As reported by The Eastsider, several members of the Silver Lake community have been coming together to support each other through tough times. Neighborhood residents recently founded Hey Neighbor. Through this project, schools and communities come together to raise funds for those in need. They have helped organize non-profit organizations such as Friends of Micheltorena, Friends of Ivanhoe, Hunger Action LA, and Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. Through these organizations, they have managed to raise emergency funds for Silver Lake families. These provide relief for families struggling with the prospect of an upcoming virtual school semester. After all, parents are concerned about who will take care of their kids while they stay home for school.
Hey Neighbor
In the face of a virtual semester (and perhaps a virtual school year), a lot of families, particularly low-income ones, are concerned about how they will manage to make ends meet while also taking care of their kids during their virtual classes. This is further causing strain on families after the general effects of the pandemic. Because of this, the non-profits organized by Hey Neighbor have raised funds for local schools to distribute accordingly among families. Each school is determining how they will relocate the funds. Some schools, such as Mayberry, are providing $100 grocery store gift cards for families that already qualified for free lunches. Others are giving families a choice between gift cards for different purposes.
Supporting the Silver Lake Community
As the Silver Lake community comes together to support families in need, other neighborhoods can begin to establish similar communal aids. In order to help with that endeavor, Hey Neighbor has created a guide to help others start their own fundraisers. If you are interested in it, you can email them at neighbors.main@gmail.com and request it. You and your community can also come together to help each other.
