By Luis Chacon

In recent years, homelessness has emerged as a prominent issue in many areas, particularly in Los Angeles. It manifests in various forms with multifaceted causes, presenting a complex challenge that cannot be easily addressed by a few individuals alone.

Friday brought a ray of hope as Miss Jen Schnorr, a teacher at St John Bosco High School, organized a retreat for freshmen, generously donating 250 sack lunches and 250 blessing bags of hygiene products. These donations were delivered to the Salesian Family Youth Center, where the children assisted me in storing them in the refrigerator. Later that evening, anything remaining was taken to Skid Row alongside Mario Barrios, our dedicated Salesian volunteer.

On Saturday morning, the Head Staff for Camp Salesian joined forces to transport the remaining donations to Skid Row following their training session. As we concluded with a moment of reflection and prayer, I realized the profound impact these experiences can have on young people, particularly in sensitizing them to the plight of the less fortunate.

Sunday morning saw over 50 volunteers, predominantly teenagers and young adults, from various parishes and programs, including St Dominic Savio Parish, St Mary’s Parish Confirmation Program, St Isabel Parish Confirmation Program, Salesian High School Bishop Mora, Salesian Family Youth Center, St Joseph Salesian Retreat House, St Bridget Parish, and Roosevelt High School. Leveraging donations from St John Bosco High School and monthly contributions from Juan Guzman through the Restless Hearts Foundation, we set out to make a difference.

However, maintaining morale and enthusiasm to aid the less fortunate has been challenging, especially since a homeless individual has, for the third time, damaged the main pipeline at the Salesian Family Youth Center. This has incurred over $3,000 in repair costs and inconvenienced youth, young adults, and staff members, forcing them to seek alternatives in the neighborhood and nearby businesses.

In the past year alone, the SFYC has repeatedly spent nearly $15,000 repairing the same pipeline. Despite these setbacks, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing opportunities for youth to assist those in need on Skid Row. This is our challenge—a delicate balance between addressing infrastructure issues and continuing our mission to serve the most vulnerable members of our community.