During these unprecedented times, The People Concern has risen to the challenge to adapt our services and work protocols to maintain the safety and mental wellbeing of our staff and program participants. Under the same concept, we took an innovative path and hosted our first virtual fundraising event. In partnership with Cassia restaurant and LA Chefs for Human Rights, we created The Dear Neighbor Virtual Celebration, an evening to uplift and empower our community to join us in creating a future in which everyone throughout Los Angeles County is housed, healthy, and safe.
The Dear Neighbor Event was a success! Together, we raised over $220,000! We are so thankful to the special guests who made an appearance and spoke on the importance of helping our unhoused neighbors. Special Guests include: Kathryn Hahn, Kelli Berglund, Harry Shum Jr, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Chef Martin Yan, Chef Ori Menashe and Chef Genevieve Gergis, Chef Nyesha Arrington, Greg Germann, Chef Niki Nakayama and Chef Carole Nakayama, Rick Gonzalez, Roy Choi, and Martin Sheen. We would like to give a very special shout out to Cassia co-owners Chef Bryant Ng and Kim Luu-Ng, who provided an outstanding four-course meal and who were with us every step of the way. A big thank you to the Rustic Canyon Family Restaurants co-owners Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan for their continued and unwavering support. On that very same note, we are sure the evening wouldn’t have been as fun without our incredible beverage sponsors – Hirsch Vineyards, Mayacamas, H. Mercer, Major Wines, The Pinot Project, Holus Bolus, Hoxie, Chanin Wine Company, Kikori Whisky, Sutro Wine Company, The Source, Nomadica, and Seedlip. This event was truly a community effort and we couldn’t have done this without the support of everyone involved!
The theme Dear Neighbor is about sharing messages of hope, love and unity with our housed and unhoused neighbors. It is about coming together as a community and creating a future in which everyone throughout Los Angeles County is housed, healthy, and safe. As our host John Maceri, CEO of The People Concern, said, “We’re here because 66,000 of our neighbors are sleeping on the streets tonight. We know that in our latest homeless count the news is not good. We’ve seen an increase in both the city and county of Los Angeles. And sadly we’ve seen Black Angelenos, who represent 8% of the population in LA County but represent 34% of people experiencing homelessness. We have a lot of work to do but tonight is a night about hope and inspiration. It is not all bad news. What we all see is that homelessness is a solvable problem. I know that these are big issues. Many people see homelessness as an intractable insolvable problem. We are here tonight to say that is not true. We know what to do and we know how to do it. We need the resources in order to be able to end visible street homelessness in Los Angeles.”
Take a look at the inspiring Dear Neighbor video, which features some of The People Concern’s most inspirational program participants.
The People Concern is incredibly grateful to all of our special guests, generous donors, sponsors and partners. Together, we raised over $220,000! Thank you for standing with us and making this event the success that it was!