Good to Give: Supporting SELAH in Helping LA’s Homeless Communities During COVID-19

SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition is a neighborhood-level movement that aims to provide effective measures to prevent and support the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. SELAH was nominated by a GoodRx employee, Kelsey,* who is passionate about the work of local housing organizations. She told us she nominated SELAH because she valued the day-to-day resources and services that SELAH provides to those who are homeless. 

With the GoodRx headquarters in the LA area, we’re no strangers to the problems in our own backyard. As Kelsey says, “Homelessness was probably the biggest issue in LA before the COVID-19 crisis and probably will continue to be after this pandemic.” 

Founded in 2017 in Los Angeles, SELAH works directly with those experiencing homelessness, offering support and combating the stigma around homelessness, which often comes with an unfair need to blame individuals for their situations and assume that their experiences are self-inflicted. 

SELAH hosts Engagement Days twice a week, where volunteers hand out amenities to individuals living on the streets. Along with providing basic essentials like water and food, volunteers also put together and distribute hygiene kits and kits for people living in their cars.

To meet the different needs of those experiencing homelessness, SELAH also runs regular programs and events like Saturday Supper so the community can have a warm meal and a hot shower at least once a week, along with access to case management and essential supplies. Most importantly, it’s an opportunity for folks to see some friendly faces and have a good chat. These events primarily take place in the neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silver Lake, and those who want to get involved are encouraged to host their own hygiene kit drive for SELAH programs, donate much-needed items like socks and underwear, and volunteer.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, SELAH briefly suspended their services to comply with the LA Mayor’s Safer-At-Home emergency order. Realizing that much of the unhoused community’s resources has shuttered overnight, SELAH stepped up and started helping in even more impactful ways. Now, all of SELAH’s programs are back online, with modifications to keep both volunteers and participants safe during this time. 

According to SELAH’s fundraising chair, Hayes Davenport, LA’s homeless population is disproportionately older and has health vulnerabilities that make these individuals more susceptible to COVID-19. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within homeless communities, SELAH has been providing vital food boxes filled with shelf-stable, ready-to-eat food with the latest COVID-19 information, hand sanitizer, and masks. They are also offering stimulus check assistance, so those who qualify for government assistance can apply for it.

“We are working extremely hard to give as much access to people as possible, as the need is greater than ever,” Hayes tells us. 

GoodRx is grateful to be able to make a donation to SELAH that will go toward providing food and hygiene kits to our unhoused neighbors. To learn more about how you can help, visit SELAH’s website here.

* An alias has been used for privacy reasons.

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Good to Give is our employee-driven charity program, where we partner with nonprofit organizations and contribute to their efforts through donations. To select groups to support throughout the year, we’re asking our employees to nominate nonprofits and causes important to them before taking a company-wide vote on recipients each quarter. Read more about the program and other recipients here.