Downtown Women's Center Fundraiser

Anyone who’s lived in Los Angeles and walked around downtown has had the experience of suddenly coming upon a tent city that looks like a refugee camp in a third world country.

But Skid Row isn’t somewhere else. It exists right here in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, in one of the wealthiest cities, in one of the wealthiest states in the country. More than 28,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles and increasingly many of them are women and children.

A lot of factors drive a woman to the streets, whether domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, job loss and unemployment, extreme poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, trauma, physical disability and the lack of a solid social support network. Despite many misconceptions about homelessness, women come from all backgrounds and a growing number are female Veterans experiencing trauma. 

This year a group of friends and colleagues wanted to come together and harness the influence and energy of our informal UCLA alumni network of Women to raise money and collect holiday donations for the Downtown Women's Center –– the only organization in Los Angeles exclusively dedicated to addressing the needs of women overcoming poverty and homelessness in Skid Row. 

The Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) provides permanent supportive housing and a safe and healthy community fostering dignity, respect, and personal stability, and advocates ending homelessness for women. To learn more about DWC, visit www.DowntownWomensCenter.org.

This holiday season we’d like to raise money for women who are often made to feel marginalized and invisible. 

So we are reaching out to YOU –– our network of friends, relatives, colleagues, co-workers, teachers, students and businesses. Together we can make a huge impact  and raise $5,000 by December 25th.

Your donations will fund the life-saving services Downtown Women’s Center provides: nutritious lunches, clean clothing, showers, basic medical care, mammogram and HIV screenings, and physical and mental health assessments. Also, 119 units of permanent supportive housing and DWC's Learning Center, which provides classes in computer skills, literacy and math, academic and vocational counseling sessions, job readiness preparation, and employment placement services. Partnerships with local businesses that train and employ women overcoming homelessness and DWC's Veteran's Program.

We would be eternally grateful for donations great and small to support DWC. And your donations are tax deductible.

Thank you so much from the fundraising team –– Davita Scarlett, Michelle Amor, Janis Robertson, Jean Lau, Roxanne Beck, Josephine Green, Kiley Donovan, Lea Lehua Toulon Black, Tessa Fixter-Coniglio, Angeline Olchewski, Felischa Marye, Chandra Luczak Rulf, and Natalija Vekic.