Letter From Our Founder

Dear Community,

When Homies Unidos Los Angeles office opened its doors 23 years ago, our mission was to reach out to youth affected by poverty and youth violence by developing programs that would provide alternatives to gangs, drugs, and other negative activity. We have now touched the lives of more than 7,500 youth and their families in Koreatown, Westlake, and Pico Union’s Central American immigrant community of Los Angeles.

We expect that 2023 will be a successful year for us. Since the unjust arrest, I went through in 2009, We have rebuilt our agency to serve twice as many people in our communities. Although violence in Los Angeles has gone up this year, gang-related violence has spread and is on the rise in many counties outside of Central Los Angeles. We have also encountered a large number of youth migrating into our community fleeing persecution in Central America.

We have had the need to work in houseless communities to address the issues of violence withing the encampments.

The need to get these youth involved in alternative programs becomes more critical if we are to maintain the current levels of violence. Homies Unidos has taken that challenge. To help people like Fredid, who came to Homies Unidos when he was 13 years old, A young rebellious teen who had been suspended from various schools. She did not want to be part of any program. He was referred to us by his mother after she saw a tv interview. After graduating from our Epiphany Project program and our Youth Leadership training he is now as she says: “I finally saw the bigger picture. I don’t trip on small things; I’m thinking about my future”. He is now working with Homies Unidos’ Youth Development Program counseling others who like him were lost and found themselves in our agency.

You have the power to help us change lives; join us in changing the future of these youth by creating a new generation of leaders. In these critical times, your support will greatly help the success of our youth, their families, and the community. Your ongoing economic or material support allows us to continue to provide our community members with the skills and tools to overcome the obstacles they face to become successful in life.

As a non-profit organization, we rely on the generosity and compassion of our donors, like yourself, without whom we would not have the capacity to serve our community. Please join us as a partner in making 2023 a better and more successful year for Homies Unidos.

Peace, Love, and Justice,

Alex Sanchez
Executive Director
Phone: 213-383-7484