Reflecting on the Wellbeing Fund: One Year Later

One year ago, we launched The Wellbeing Fund to provide financial support to Los Angeles homeless response sector workers and move towards a living wage throughout the sector. By offering $1 million in worker wellbeing stipends, we aimed to alleviate some of the immediate financial needs of workers, while also sparking important conversations about the broader systemic changes required in the sector. We also distributed an additional $570,000 to partner organizations to support the connection and wellbeing of their teams.

The Wellbeing Fund's Approach

Our approach was built on a holistic view of wellbeing. The grants allowed workers to reflect on their needs and applicants chose from categories like debt relief, housing, and education. We hope this encourages employers to better understand and support their workers and funders to better understand the workforce, as the data collected from applications provides invaluable insights.

The Wellbeing Fund distributed:

$896,966 to 270 workers

and

$550,000 to 26 organizations.

The Urgent Reality

The Wellbeing Fund received 5,430 applications, representing a nearly $32 million funding request—revealing a significant gap between available resources and the needs of the workforce. The data also showed wage disparities among workers, particularly for Black employees who made up 32% of the applicants but 50% of those earning the lowest wages ($12-$18/hour).

Key Findings

• The Los Angeles homeless response workforce is comprised of roughly 8,000 positions (33% of which are vacant). 5,430 workers in the sector applied to the Wellbeing Fund.

• 44% of the applicants earn between $18 and $25 per hour.

• Half of the Black workers earn between $12 and $18 per hour.

• Only 10% of the applicants were white, but they made up 23% of the highest earners, with salaries above $100,000.

• The top categories people requested funds for were housing, health & wellness, transportation, and education.

Voices from the Field

Workers shared their thoughts on how the fund made a difference:

A Call for Systemic Change

The Wellbeing Fund sparked critical discussions about the sustainability of the workforce and the urgent need for systemic change to ensure a living wage for all workers. To learn more about our findings and the path toward achieving fair wages, read our Living Wage report, which analyzes the gaps between current wages and a living wage and the steps needed to support close that gap.

Investing in the Sector

The Wellbeing Grants are part of the Investing in the Care and Retention of Workers in the Homeless Response Sector work addressing challenges like burnout, fatigue, and high turnover rates. Through this initiative, we've been able to extend more than $6.5 million in direct support to frontline workers and community-based organizations. This initiative also includes our Healing Justice programming and the Living Wage report.