Livingism: Cultivating, Protecting, Preserving Life

We want to connect two underserved and most disempowered groups in our society, youth and seniors. The seed for our idea stems directly from the lived experience of our founder, who was raised by her grandmother and is the single mother of three young children. Our society currently has an entire generation of disaffected, marginalized, and alienated youth who deeply sense their lack of ownership of their own lives, the suffering of their community, and the decay of our society.

We seek to employ a functional approach to education, where students learn basic academic skills and STEM by applying them in real work situations in the context of community support, paid internships, trade apprenticeships, and career training. All our partners/vendors maintain already established and scalable programs. Their primary challenge is to link up with pools of students willing to enter their programs. These programs typically have some of their own funding, wish to scale up, and are hungry for more organizations to link them to population groups with which to partner. 

By reducing crime, improving educational outcomes, providing income, supporting those struggling, and giving opportunities to the less advantaged, we can create the kind of communities that can be replicated to bring safety, stability, and sustainability for future generations.

Our goal is to end the transmission of generational trauma, crime, and underprivileged by giving those most oppressed a means by which they can be empowered to make a difference in the issues that most impact their own communities.

We aim to empower youth who are incarcerated, at-risk of re-offending, failed out, exhibit behavioral or mental health challenges, and have otherwise fallen through the cracks of established, traditional K-12 education.

The seed for our idea stems directly from the lived experience of our founder, who was raised by her grandmother and is a single mother of three young children.

We tested Livingism: Cultivating, Protecting, Preserving Life is a small city. Most communication takes place through an online web form. We are working on a solution for SMS technology.

We aim to empower youth who are incarcerated, at-risk of re-offending, failed out, exhibit behavioral or mental health challenges, and have otherwise fallen through the cracks of established, traditional K-12 education. We seek to employ a functional approach to education, where students learn basic academic skills and STEM by applying them in real work situations in the context of community support, paid internships, trade apprenticeships, and career training.

All our partners/vendors maintain already established and scalable programs. Their primary challenge is to link up with pools of students willing to enter their programs.

Seniors and youth are the most underserved groups. Both experience generational trauma (beginning and ending). 

This is just a partial list of partner organizations to begin with but will expand dramatically as our programs get up and running. DJJ (Department of Juvenile Justice)

LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) plus various charter schools and homeschooling organizations

Councilmembers Curren Price Jr. and Marqueece Harris-Dawson from South Los Angeles (the two poorest and most crime impacted districts in Los Angeles)

South Central Neighborhood Council (the city of Los Angeles has non-binding local neighborhood councils that represent the voice of the local neighborhoods of the city)

ARC (Anti Recidivism Coalition): social, psychological, and career counseling for formerly incarcerated individuals.

TimeDone (ex-offender rights lobbying movement). organization working to re-establish rights for those with criminal records.

UCLA Labor Center (coordinates all research and assessment of union activity in the Los Angeles County area)

Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (umbrella organization of over 300 labor unions in LA County for over a century)

Project Great Futures: helps create alternatives for youth instead of military recruitment.

LA County Sheriff's Youth Foundation: (leadership and jobs training)

World Central Kitchen (the Los Angeles chapter of Chefs for America that have prepared over 300 million meals nationwide)

Our goal is to end the transmission of generational trauma, crime, and underprivileged by giving those most oppressed a means by which they can be empowered to make a difference in the issues that most impact their own communities.

We measure our progress by tracking the number of youth and seniors we serve throughout the year. This data is collected and compiled into an excel spreadsheet. 

Currently, we use online email communication and phone calls. We would like to use SMS technology to reach people more efficiently.

3 part-time staff

2 years

Our leadership team is very diverse. The founder and CEO is a Black woman and first-generation college graduate. Our Program Director is a first-generation Asian male who has a disability. Our Marketing and Events Director is a mixed woman (Black and Native American) with a disability. All member our our leadership team reflect the communities we serve. 

Our clients are those in need of supportive services provided for free, and our workers receiving stipends, job training, and classroom credits. Our technology will allow us to identify the needs and arrange for fulfillment. So one of our primary beneficiaries are seniors, single mothers, and indigent needing support services.

We will sustain our efforts through community donations and grants. We start with grant money, then get county contracts to provide services. eventually have a subscription fee that is based on ability to pay. Funds will also be raised at our annual events.