My Friend's Place has announced plans for a purpose-built Hollywood campus that will bring meals, health care, housing help and other services for young people experiencing homelessness together under one roof. The nonprofit says it has already raised more than $11.3 million toward a $20 million capital campaign, with pop star Miley Cyrus serving as honorary chair of the effort.
The announcement, made Wednesday, details a campaign that has secured more than 55% of its overall fundraising goal as it enters its public phase, according to a release distributed via PR Newswire. The new facility will replace My Friend's Place's current building and is designed to provide comprehensive services, resources and support for youth in a single location, per the same release. As MyNewsLA reported, the organization's leadership says the new campus will create a safe, welcoming and supportive space for the young people it serves.
Design and Timeline Still Taking Shape
Design plans and the construction budget are currently being finalized, the release states, with My Friend's Place working alongside BAR Architects, project manager MGAC and general contractor Howard CDM. The organization anticipates receiving all necessary project approvals by December, according to the announcement.
Once those approvals are in hand, the nonprofit plans a temporary relocation beginning in February 2027 so services can continue uninterrupted during construction, the release notes. My Friend's Place has already begun a preliminary search for a temporary location, though no address has been identified in the announcement. Demolition of the existing building and construction of the new facility are both projected to begin in April 2027, with completion currently estimated for December 2028.
Miley Cyrus Steps In as Campaign Chair
Cyrus has thrown her weight behind the campaign as honorary chair, urging supporters to help My Friend's Place reach its $20 million goal. According to the release, she has said she first visited My Friend's Place after realizing how many young people near her had no place to call home.
My Friend's Place traces its roots back to 1988, when co-founders Steve Lepore and Craig Scholz began distributing sack lunches to homeless young people in Hollywood. That grassroots effort eventually grew into the resource center the organization operates today, offering physical and mental health support, employment and education assistance, and creative programs alongside its drop-in services.
Who the New Campus Would Serve
The scale of need the nonprofit is trying to address is considerable. My Friend's Place says it serves more than 1,300 homeless young people each year. The organization's announcement describes its population as homeless youth ages 12 to 25. My Friend's Place also serves the children and animal companions of the young people who come through its doors and offers help finding emergency or long-term housing.
My Friend's Place describes itself as a drop-in resource center rather than an overnight shelter, per its own site, offering meals, showers, clothing, hygiene supplies and case management alongside health services and housing navigation. The group states on its website that nearly 4,000 young people in Los Angeles County lack a safe place to call home on any given day, though that figure has not been independently verified beyond the organization's own account.
A County Still Struggling to Count Its Youth
The scope of youth homelessness across Los Angeles County remains difficult to pin down precisely. A new counting method tested by the county found 3,658 homeless youth in January, including 1,875 living on the street and 1,783 housed in shelters, according to Next City. That new approach identified 533 more youth living on the street than the county's previous counting method turned up, the outlet reported, and past counts have swung widely, from a low of 1,028 in 2022 to a high of 2,151 in 2023.
Other organizations across the region have taken their own approaches to youth homelessness: the Los Angeles LGBT Center operates multiple youth housing programs, including 92 beds on its Anita May Rosenstein Campus, aimed at homeless young people ages 18 to 24.
