Central City Community Outreach Shoes That Fit Event November 23, 2010

CENTRAL CITY COMMUNITY OUTREACH
12th Annual Thanksgiving SHOES THAT FIT Event
In Addition to Thanksgiving Dinner for Homeless Families,
Each Child Receives A Brand New Pair of Shoes

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 3:00 p.m.

CCCO Accepting Donations of New Shoes/Sneakers of all sizes for Homeless Youth
Los Angeles – November 1, 2010 – Central City Community Outreach (CCCO), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to serve those living on the streets, in cars, in rehabilitation programs, or in low-income housing in downtown Los Angeles, holds their biggest event of the year on Tuesday, November 23, at the corner of 6th and San Pedro, when invited families on Skid Row are invited to a Thanksgiving dinner and each child (18 years old and under) receives a new fitted pair of shoes that they pick out from CCCO’s makeshift shoe store. In addition each family goes home with a box filled with all the items they will need to prepare their own Thanksgiving meal. The meal they go home with depends on the type of cooking facilities that they have access to.
The CCCO staff and volunteers will have spent weeks canvassing the community signing up local families to participate in this special event. Each family is assigned two volunteers who are with them the entire time during the festivities for that special interaction, so that each family builds relationships and become more empowered and the knowledge that they’re not just getting a hand-out, but a sense of caring that they may not get anywhere else.
“The giving away of the most basic necessity of shoes, combined with a mentoring relationship, is the combination that can give a child new hope in the midst of trauma and difficulty,” “Shoes plus relationship equals the opportunity for a changed life of a child” expressed Scott Chamberlain, Executive Director, San Gabriel Valley Housing and Homeless Coordinating Council.

CCCO’s mission is to Develop Relationships, Educate And Mentor (D.R.E.A.M.) with families living in emergency shelters and welfare hotels within the Skid Row community. The greater Los Angeles homeless count states that on any given day there are 68,608 homeless in our city, 10,000 of whom are children. CCCO serves more than 650 of those children and families throughout the year. CCCO offers a holistic array of programs addressing the physical, educational, emotional, spiritual, and social needs of children and their families surrounded by violence substance abuse, and poverty. Assisting and supporting families transitioning from homelessness to wholeness, together CCCO breaks the cycle of poverty through educational development and family empowerment. The staff and volunteers offer daily after-school support, tutoring and mentorship to over 75 children and have come to know nearly every family living in this district.

CCCO’s dedicated staff and volunteers regularly visit the shelters and welfare hotels, meet with families and mingle with the larger community. Behind their green doors, children study after school, celebrate their birthdays, share meals and form lifelong friendships. With the support of longstanding partners and other groups serving Skid Row’s residents, CCCO is meeting the needs of the community.

CCCO was established in 1991 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to serve those living on the streets, in rehabilitation programs, or in low-income housing in downtown Los Angeles. The work began as an outreach to homeless adults and later evolved into an after-school program for homeless and at-risk children. Initially staffed by volunteers, CCCO has grown to a paid staff of eight and many volunteers who serve nearly 80 children through its daily after-school program. Special outreach events and summer programs serve another 650 children and youth, as well as 500 parents.

To donate new shoes and sneakers – all sizes - please contact Alison@lacentralcity.org or call 213-689-1766; and for more information, please visit www.lacentralcity.org.