Work For Food

Realizing that it would take a greater commitment to address the needs of the homeless, Food on Foot was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1996 and began serving meals each Sunday in Hollywood. Through word of mouth, Food on Foot rapidly gained volunteers and financial support. As a result, we are proud not to have missed a weekly meal since our founding.

While the meal program was well received among our hungry clients, we also wondered if there was more we could do to increase food security in the area. In 1999, we began recruiting volunteers from among the homeless to engage in trash pickup in Hollywood. Each participant is given two large garbage bags to fill with trash collected in our target areas, and in return, receive $10 in food gift cards and a chicken dinner with healthy snacks.

Today our Work for Food program helps approximately 50 individuals earn meals and food gift cards each week. We also provide them the resources necessary to get the job done - supplies, bus tokens for transportation and phone cards for communication. Most of these individuals are without stable shelter, are actively battling substance abuse or other handicaps, and are not ready for regular employment. But our hope is to gain their trust over time so that we can assist them with their needs, slowly build their confidence so that they can contribute to the community, and prepare them for a transition back into society.

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