Today we’d like to introduce you to Esme Edwards and Hassan Galedary.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Esme and Hassan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Feed the Streets started about seven years ago, a group went downtown with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and started handing them out to those in need. This grew into gatherings where people would come and make sandwiches, put together hygiene kits, and assemble bags of food to hand out. We work off of donations, the money that we get donated to us goes straight to purchasing items that we then distribute all over Los Angeles. A huge part of what we have done and continue to do is adapting to the needs of communities. Initially, the distributions of supplies happened once a year, then it got moving even more and now it’s once a month with two simultaneous drives happening on the East and West Side of Los Angeles. We also took to the streets to support protestors in May and June, offering first aid, water and snacks.
It’s been amazing to have our Instagram expand as a resource and contact. A lot of our team has come together because of social media, seeing posts about events and wanting to help out and stay involved. I (Esme) actually got involved with Feed the Streets because someone I knew reposted a list of items that were needed for a drive. I just jumped on and Hassan who is the head of this operation immediately threw me into it. Our network of people is amazing and from all walks of life. We have people who are part of this organization and have been since the beginning. We have people who have experienced homelessness, been through the system, are in recovery and working the program. They are part of these communities and they have this experience. That’s huge, thats people giving back to communities they have been part of, and thats people who know what the need is and know what it’s like.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t think a lot of community organizations have smooth roads ahead or behind them but I think that is a big part of people’s drive to stay involved. It’s hard work, it’s rewarding and life-saving but it’s hard. As a grassroots community organization, we work through word of mouth, social media reposts and Venmo donations. So many people want to help out which is amazing, but with that comes the responsibility of staying organized and delegating tasks to people. But we want the help and we want people to be involved so we make it work and we make it effective. We are currently in the process of becoming established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and finding our routine with our monthly supply drives, the logistics of those things are hard! But we believe in the work that we are doing. We also see how much is needed out in the streets and it can be overwhelming to feel as though there is so much to be done, maybe too much.
But again, thats the motivation, thats the fire that we have. There is so much to be done and there is so much we can do. We aren’t leaving it up to someone else to do the work, we are doing it. And we are adapting too. I mean look at COVID-19, look at the protests in May. We have had to adapt to stay true to our mission, which is about giving to our communities. In June, we started doing grocery runs for people who couldn’t afford to get groceries or couldn’t leave their homes for health reasons. People would send in a list of things they needed and we would go to the store for them and drop it off at their house with no cost for those asking. We are responding to need and right now with COVID, that means giving out cans of food AND putting two masks in the bags and a bottle of hand sanitizer. That means handing out waters and electrolytes at protests, carrying bandages and first aid kits. We are about helping others, empowering our communities and people, we are adapting to what our community needs and acting accordingly.
Please tell us about Feed the Streets.
We are a community-based group that uses our resources and donations to collect and distribute food, hygiene kits, clothing and supplies to the Los Angeles community. Our monthly routine goes pretty much like this: we start by reviewing what we got in our last drives, what was in high demand, what wasn’t etc. and evaluate what we need for the next drive. Next, we start posting on our Instagram about things that we need, we make a flyer a send it around and we try and get as many people involved. We’ve had people offer up their garages, front yards and houses to be drop off locations and we usually have one on the Westside and one on the Eastside.
At the end of every month is when our drive takes place, it’s over two days and we have a group of volunteers at each location. When I hosted the August drive, I was truly amazed by how many donations we have. My entire front yard was covered in supplies that people came and helped organize for the next two days. It was amazing, over the course of those two days people come by and pick up boxes and bags of things and start handing them out. We’ve come up with a pretty comprehensive list of places to go to where there is a high concentration of houseless people and then we just hand things out! I think we all take a lot of pride in the work that we are doing.
Personally, I’m really proud of our momentum. We are also launching programs to sponsor kids through the arts and athletics. We are funding a year of Jiu Jitsu training for someone. The programs are amazing because its a way to give to communities. So we have musicians and artists that want to teach classes to kids and we are going to execute that. It’s hard work what we do but we have kept up the energy, in fact, I think we have actually gained even more push which has been amazing. The need here is so immense that we aren’t trying to be the best or do the most, it’s not a competition, we are doing what we can and doing it as effectively and consciously as possible. When we go down to Skid Row to hand out kits and supplies, we aren’t the only ones. And thats good! We want to see as many people as possible doing this work and supporting their communities.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I mean where we see ourselves going, where we want to be, is dependent on the state of our city. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to be giving people meals that they ration for days or handing out sanitary products to women who otherwise wouldn’t have them, but thats the reality of the crisis that people are experiencing right now when it comes to not having a home. I think we are at a big moment for us as an organization. We are gaining momentum, we are moving towards becoming a non-profit, we are growing our community programs. It’s really big! We want to create community programs, we want to help fund after school activities, we want to partner with other organizations. It’s all there and it’s all possible, and it’s happening.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @feedthestreetsla
Image Credit:
Hassan Galedary and Feed the Streets Los Angeles
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