Kristen Espinoza

Audacity of Hopes, Feeding The Homeless, and Charitable Organization in Los Angeles

Kristen Espinosa founded Audacity of Hope in 2019, and she has personally paid

for all of the organization's expenses since its inception. While she commuted to

Los Angeles for work, she would frequently encounter people who were living on the

streets. When Covid struck, she noticed an almost instantaneous increase in the number

of people living on the streets and realized that she needed to do more to help.

Not only did the churches close due to the Covid outbreak, but her street family also informed her that the church outreach ministries had also stopped coming to pass out food because everyone was in fear of the virus. Kristen made the decision to put ten percent of her income that she normally gives to her church towards the upkeep of her street family. In addition, she also dedicated one overtime shift each week to cover the costs of the meals she prepared.

Kristen had such a strong conviction that when one contributes from the heart, no one needs to know and it should remain between her and God. Therefore, the first six months of her monthly outreaches were not documented on film. Kristen tried explaining to her friends and family the treacherous living conditions she was observing each time she went to Skid Row, but felt her words were not being heard. Unfortunately, most still had their own opinions and ideas as to why people were in the predicament they were in to end up on the street.

After six months of outreach, Kristen decided to start recording footage of only tents and the streets littered with trash in the 50-block radius that Skid Row consisted of. (It has since grown to 55 blocks) Once people began seeing the footage, they began to inquire about what third-world country these videos were being documented in. Most were shocked and disheartened to discover this was going on in our own backyard! Not only was this our very own country, but it was also the City of Angels, Los Angeles, which is less than an hour away for most. Kristen's footage was nothing like the infamous LA bright lights, where red carpet events are hosted and all the movie stars reside as depicted in the movies.