You can create hope and opportunities for young people impacted by homelessness.
Through creative arts, enrichment, life skills programming, as well as education and employment services, we provide workshops, field trips, and other special events along with more intensive programming aimed at equipping young people with the tools and support they need to exit homelessness on their own terms.
If you’re a young person impacted by homelessness, learn more about the free resources, care, and community My Friend's Place offers.
Through creative expression, education, and job readiness support, young people can explore who they are, build skills, and connect with the resources they need to move toward their goals.
Led by our team of counselors, instructors, and committed volunteers, we offer workshops in theatre arts, creative writing, visual arts, jewelry-making, sewing, digital media, music, and many other mediums.
Creative arts provide therapeutic outlets for expression and healing. They give young people space to process experiences, explore identity, and build confidence in a safe, supportive environment. Both individual and group activities foster wellness, reduce isolation, and offer much-needed relief from the chronic stress of homelessness, while also creating opportunities to develop skills and discover new passions.
We help young people prepare for and enter the workforce through skill development and job readiness support.
Our weekly low-barrier drop-in Employment Lab, along with ongoing one-on-one support, helps young people set goals, receive follow-up, and build the skills they need to advance toward employment success and job retention.
Our team supports young people in moving toward their goals by providing:
We help young people advance their education by providing support with transcripts, re-enrollment, and support with applying for school, scholarships to cover fees, books, and other needs.
Field trips provide young people with opportunities to momentarily set aside the urgent demands of survival and immerse themselves in the richness of LA. By engaging with culture and the arts, young people are invited to see themselves as active participants in experiencing and contributing to these aspects — and worthy of exploring and claiming space within it.
Career exploration field trips deepen this impact. In collaboration with local corporate partners, we design experiences that introduce young people to professional environments and career pathways they might never have considered or previously thought possible. These experiences build confidence, expand minds, and plant seeds of possibility — helping young people imagine career paths that align with their passions, skills, and dreams.
Ultimately, field trips are more than just outings — they are moments of transformation. They inspire creativity, spark curiosity, broaden perspectives, and help young people impacted by homelessness see themselves as deserving of opportunity, belonging, and a future filled with hope.
The Corner Collective offers young people impacted by homelessness an opportunity to build skills, express themselves through art, and earn income. Every dollar earned from art sales in The Corner Collective goes straight back to the young artist.
Contact us to host a Corner Collective Popup Shop or other ways you can get involved.
These 2025 stats reflect more than the services we provide — they reflect real moments of growth, connection, and hope.
Discover our latest thinking, research, and data on addressing and ending youth homelessness.
This election season, My Friend’s Place supported young people in becoming active participants in our democracy. Through our voter education efforts, more than 30 young people registered to vote in California—including 17 first-time voters. Their enthusiasm and commitment to shaping their futures inspires us and underscores the importance of making civic engagement accessible for all.
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In this inspiring video, Chef Shane Tavarez opens up about his incredible journey from My Friend’s Place to a meaningful journey in the culinary world. Watch as he shares how food became a way to honor his family, his community, and the memory of his late wife, Stephanie. Joined by Everytable’s Chef Tim Reardon, Shane prepares a holiday meal that’s rich in tradition, resilience, and purpose.
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Summertime at My Friend’s Place means field trips with the young people we serve! From the DTLA to Santa Monica, our young people and Transformative Education staff have been traveling all over Los Angeles, experiencing new things, trying new food and, most of all, just having a blast.
Read MoreYoung people come to MFP through the seasons. During the wintertime, young people come in and they’re sad. It's cold and lonely and they are coming to an unfamiliar place to access resources. Then they find out that we offer so much more than just resources– MFP hosts holiday parties and special meals. The young people come in and they start to feel welcome and start building relationships with others here. They learn about all the different programs like employment, education, and art programs. The young people begin to flourish. Watching them move from uncertainty and loneliness and seeking community, to becoming part of the community and then finding out they can better their life at MFP and it’s not pushed on them. That’s how I see the young people grow and transform here."
