Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation

In 1968, when Carolyn and Ed Rose began collecting donated food, clothing and furniture in their family garage for distribution to their desperately poor neighbors, they could scarcely have imagined that their energy and compassion would someday blossom into a large-scale poverty relief agency serving hundreds of thousands of clients each year. Nor could the Roses have foreseen, three years later when MEND – Meet Each Need with Dignity—took on legal corporate status, that their vision would take the organization from operating out of church basements and private homes to owning a 20,000-square-foot warehouse to hold the ever expanding host of programs aimed at lifting the northeast San Fernando Valley’s most impoverished residents out of a hopeless cycle of poverty.

As MEND’s volunteer base and clientele swelled over the years, its program offerings and physical space also needed to grow. Though emergency food and clothing still form a central core of service for local residents, MEND has expanded to offer free medical, dental and vision clinics, as well as ESL and literacy classes, computer training, after school tutoring, job placement services, food services training, and more.

Another gift that MEND has brought to the community is a place for people of goodwill to become involved. The current volunteer count is over 2000, and volunteers are only counted once they have exceeded 20 hours of service. One couple that has served their neighbors through MEND is Bob and Jan Mayers. Bob Mayers began volunteering by borrowing a neighbor’s pick up truck to deliver clothes and furniture that would accumulate in the Rose’s garage. Soon the Mayers’ front porch became a depository for items that friends and family no longer needed. As the Mayers’ children grew and work demands lessened, the Mayers became even more involved.

Over the years Bob has done everything from driving a truck to pick up food from area supermarkets, to delivering furniture to needy families, to teaching ESL, to serving on the Board of Directors! He finds great satisfaction in the ESL classes, which give the clients skills to move up the economic ladder. Jan also taught ESL and has devoted much of her attention to fundraising. They both speak of the joy of meeting the basic needs of the families they serve —of delivering a donated refrigerator to a family living in a garage, and of providing transportation and companionship to a woman for her prenatal doctor visits. Jan has particularly found meaning in conducting home visitation with the families that sign up for Christmas baskets. These interviews not only verify need, but also provide an opportunity to personalize outreach, provide guidance, and make referrals in a non-threatening setting. Jan once visited a family with only one electric light bulb by which the children took turns doing their homework.

The founders and volunteers of MEND continue to embrace the vision put forth 35 years ago…to provide services that meet the basic human needs of individuals who reside in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. These services are to be provided in a manner that safeguards the dignity of all recipients while promoting self-reliance. MEND’s philosophy rests on the principles that every person, created in the image of God, has innate human dignity and the right to be treated with respect; and every person has the fundamental right to what is needed for a fully human life.