The LA Emissary Loop June 2025
What’s New?
Highlights from our best SPA Convening yet, the launch of new cash assistance program CASH LA, and the screening of our documentary film Close to Home.
Spotlight on how we helped restore $5.6million to the LA County budget to support young people.
Get to know Detrell, LAE’s Policy & Advocacy Coordinator!
Welcome to the June 2025 edition of our newsletter,
The LA Emissary Loop!
The LA Emissary team has been busy the past few months engaging in county-level advocacy to advocate for young people, planning our work for the next year, and bringing together young people and partners to strategize around youth homelessness.
Read below to learn more about our latest work to transform youth-serving systems.
Updates & Events
SPA Team Convening: The LA Emissary recently hosted its semi-annual convening at California Community Foundation, bringing together nearly 50 young leaders and Transitional Age Youth (TAY) providers from across LA County. From peer mentorship to skill building and powerful storytelling, young people with lived experience of homelessness planned collaborative events across SPAs, reflected on the evolution of youth leadership in LA, and crafted elevator pitches to amplify their efforts within youth-serving systems.
Launch of CASH LA: We recently funded CASH LA, a program to prevent youth homelessness through cash assistance for LA County’s young people in partnership with Point Source Youth and AMAAD Institute. Starting this summer, AMAAD will be distributing cash assistance to young people across LA to prevent them from falling into homelessness. Youth consultants from LAE’s SPA teams led this initiative by organizing feedback from young people across LA County through focus groups, incorporated their input into the design of CASH LA, designed the Request for Proposals, and reviewed and approved proposals. Stay tuned for updates when applications open this summer!
Close to Home Documentary Film Screening at Sony Pictures: The LA Emissary team recently attended a special screening of Close to Home, a moving documentary created by Patrisse Cullors during her Creative Strategist residency with the LA County Homeless Initiative. The film centers on the journeys of four LAE staff members, offering a personal look at the realities of youth homelessness and the collective work happening across LA to drive meaningful change. Following the screening, Detrell (Policy & Advocacy Coordinator) and Taneil (Training & Education Coordinator) participated in a panel where they reflected on the impact of the film, shared updates since production wrapped, and discussed what’s next in the fight for housing justice.
LA Emissary Program Highlight
Advocacy
The LAE’s Advocacy team has been engaging in actions due to all of the upcoming changes in the homeless response system in LA County. In March, the proposed Measure A budget was going to cut $7 million to TAY services. In response, the LA Emissary brought together young people and providers from across LA County to advocate for TAY services in the Measure A budget. We showed up at homeless deputies meetings, Board of Supervisors meetings, and met with County Board offices to advocate for young people.
Because of our power, persistence, and presence, $5.6 million was restored to the budget to support young people across the region. Since then, our team has shifted focused to new streams of funding at Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA) and Local Solutions Funds going to cities and councils of governments in an effort to ensure that new funding streams have youth set asides and reflect the needs of young people.
LA Emissary Staff Highlight
Detrell, LA Emissary Policy & Advocacy Coordinator
“Ballroom is celebration, protest, and service. Being in a ballroom house is more than just having a name, but rather genuine community. House parents and siblings have often been a source of housing for many homeless youth historically and currently. Finding ballroom was how I learned about sexual health/housing resources in Detroit, and how I found myself after dealing with the woes of being a runaway for over a
year in LA.
“Now, it serves as my sense of home, but I guess it’s always been. To have
a sea of myself to freely move within and find my own wave has been transformative.
I praise ballroom’s ability to continually be a safe haven and stepping stone to
stability after all this time, and raise the beauty of what community can do for itself. This Pride Month, let’s remember to celebrate ourselves, protest queer oppression, and serve each other.’’
Resources for Young People in LA
Click here to find a SPA Team near you.
