From Parking Lots to Playing Fields
We're not just serving meals. We're rebuilding the community these families deserve.
- 6 events held
- 286 meals cooked and served
- 1,253 bags of fresh produce given out
- 13,300 pounds of produce handed out
Pounds of free fruit and vegetables handed out at each giveaway, and the running total, across 3 giveaways since Sep 12, 2026. Weights are approximate.
Plated meals cooked and served at each event, and the running total, across 3 cooking events since Apr 4, 2026. Produce is counted separately, because a bag of groceries and a plated meal are not the same measure.
The Reality
Maria lost her husband last year. She's raising five kids alone in a single room, a bed, a microwave, and a mini-fridge. That's it.
When the last place stopped accepting housing vouchers, every family there got relocated. Maria and her kids ended up across town, starting over at another motel. New neighborhood, new surroundings, but the same single room.
There's no kitchen. No stove, no oven, no counter space. When a food pantry gives her groceries, they sit in a bag, because she has no way to cook them.
Her kids go to school every day. She does everything right. But the system wasn't built for families like hers.
When we showed up that Christmas with lasagna, fruits, and drinks, the kids came running out. They knew what was happening. We lined everyone up, served every family, and then handed out presents. Afterward, the kids spilled into the parking lot and started a soccer game between the cars, no field, no goals, just kids being kids in the only open space they had.
Maria walked up to us. She didn't ask for food first. She asked us to say a prayer for her family. Her husband had passed away. She'd been on vouchers for three years. And her message was simple: "It's tough, but we'll figure it out."
She's not alone. Across the motel, every family had been relocated from the same place, the last one stopped accepting vouchers. They all moved together. The kids already knew each other. There was community here, held together by nothing but proximity and persistence.
*Name changed for privacy.
The Numbers
The Housing Crisis
- 3,725 families experiencing homelessness in LA County, up 5.8% while overall homelessness dropped 4% (LAHSA, 2025)
- Unsheltered families with children jumped 18% year over year (LAHSA, 2025)
- 76% of landlords refuse housing vouchers, even though it's been illegal in California since 2020 (Urban Institute / HUD)
- ~60% of families who receive a voucher can't find housing before it expires (Housing California)
- "Our homelessness response system was originally designed around single adults, not families. Services for families are often too few and the first to run out." , LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell
The Food Gap
- 1 in 4 LA County families are food insecure, double the national average (USC Dornsife, 2025)
- 57% of housing-insecure people are food insecure, 4x the general population (National Institutes of Health, 2024)
- Only 1 in 3 food pantry sessions offer prepared meals, the rest distribute raw ingredients that require a kitchen (NIH, 2023)
- Families in motels report that lack of kitchen appliances, storage, and cooking space are their primary barriers to feeding their children (Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare)
The Kids
- 48,000+ students identified as homeless in LA County schools, 85%+ are in motels or doubled-up housing, not shelters (EdSource / LAHSA)
- Food-insecure children have lower reading and math scores, miss more school, and are more likely to repeat a grade (NIH, 2021)
- Iron deficiency from fast-food diets correlates with below-average math performance (NIH, 2022)
- Preschoolers in unstable housing consume below USDA-recommended servings of dairy, fruits, vegetables, and grains (Journal of Pediatrics)
Why Soccer
Soccer isn't just part of our plan, it's part of our story. For every one of our founders, soccer was the thing that helped us face hardship, overcome limits, and build the friendships that became family. Soccer is the reason all four of us came together. It's what made us closer with our own families. The bonds it creates last a lifetime.
That's why, when we saw kids kicking a ball between parked cars in a motel parking lot, we knew meals were just the beginning.
Across LA, there aren't enough fields. Too many kids, not enough space. For families in unstable housing, access to a real field, a safe place to run, play, and belong, is almost nonexistent. We want to change that.
Where This Is Going
Every meal and every distribution builds toward something larger. Our three-phase plan, and why feeding people is the first step to building the spaces this city is missing, is set out on our mission page.