10/10/2023
To The Center’s Community of Support:
It’s with a mix of sadness, clarity, and hope I write to inform you of my departure from The Center. My final day serving as executive director will be November 30th, and I will remain with the Center until the end of 2023. Like in so many moments of life, this decision came a bit faster than I’d originally imagined but also with a defining sense of hope that The Center and its solid foundation will continue to flourish. Alex Sato, who has been alongside me for the past 9 years will serve as interim executive director as of December 1st.
The vision of The Center is a reality where shared values of safety, community, and belonging are genuine, not only to a service approach but in a much more universal sense for all. When I started at The Center more than a decade ago, what I found wasn’t what I’ve come to realize as an innovative service model that it is, but of a place that simply existed so that people could have a safe space to go in the morning; where they/we would find community, cups of coffee, and (as time went on) connections to life-altering services like housing, and medical treatment.
And yet The Center is innovative and yet so intuitive; a place that provides respite and intentionally sustained safety for some of the most vulnerable people in this city. It has baffled me for much of my time in Hollywood that more places like The Center do not exist. I hope that’s not a forever reality, and my work beyond the time I’ve had at The Center will largely focus on spreading the transformative vision of the essential need for a sense of belonging and interpersonal connection.
We’ve had many successes during my time. When I moved into my current role, the first major project was navigating a multi-million-dollar renovation of The Center’s old Blessed Sacrament convent. With board support – and especially from the late Stormy Haupt – we navigated the dual challenges of facilitating a major renovation and traversing city bureaucracy. With the building renovation completed we moved ‘back’ into 6636 Selma Avenue and from then have pushed The Center to become an organization even more focused on low-barrier access to services, community, and hope.
Having not only survived the Covid-19 pandemic but also grown through it, The Center is now a regional leader with several programs tailored and focused on reaching the people who visit us each day. The Center is also a place for those who are now in housing but continue to come each day because this is where they truly find a sense of home. We serve coffee here to anyone who comes, but we also offer hope and kinship.
I am leaving at a time of great uncertainty, especially in the city and county of Los Angeles. More people than ever lack housing security, while a robust infrastructure designed to care for the most neglected people in the city does not exist. I’ve always stated of The Center’s importance that while we fight for more accessible housing and person-centered services, at least people have a place they can go; are known, cared for, and valued in Hollywood – at The Center.
I have immense confidence in Alex and the leadership team we’ve worked to empower, and All of You who I hope will continue to support The Center with your time and treasure. Please keep me and my family in your thoughts as we move closer to my extended family in the Midwest. Trust that you will all remain in mine, as we all dream of a reality where knowing and being known are held as common values just as they are each day at The Center.
