DOOR Hollywood’s first seven years have brought tremendous fruit. We've hosted thousands of young people through our Discover program, connecting them to local agencies like WorldVision, PATH, My Friend's Place, Project Angel Food, Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND), and Homeboy Industries. We’ve collaborated with a robust chorus of local voices, exposing young Christians to the gifts and needs of Los Angeles, and challenging them to consider Biblical responses to racism, classism, and our propensity to see people “on the other side of the tracks” as modern Samaritans. Our Dwellers have been cited as integral in reshaping the dialogue and approach to solving homelessness with dignity, compassion, and commitment to building authentic community for disenfranchised individuals. 
As we approach our ten-year mark in 2017, we are thrilled to see the growth of our third program: DISCERN. Originally created as a semester-long internship intended for college students, Discern is now so much more, and is truly what makes DOOR unique in the tapestry of Christian ministries. Our Discerners are increasingly local youth, primarily from the lower-income areas we intentionally place ourselves. Discerners in Hollywood have been helping to host Discover groups and welcome Dwellers to the neighborhood for years. These are young Latino, African-American, Caucasian, and Asian youth who speak with dexterity, grace, and vulnerability about issues like gentrification, gang-tensions, and the complexities of straddling the line between being “documented” and “undocumented.” Eyes are opened and hearts are moved past single stories and dominant narratives. And we believe this is how God always intended us to communicate: in person, over meals, in a context of service. In an increasingly digital and detached world, perhaps we need this now more than ever.
Our Discerners and Dwellers, some of whom started their DOOR journey as Discover participants with their church youth group, are future (and current) social workers, teachers, artists, activists, writers, ministers, pastors. We know these God-given gifts come from “both sides of the tracks.”
$15,000 Sponsors a Dweller for a year
$6,500 Covers food for the Dwellers
$3,500 Sponsors a full year of Fellowship Building Recreational Events
$2,000 Provides a Retreat with Frontera de Cristo along the border of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico
$1,500 covers one Discerner's Summer Stipend
$1,000 covers the lodging cost for one week-long Discover group
$600 Covers the cost of sending 2 Discerners to attend a Forum for Theological Exploration conference
$500 Covers curriculum books for the year
$200 Covers the weekly honorarium offered to local speakers
$150 Covers a Retreat Registration for a Discerner or Dweller
$50 Covers the cost of sponsoring a “Dollar Meal” for a large Discover group, an activity that builds solidarity with folks living off the streets
Thank you, and have a blessed end of your 2014! - Matthew,
