LavaMaeˣ Announces Closure of Its Programs and Operations

 

June 6, 2023

From the Desks of the CEO and Board Chairs

We write to you with heavy hearts to announce that LavaMaeˣ must cease programs and operations due to an unprecedented budget shortfall.

Since our founding in 2013, and since giving our first shower in San Francisco in 2014, our organization has revolutionized the way communities see and serve their unhoused neighbors. Our deepest gratitude goes out to all of you who joined us in achieving this incredible impact. 

What this means

We came into 2023 with good cash reserves and high-probability funding proposals. Unfortunately, most of these funding proposals did not come through as we had expected. This resulted in an unprecedented budget shortfall, and after much deliberation, we have decided to immediately cease 90% of our programs and operations, with full closure in Summer 2023. 

In order to preserve the hard work and dedication of so many, we are developing a plan to ensure that our online resources remain available for anyone that wants to bring mobile showers and Pop-Up Care Villages to their communities.

All of our other programming including direct services and consulting/training services have been discontinued. 

Celebrating our impact

Sharing this news brings us grief that spans across the millions of hearts and minds we’ve reached for nearly a decade.

This not only includes our guests, but also the countless donors, volunteers, partners, fundraisers, affiliate service providers, advocates, staff and board members who were instrumental in making this work possible. And because of them, we have uplifted and empowered thousands of our unhoused neighbors in dozens of communities across the globe. 

Together, during this incredible journey, we’ve:

  • Reached more than 32,500 guests with our Mobile Hygiene and Pop-Up Care Village programs in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Los Angeles County.

  • Provided more than 86,500 showers to our guests.

  • Hosted 55 Pop-Up Care Villages that provided more than 20,000 services such as haircuts, clothing, showers, housing aid, employment aid, and much more to our guests.

  • Recruited more than 2,500 volunteers and 250 service partnerships to deliver Radical Hospitality to our guests.

  • Mentored and supported 72 organizations across 89 cities and seven countries with more than 6,300 consulting hours and $567,500 in grant funding. Of those, 52 launched directly to our work and reached more than 54,000 guests and 102,000 showers.

  • Responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic by bringing nearly 9,400 hygiene kits to unhoused people throughout San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles.

Words cannot describe how grateful we are to have accomplished so much. When Doniece Sandoval founded our organization, there was no way we could have imagined that she would revolutionize a new hygiene movement that spread around the world.

We are honored to have served our guests, and we are honored to have had the support and generosity of so many.

How to keep our impact going

Here are a few ways you can continue to build on our work and promote Radical Hospitality across the world:

  • We will be accepting one-time donations until June 30th to maintain our free online toolkits and resources on lavamaex.org.

  • You can support our affiliate programs that are doing this life-saving work.

  • You can support local shower providers in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

  • You can continue to advocate for and support street-side services in your community through local government.

If you have any questions, please contact us. We’ll do our best to answer all of them.

With Gratitude,

Kris Kepler, CEO

Nick Kozlak, Board Co-Chair

Fran Heller, Board Co-Chair

 
Colton Coty