By Katelynn Luu
California’s homelessness crisis makes regular headlines on the news, and almost every resident of California has experienced it firsthand, whether that be meeting unhoused people or struggling with homelessness themselves.
Ashlyn Shoup founded the nonprofit Make a Difference Everyday for Others (M.A.D.E. for Others) in 2022 because she felt like she needed to do something to help the large population of unhoused people where she lived in Stanton, CA.
“Every time I get off the freeway from work or picking up my kids or whatnot, there’s typically anywhere between 10, 15 to 20 people just hanging out on the street that need some love and [are] constantly asking for support in terms of money or food,” Shoup said. “I felt like every time … I had nothing to offer them.”
Shoup, a woman of action, refused to just accept this problem. She solved it by creating hygiene kits with her family to keep in her car to hand out to the homeless people. As she was handing out these kits, she realized that there were so many people in need — another problem she refused to accept.
Inspired by her mother, who started a nonprofit called Restoring Lives 365, Shoup got her friends involved to help hand out hygiene kits. As the volunteer network grew, she decided to create the official nonprofit, M.A.D.E. for Others.
“We typically deliver meals in the community,” Shoup said. “We also provide hygiene kits that include toothbrush, toothpaste, body wipes, feminine hygiene products if we come across women, and then we also will provide clothes as well as tents, pillows, sleeping bags … anything that they need to … survive.”
M.A.D.E. for Others partners with special education programs at various high schools in Garden Grove to allow students with moderate to severe disabilities to prepare food for the nonprofit to distribute. Shoup herself is a teacher who used to work in special education.
“We wanted to provide our students with moderate to severe disabilities a meaningful way to contribute to society,” Shoup said. “You get that opportunity in high school, but for students with moderate to severe disabilities, it looks a little different.”
Some volunteers of M.A.D.E. for Others go out into unhoused communities to distribute meals and hygiene kits, and they also try to connect the unhoused people to services that will help them find transitional housing or a group home.
“One of our primary goals obviously is to provide for their basic needs,” Shoup said. “But the other one is to build a relationship with them, and we feel that the relationship is pivotal and vital to helping them.”
Shoup encourages anyone, regardless of where they live, to take any action they can to help and try to connect with unhoused people. M.A.D.E. for Others accepts donations of hygiene kits and monetary donations through their website.
“I think it’s important to know that California has one of the highest populations of those who are unhoused and unsheltered in the United States,” Shoup said. “I think one of the easiest ways to help is to get connected to any local organizations … where the work is happening is where people can get involved … or keep a hygiene kit in your car to hand out.”
