MAMA D'S KITCHEN

“Mama D Feeds The Homeless got its start back in October of 1988.

In it’s early years, Delia Javier was the trailblazer she had a internal desire to serve others much like she did back in her native Philippines home.

I was lucky to meet Delia in a acting class. We studied together for several years. During one of our scene rehearsals she had me chopping veggies for the veggie stew she prepared back in those days for the homeless on Skid Row. During those days, Delia severed a early evening veggie stew. She invited me to join her and I have been hooked ever since.

It was a weekly cooking party she had going on for years until her death in 2005.

I officially named the skid row feeding program , “Mama D Feeds The Homeless” after her passing.

On her last day on this earth she official handed me the responsibility of keeping Mama D’s alive. Further explaining that it was through my service to others that I would cultivate my inner joy. She urged me to find my tribe and continue to serve the homeless.

Mama D Feeds The Homeless continues to run, rain or shine every Sunday at 8am on 5th and San Pedro ever since then.

It is truly my inner joy. It is my love. “

-Jules

I was introduced to Delia aka Mama D, in 2003 by a friend who asked if I wanted to go with him to serve meals to the homeless in DTLA. The first time I went to skid row I was in shock, that turned to a mixture of sadness and anger at seeing how so many human beings are uncared for and essentially forgotten. The joy I felt connecting with the people in line; looking in their eyes, seeing them smile, having brief conversations, fed my soul. So, I kept going downtown on Sunday mornings, not out of pity, (that's not what our DTLA friends are looking for) but out of a desire to be a part of an organization that was actively doing something to help remedy the ugliness of people going hungry in the richest country in the world.

Over the next two years I became very close to Mama D, a powerhouse of a human being who was the embodiment of selflessness, giving back, gratitude and WISDOM. She was also fiery with quick wit, so a laugh was never far when in her presence.

In 2005 as I watched Mama D make her transition, it was clear that what she had built could not stop. So Jules and I made the decision to work together to keep it going. We honestly didn't know how/if financially we would make it through that first year. But with donations, the LA Food Bank and amazing volunteers, we did...and 15 years later, we're STILL here.

Ashe.