The RCA-funded charity Harvest Home helps transform the lives of homeless pregnant women and their children by providing housing, support, and programs that equip women to become great mothers.
Front left: Janice Berger-Landau, Wendy Guzin, Lorraine Spector. Front right: Staff from Harvest Home, Lizzie Blatt, Paulinda Schimmel
On Saturday, March 30, a group from the Ebell Social Services Committee spent three hours in Harvest Home’s beautiful facility on Pico and Robertson Blvd, helping with their monthly “donation day” by sorting and packing donations of baby and maternity clothing, toys, formula and bedding for their clients. Just three hours of our time meant that the Harvest staff didn’t have to come in to work on their day off to do the sorting, and the young, deserving mothers and their children had badly needed clean, new clothing and baby accessories to choose from.
If you would like to join the Social Services committee on one of their hands-on events at RCA-funded charities like Harvest Home, please contact Lizzie Blatt or Janice Berger Landau.
Many women in the sex industry and survivors of sex trafficking feel stuck and alone. Even when they want support, they are hesitant to ask for it. Will they be judged? Will anyone understand what they have been through? Will they be pressured to change before they are ready?
Treasures, founded by a former sex worker, empowers sex workers, many of whom have been trafficked, to find healing and freedom by providing outreach, care and training.
Each Friday night, Treasures volunteers and staff visit one of the 116 strip clubs in the county to distribute gift bags of booklets, lipstick and artificial eyelashes to let these women know they are loved and treasured and are given contact information where they can seek help if they feel ready to ask for it.
From left: Paulinda Schimmel, Lizzie Blatt, Cheryl Finley, Arden Teplow, Ashley, and Betty Petitt.
On Thursday, April 5, five Ebell Social Service volunteers visited the Treasures headquarters in Northridge to pack the bags to be distributed to strip club workers. We packed for 1 ½ hours, thus saving grateful staff member Alexandra eight hours, freeing her up to do other much needed functions for which she has trained. We also got to chow down on one of Betty Petitt’s famous apple pies!
If you would like to join us in serving those members of our community who are less fortunate than ourselves and/or suffering physical and sexual abuse, please contact Lizzie Blatt or Janice Berger Landau.
