United We Stand: All Peoples Community Center’s Message of Unity Our 83-Year Promise
For 83 years, All Peoples Community Center has stood as a place of dignity, care, and community in Historic South Central Los Angeles. Founded in 1942 during a time of war, upheaval, and the incarceration of our Japanese-American neighbors, we forged crisis into community. Since then, we have offered stability when it felt like the world was shifting beneath our feet. Through every era—civil rights movements, economic hardship, uprisings, deportation raids, and systemic injustice—All Peoples has remained rooted in compassion, committed to justice, and anchored by the belief that every person deserves to be seen, fed, protected, and respected. At the heart of our work is a deep commitment to racial equality; we stand firmly against racial profiling and all forms of discrimination that harm all communities.

What Our Community Faces Today
Today, we once again face a moment filled with fear and trauma. Families are being separated. We’ve received reports that Angelenos may be avoiding care amid enforcement fears and are afraid of being targeted. Children arrive at our programs carrying burdens far too heavy for their age—sometimes not showing up at all because they are too scared to go outside. The once vibrant flower district, lush with business and celebration, lies barren and closed as workers in every industry stay home out of fear. Seniors, reminiscent of COVID-19 times, hesitate to leave their homes. Immigrants, including those on the path to citizenship, are forced to retreat into the shadows of unwarranted shame. The emotional toll is deep, and the threat to our community’s well-being is very real.
This week, one of our founding partners, a sacred space that has stood alongside us for decades, experienced an incident that shook our community’s sense of safety. When places of worship and sanctuary are disrupted, it sends ripples of fear throughout our neighborhoods. Such moments challenge the sanctity, dignity, and safety that all sacred spaces and communities deserve and have a right to. These events deepen the fear and trauma many in Los Angeles already carry.

A Critical Threat to Our Services
At the very moment when our neighbors need us most, we face another critical threat. Congress is considering budget legislation that would eliminate Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) anti-poverty funding nationwide. This is not just a bureaucratic decision—it would mean cutting food deliveries to families, ending after-school care for children, stopping emergency rent relief that prevents homelessness, and shutting down programs that return millions of dollars to families through tax preparation. Cuts to funding would put vital services at risk, including case management, domestic violence counseling, and parent support groups. Over 6,600 All Peoples community members could face reduced access to the lifelines we provide every day.

We Have Always Been Here
All Peoples has always been the first to open and the last to close. In 1965, during the Watts uprising, we stayed open when markets and institutions shut down. In 1992, after the Rodney King trial verdict, we served more than 500 families affected by unrest. In 2021, when a fireworks explosion rocked our neighborhood, we mobilized immediately. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted overnight to serve more than 5,000 families with food and health services. We do not walk away during crises. We stand up and walk in.
Our staff continue to show up every day. They unload pallets of food, provide educational programming to youth, and sit with families in the midst of grief, fear, and uncertainty. They, too, carry the weight of this moment. And they do it with love because they believe in the power of this place. Our board is equally mobilized, bringing in resources to support the community through this.

To Our Community: You Are Not Alone
To those in our community—whether you have known All Peoples for years or have just found us now—know this: we are here. If you need food, childcare, education, wellness support, or just someone to listen, we are here. You are not alone. We love you as you are, and we care for you. Our board, executive team, and staff stand firmly on the side of justice and humanity—always. Stand With Us
We all make All Peoples. Now, we ask you—our friends and partners—to stand with us because the future of our services depends on it. 

Call your senators and representatives and urge them to preserve CSBG and CDBG funding in the upcoming budget. 

• • Senator Laphonza Butler: (202) 224-3841
  • Senator Alex Padilla: (202) 224-3553

Donate—every dollar helps keep a child safe, a family housed, and a senior nourished. Donate now: allpeoplescc.org/get-involved

Volunteer—Spanish speakers, educators, food sorters, and wellness professionals are needed as demand grows faster than our resources. 
And use your voice. Share this message with your networks, churches, and neighbors. Let people know what’s at stake.

Together We Are Stronger
For eight decades, we have survived every storm because of one thing: trust. The trust of our community. The trust that neighbors will look out for one another. That hope, passed from one generation to the next, has carried us through wars, raids, recessions, and pandemics. It is that same trust that will carry us through this.
Together, we are stronger than fear. United we stand, together we grow.

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All Peoples Community Center • 822 E. 20th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90011 • (213) 747-6357
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving South Los Angeles since 1942 • allpeoplescc.org • No federal grant funds were used to prepare or distribute this communication.