“Hollywood Arts was my safe haven. When I found out about Hollywood Arts I was in a group home and would AWOL [leave without permission] to take classes. There I was learning scene studies with well-known actors, producers, and writers. Hollywood Arts provided me a normal life doing what I loved. I had received mentorship from an A list actress who was the youngest to ever receive an Oscar. Hollywood Arts was a safe haven for the homeless young adults in Hollywood and although I was not homeless I was accepted with open arms. My time there was one of the best memories I have from my early years.”

TODAY: Concerned that black and brown women with postpartum depression were being ignored by the medical system, Destini Lee taught herself how to create a non-profit, hired a grant writer in Fivrr and was awarded a $150,000 from the State of California to help women in need all while working nights in security and proactively raising her children. The community she built at Hollywood Arts is her community still today, her love for learning, her strong sense of self, fostered in our classes, feuls her commitment to help others. She is the founder and Executive Director of Kalaya’s Destiny and recently enrolled in community college.

“I learned from Hollywood Arts how to better myself out in the working world. I learned social skills, networking and how to put everything I learned off the instructors and volunteers in to play in the working world. My goal is to help people who are on the streets get off the streets and in a trade or a career. I learned the most important thing from Hollywood Arts - the difference between a homeless bum and a street kid. A homeless bum is someone who has given up on everything in life. A street kid still has their hopes and dreams, they just need a push in the right direction.”

TODAY: Mark is now 33 and finishing his high school diploma while working as a home health care attendant. He is partnered with his boyfriend, whom he met at Hollywood Arts, and who is finishing his BA.

“Hollywood Arts was an absolute safe haven from the streets of Hollywood. At Hollywood Arts, I was able to find the inner artist in me and hone my artistic talents, thus increasing my confidence in my daily life with people. Not to mention, I was given an internship at NBC Universal and earned a job within this Fortune 500 company.”

TODAY: Today Q is married, living in Finland with his wife and daughter, and finishing his BA while working as a waiter.