Santa Monica Businesses ‘Doing Good’ Deeds While Coming Out Of Bad Times
From hotels and museums to cafes and coffee, Santa Monica businesses shine with the best of intentions for locals and visitors alike
SANTA MONICA, Calif., (August 24, 2021) – On this summer road to recovery, Santa Monica is recognizing and celebrating some of the businesses that are shining bright with the best of intentions and putting “good work” into their reopening efforts. While maneuvering the road to recovery, visitors are encouraged to vacation responsibly by planning ahead, traveling safely, setting expectations and taking appropriate precautions as they explore Santa Monica and beyond by using these helpful hints. Santa Monica businesses shine with the best of intentions for locals and visitors alike with these examples:
Shutters on the Beach – This summer, Shutters on the Beach has created Chrysalis kites to raise money and awareness for Chrysalis and the great things they do to create job skills and opportunities. Chrysalis is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the resources and support needed to find and retain employment. Chrysalis has five centers and locations in Southern California, including a Santa Monica center. Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa del Mar have been long time hiring partners with Chrysalis. Shutters on the Beach guests and locals can support Chrysalis by purchasing a kite for $25 and all proceeds will go to Chrysalis. Kites are available for purchase at the Beach Activities Center located on the sand behind Shutters on the Beach. If job seekers are looking for support on their job search or if an employer is looking to find their next great employee, please visit Chrysalis at ChangeLives.org.
Cayton Children’s Museum – At Cayton Children’s Museum, they believe all children should have access to play opportunities and arts education, regardless of their background or abilities. They have designed the space to be a welcoming place for all children, youth and families to gather, share and learn. Cayton wants their young visitors to understand that they are all responsible for each other. Cayton’s guests will have the opportunity to visit the museum through the Cayton’s timed entry system, as well as the museum’s new pay-as-you-wish admission model for Los Angeles County residents. The new admission model will help the Cayton fulfill its mission of making play accessible for all. General admission tickets are $16 for non-LA County residents and can be purchased online. Advanced online reservations to visit the museum are recommended. The museum reopens with its popular exhibits designed to inspire young visitors to explore creativity, imagination, community, and self-discovery. The Cayton is an initiative of ShareWell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring creativity, social responsibility and empathy through arts education and discovery-based learning. For more than 30 years, ShareWell has strived to improve access and bring arts education with themes of social responsibility to all communities through museum programming and youth outreach. For more information, please visit caytonmuseum.org.
La La Land Kind Café – La La Land Kind Café serves coffee specialties, lattes, cappuccinos, and teas with a food menu that ranges from toasts, grab and go, and cookies, plus more. But, most importantly, La La Land serves kindness from the Kind Cafe with the purpose of hiring foster youth plus spreading kindness.
After learning about the staggering statistics of what happens to foster youth who age out of the system – kids who have spent their lives alone were then left on the street at the age of 18 – La La Land executives were shocked into creating the We Are One (WAO) project in 2017. They set out to provide everything youth needed to become self-sustaining, happy adults. This meant providing help with housing, job placement, mentorship, and therapy. However, as much as they tried though, it wasn’t working. Their youth could not get or maintain jobs, and without a job everything else would crumble. Employers were not willing to hire youth with no experience, or did not have the patience to teach them. If no one was going to hire their youth, La La Land set out to do it themselves.
For every city where there is a La La Land, there is a flagship store that runs 8-week internship programs for foster youth. During the 8 weeks, they learn life skills, on the job training, customer service training and mentorship. At the end of 8 weeks, youth can decide what they are passionate about and what career fields they want to go in. They are forever a part of La La Land Kind Café’s WAO program to help them with job placement, housing, schooling and therapy. For more information, please visit lalalandkindcafe.com.
Crudo E Nudo – Lenny’s Coffee and Commune at Crudo E Nudo is a vision brought to life by co-owner Leena Culhane. Lenny’s is a neighborhood outpost for caffeine, community, and a minimal but delicious breakfast menu. Proceeds from the morning program at Crudo E Nudo benefits non-profits in need of their support, especially those combating food deserts, working to end the hunger crisis, and supporting intersectional environmentalism. Lenny’s sources delicious, fair trade Blacklight Coffee, roasted weekly in small batches and also serves treats from Gjusta Bakery, as well as those made in-house. Crudo E Nudo operates Lenny’s on Wednesday-Sunday from 8-11 a.m., and their offerings will expand, as they are responsibly able. For more information, please visit crudoenudo.com/lennys.
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