Our Mission
My Friend's Place assists and inspires homeless youth to build self-sufficient lives.
Our History
In 1988, Steve LePore and Craig Scholz initiated a volunteer-led, mobile meal program to distribute
sack lunches to the homeless youth in the Hollywood community. Soon the volunteers built trust with
the young people and realized that youth are driven to the streets by abuse, abandonment
and neglect by families and caregivers. The needs and challenges of homeless youth go well beyond the
critical condition of hunger.
Two years later, the volunteer group first opened the doors of a facility they called My Friend's Place
and began to add social services and creative opportunities to their services. Today,
My Friend's Place is the most frequently visited drop-in Resource Center for homeless youth in
Southern California serving 1,000 youth ages 12 and over and their children, each year.
Our Programs
In collaboration with the leading social service providers and educational institutions in the
region and over 200 volunteers, we offer a free comprehensive continuum of care that combines
emergency necessities with therapeutic, health and education services through three program areas:
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