Neighbor to Neighbor: Cultivating Hope in a Time of Difficulty

As we prepare for this year’s Holiday Store, we’re taking a moment to reflect on this past year.

By Steven Guzman, Development & Communications Associate

For many of us, 2025 has been a difficult year.

It began with new national leadership, followed closely by what can only be described as two of the worst wildfires in Southern Californian history. In their wake, our communities were left scorched and vulnerable, not only regarding the land we live on, but also the institutions that we rely on.

Palisades Fire, Los Angeles, 2025. Photo by Cal Fire via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. No changes were made.

And so, yes. 2025 has been a difficult year.

It’s not hard for us to get lost in what we’re seeing on our television screens or in our feeds. The quiet losses, the unspoken fears, and the struggles that many of us are experiencing alone in our living rooms, classrooms, shelters, and in parked cars on the side of a freeway overpass. The air feels heavy and for many it feels difficult to breathe.

Yet, miraculously, and almost defiantly, we continue to wake up each morning. We show up. We work hard.

Across our great city, families and individuals continue to show up and work towards building a brighter future.

Each morning, across our community, people continue to rise.

They open the shop gates at carwashes, clock in at restaurants, go to doctors’ appointments, shop for groceries, and care for others. Across our community, people are at work doing the essential, everyday labor that allows the world to keep on turning. Every day people work hard to build something important; a brighter future for them and their loved ones.

People are always looking towards the future, and so do we.

At Children Today, we believe in what our community is looking to build; in their brighter futures. Like them, we believe in rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.

Each day, our teachers and staff choose to come to work knowing that when a child and their family walk through our doors, we’ll meet them where and how they are: in motion, in their exhaustion, and in their hope as they work towards building that brighter tomorrow.

This is the work we’re proud to be a part of.  

At any point in time, somewhere in the Eco-House, one of our families may be sitting across from a service provider discussing what has happened since their last visit. In those discussions one might hear of the difficulties they are having with paying rent, or how the longest government shutdown in U.S history has affected their ability to purchase food and pay their bills.

But conversations rarely stop there.

They talk too about their hopes for the future. About what they want for their children. They might discuss their gratitude for their child’s teacher or their excitement when their child has learned a new word. They talk about a better tomorrow that feels possible, even if it still feels far away.

At times, building towards the future might look like picking up their child after a job interview, or simply engaging with teachers that know their child’s favorite book, what they like to eat, and what makes them laugh.

And sometimes, it’s just a short moment, where the burden of responsibility is lessened by someone who sees what they’re going through clearly and without judgement.

Children Today was founded on the belief that every child deserves a safe and nurturing place to learn, to play, and to grow. Our work is quiet, intentional and often invisible, but when we’re doing it right, its impact is lasting and constructive.

This Holiday Season, in response to the shadow of a difficult year, we honor the persistence of our community and those we serve. Neighbor to neighbor, thank you for continuing to show up. We promise to keep doing the same.