who have no place to be "safer at home."

Any donation will help make an impact. Please share this with your family, friends, colleagues, and followers. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.
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My Personal Story:

My sister Maxine has been missing for three months. She left an addiction recovery center just a few days after a stranger found her passed out on the sidewalk, unconscious and in desperate need of help. She had been living on the street. Addiction is cruel. Nobody's heard from her since.  The days are shorter and the nights are colder. I close my windows at night and I pray that she's somewhere safe, warm. There's hardly ever a passing moment where I'm not thinking about her. The fear is pervasive and unchanging. It's like a high-pitched hum in the background that I've learned to live with. And if I can't help Maxine directly, then the least I can do is raise awareness, collect donations, and hope this makes an impact.

On April 11,  students in the The Buckley School's Theatre for Social Change Club, in association with the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement, will present a series of monologues as part of Homeward LA.  Last year, students raised $1,660 for The Midnight Mission through this project.  This year's goal is to collect an additional $2340 -- this way the club will have raised $4,000 total over the past two years for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

Homeward LA is a 10-day citywide event where multiple productions of monologues based on stories from people who have experienced homelessness will be performed by actors all around the city, with proceeds going to The Midnight Mission on Skid Row.

The Midnight Mission offers a path to self-sufficiency to men, women and children who have lost everything. Their emergency services, 12-step recovery programs, job training, education and work programs offer a compassionate bridge to productive lives. They remove obstacles, and provide the accountability and structure that the people who are experiencing homelessness need to rejoin their communities.