Save the Date: Nov 3 - Harvesting Care Gathering

You’re invited to our annual fundraiser Harvesting Care Gathering to celebrate our Northeast LA community! On Thursday, November 3rd, we’ll be honoring community members and local organizations whose collective labor and care has supported our neighbors throughout the year. It will be a family-friendly evening of live music, fun activities and local food. More details to be released soon! To purchase tickets, visit www.mas.la/fundraiser.

If you're interested in being a sponsor, check out our sponsorship package and contact ronnie@mas.la. 

Supporting a Local Food Justice Network

Inspired by the ongoing solidarity demonstrated by grassroot leaders volunteering their time and resources to serve their neighbors throughout Northeast LA, we’ve been exploring the potential of a local food justice network at our monthly solidarity space.

This past week, we gathered with community members and representatives of the following groups: Acción Comunitaria, Padres de Juntos Family Park, Unidos Por NELA, Lincoln Heights Food Distro, El Sereno Community Garden, Guerrilla Food Not Bombs, El Sereno Community Fridge, El Sereno Community Land Trust, and Mercadito. We learned about shared priorities including transportation, storage, language justice, and the desire to support the emotional well-being of the communities most impacted by economic insecurity – especially seniors, single parent families and undocumented residents.

Everyone wanted to share resources with one another and welcomed support in the form of volunteers, workshops, and donations. Learn more and get involved by checking out NELA Food Resources. Join our next meeting which will continue the discussion with a focus on ways to collaborate and how to amplify resources so these food initiatives can be sustainable and flourish.

Outreach with Resident Leaders and Local Vendors

We’ve been honored to be invited by inspiring grassroots organizations in Northeast LA to participate in their events. We enjoy meeting residents where they already gather – from Padres de Juntos Family Park’s cleanup in Glassell Park to Bike Oven’s Summer Pechanga fundraiser in Cypress Park to Unidos Por NELA's resource fair in Montecito Heights. We learned so much about the importance of the black walnut and the power of collaboration while tabling at the inaugural Takaape’ Waashut NELA Black Walnut Day at Ascot Hills Park in El Sereno. We look forward to being part of more events this fall.

As part of our engagement efforts in the community, we hire local residents and vendors. Check out the opportunities below:

Enjoy connecting with neighbors? Become an Organizing Lead! To expand our capacity to be in community, we invite residents to lead outreach with us at events we host or attend. We aspire to have a cohort of Organizing Leads representing each NELA community and speaking a range of languages. Support us by sharing resources with your neighbors during 3-5 hr events for $22/hr. Contact miguel@mas.la if interested. 

Want to share homemade food? Join our Local Vendors List! Whenever we gather with community members, we like to share offerings from our neighbors – many who make delicious food and drinks that reflect the cultural diversity of our community. Share your talents by providing food for gatherings of 20-30 people. Payment ranges from $10-$15/serving. Contact alexandra@mas.la if interested.

Exploring Cooperative Housing Models

At our July housing meeting, we learned about the basics of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and housing cooperatives with our friends at Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust. We also learned about local campaigns to advance policies such as the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) (which would give tenants the first right to buy their buildings if their landlord decides to sell) and Measure ULA (which would create funding for housing models like CLTs). While land trusts might be a new concept for some, our families and neighbors have long been practicing communal living and collective care. So we grounded our learning in our community’s expertise – reflecting on the ways we already share housing and resources (such as caregiving, food and transportation) in our communities.

We plan to continue the conversation about CLTs and similar models at our upcoming housing meetings. Our September 29 meeting will focus on debriefing what we learned and how the CLT model might respond to community priorities. On October 11, we'll be identifying practical neighborhood-scale next steps for forming a community housing initiative.

Connecting with Neighbors and Nature

We spent the final days of summer outdoors with our community – hiking at Ascot Hills Park and cooling off at Malibu Lagoon State Beach. We’re excited residents continue to attend these community-building events to deepen connections with each other and the land.

Learning about Community from Native Plants

In August, we partnered with organizers from North East Trees and Coyotl + Macehualli to lead a community hike at Ascot Hills Park in El Sereno. With 20 of our neighbors, we learned about Northeast LA’s native plants and community development history. We started our morning at the on-site nursery managed by North East Trees. We also grounded ourselves in Ascot Hills’ history as a place born out of community struggle: in the 1980s-90s, developers wanted to build an 8-story building in the middle of the park, but residents fought to keep it an open natural space. Today, it continues to be a living community project, as local organizers and families activate the park for gatherings like Black Walnut Day.

Throughout the hike, we reflected on lessons from native plants, recognizing that our city wasn’t developed with them in mind. As we educated ourselves on the importance of protecting native plants, we imagined how we also want to take care of our community – how to honor Indigenous communities and support residents facing displacement. We ended the day feeling grateful and inspired by the exchange of energy, ideas and even sacred plant offerings shared by our community.

Getting Grounded & Reenergized by the Water

Last weekend, we visited Malibu Lagoon State Beach with Nature for All and 25 of our neighbors. Visiting all the beautiful natural spaces Southern California has to offer isn’t always accessible due to distance, time, or unfamiliarity with the outdoors. Nature for All made it easy for our community by hosting a nature hike and beach trip – providing transportation, lunch and learnings. We first met at Cypress Park Recreation Center to enjoy breakfast made by local vendor Sweet 7 Cakes & Desserts. On a 0.5-mile nature trail, we learned to identify plants and their medicinal uses, brought out binoculars to watch birds coast along the water, and learned about living in a watershed. We enjoyed free play at the beach – swimming in the ocean, collecting seashells, and sharing food and laughs – followed by a meditative breathing exercise to ground us after a restorative day.

Many attendees were also leaders of local food distributions and grassroots groups; they shared the importance of events like this one to stay energized and connected to neighbors. We loved learning, playing and breaking bread outside of formal meetings and look forward to continuing to build with these leaders in our collective work.

Interested in hosting a community-building event? We’re always looking for co-hosts to plan fun events such as bike rides, hikes, workshops, art activities, and more! If you’re interested, contact miguel@mas.la.

Local Events (more on our NELA Calendar)

• Sep 24 | Elysian Valley Arts Collective is hosting their annual Frogtown Artwalk! Visit our Mercadito friends on Newell & Blake and check out LA River Public Art Project’s programming which highlights the first people of the river - the Tongva and Chumash.

• Sep 30 | Celebrate with California Street Vendors at Mariachi Plaza on their victory streamlining the retail food code through SB 972.

• Oct 13-14 | Join statewide Community Land Trust movement leaders at CACLTN’s annual conference.

• Oct 15 | Manos Que Sobreviven will be providing health screenings, wellness resources, and COVID vaccines at their Community Wellness Fair at Children’s Hospital LA.

• Oct 25 | Celebrate Día de Los Muertos with Mujeres de la Tierra at their community procession which will include food, music and community resources, RSVP here and stop by our table to say hi! 

• Saturdays in Oct | Enjoy the outdoors with NELA Black Walnut on their Takaape’ Waashut (Black Walnut) Trail hikes.