Hi, my name is Catherine Schetina, and I’m organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Eva Woods. I have known Eva for more than a decade. At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Eva immediately realized that services for the unhoused residents of Los Angeles would suffer as resources were cut and organizations shuttered.

She took matters into her own hands. We are now in our sixth year of the MacArthur Project – a mutual aid collective run entirely by volunteers. We provide more than 700 meals each week to the unhoused and housing insecure residents of MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, and over the past six years we’ve built incredibly powerful relationships within our communities. We’re there three days a week – Sunday lunch, Monday lunch, and Thursday breakfast. We also host monthly events and supply drives, distributing hygiene kits, grocery items, tents, shelter supplies, medical supplies, and so much more. We actively partner with the people we serve, and strive to bring them the items they tell us they need most.

Eva’s full time job is planning, executing, and responding rapidly to the needs of our unhoused neighbors. She’s been doing it incredibly well for six years now, and is supported by a generous community on Patreon that allows this to be her full time job. But today we’re asking for more help.

During our regular lunch service on Sunday 2/22, a woman came through the park with a metal pipe. Without conversation, she came up behind Eva and hit her in the jaw. Eva was taken to the hospital and had surgery the following day on her upper and lower jaw, both of which were broken. Her jaw is wired shut for the next four weeks, and then she’ll be able to get dental implants to replace the six teeth she lost.

This woman, and this incident, are not representative of the culture of MacArthur Park and the community we serve there. She is not someone we’ve met in the past, and others in the park weren’t familiar with her. This was absolutely a bizarre one off, and we would truly hate for the people who rely on us, and who we have built such incredible relationships with over the past six years, to suffer as a result of this single woman’s actions. Eva is healing well and will be back in the park as soon as possible. In the meantime, we need your help.

Eva was able to cover the hospital stay and surgery costs, but the projected cost of the dental implants is $30,000. Any amount you can contribute to help her cover those fees would be deeply appreciated. Eva is the most community-minded person I know. She has taught me, and everyone who volunteers with us, the true definition of serving others. She is an unstoppable force of nature, but right now, she needs our help.

We will continue to share updates and disclose exactly how the money is broken down in paying for the implants. The current projections are as follows –

Individual Implants: 6 x $4,250 = $25,500

Consultation: $200

Flipper: $1000

Scans/X-Rays: $1000

Lab Fees: $500

Anesthesia: $1500

Medications: $100

Grafting/Misc: $200

PROJECTED TOTAL: $30,000

Thank you so much for your time, and please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

With love,

Catherine + Eva