A few years ago I was humbled by this quote: “You don’t have to be the voice of the voiceless, just pass the mic”. So many times we center ourself and forget to make space for people to be their own advocate and change agent. Many times they just need the platform.

This is one of things I keep in the front of my mind when I go into the community with the intention to serve. After I introduce myself as a neighbor in the community acknowledging and honoring their presence, I ask these simple words: “what do you need?”.

We tend to assume that those in differing positions than us don’t know exactly what they need to change their life. And a lot of time what we THINK they need is completely different what they actually need in the immediate future.

One of the first things that I learned is how valuable ice and butane fuel are to those who take up residence outside and in tents. A lot of people and organizations with good intentions go to these communities and drop off food

But the food is only as good as their ability to store, carry and transport it. So if you take up residence in a tent, ice is your primary refrigeration. Well, ice is pretty pricey if you’re down to your last & is very hard to carry without a car- especially in the LA sun

And butane fuel, which my “raised in the city never gone camping” self had never heard of before, was the next item requested over and over again after ice. Why? Because butane fuel powers portable camp stoves which are what people in tent communities use to cook their food.

June 1st dropping of items for the 1st time. Mind you, at this time in LA it was still nearly impossible for ANYONE to acquire cleaning products and emergency items because of the pandemic. So imagine if you’re houseless, housing insecure, unemployed or without transportation