Hollywood Arts grew fast in the next year. By year two we had connected with over 300 young adults, homeless or at-risk of homelessness. Our teaching pool had grown and more staff was hired. At the same time, we developed new programs to meet the needs of our young students.

We created career-based mentorships where students worked with professionals on projects in which they were interested while getting the one-on-one emotional support mentors can provide. We partnered with the local city college to help some of our students transition to formal higher education. We launched an internship program and to this day stand behind Comcast for being the first major entertainment company to embrace us and our students. Comcast branded this program by taking an intern from Hollywood Arts who months later became a full-time employee with the agency.

Hollywood Arts was six months old and programming at partner nonprofits serving homeless youth when I got the idea to do a seated dinner…one of those large fancy galas that most charities don’t take on until years into operations. I somehow managed to convince my board chairman Gregory Butler to go along with me and Gregory was instrumental in helping us secure our honoree, Tommy Tallarico, whose energy and passion for Hollywood Arts would help us open our doors before the end of the first year.

Tommy Tallarico was a video game rock star. A sound composer who launched the idea of putting scored music to video games. My contribution to the dinner was to say yes. Yes, Hollywood Arts will honor the video game industry–a decision that came with some controversy as games were being held accountable for every woe afflicting the youth of today. And here I was running a program for those same youth.

Excited to reopen my studio and in respect for my desire to continue to reach at-risk youth, I went to breakfast with friend and Los Angeles Council President Eric Garcetti to share my news. I wanted to open the studio in a neighborhood where I had relationships with nonprofit organizations. Eric introduced me to real estate developer Samir Srivastava who offered me studio space in the same building where Eric had his field office at Hollywood and Western. Eric also agreed to introduce me to the top chiefs at a few of the local youth-based service agencies where I would be building partnerships.

I went out on these meetings and I didn’t find Latinas. I found homeless young adults. Who looked a lot like me when I was their age. I shared with them my idea to open a ceramics studio up the street. And to invite them to come build things with me. Dead pan. Nothing. Not interested. Ceramics, what?