By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
For 33 years, A Place Called Home has been doing something quietly remarkable in one of Los Angeles’ most underserved communities — turning kids who have every reason to fail into young people with every reason to succeed.
The South Central nonprofit, known as APCH, was born out of the ashes of the 1992 LA uprisings, when founder Deborah Constance opened her church basement to 12 kids who needed somewhere safe to go after school. A snack. Help with homework. An adult who showed up. Those 12 kids told their friends. Before long, there were over 100. The basement couldn’t hold them. The mission could.
Today, APCH serves more than 750 young people a year from its home at 29th and Central, offering arts, music, dance, digital media, and computer science programs alongside college scholarships, career and vocational training, on-site mental health services, and case management. Every Thursday, the organization distributes groceries — including fresh produce — to roughly 135 of its neediest families through its Family Resource Depot.
At the center of it all is Norayma Cabot, who has served as CEO for the past three and a half years — and who, in many ways, is the organization’s most compelling argument for itself.
Cabot grew up in East LA, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She became a teenage mother. She was the first in her family to graduate from college. She started her career as a preschool teacher.
“I never envisioned myself as a CEO,” she said in a recent interview. “I didn’t have representation of women that looked like me in those roles. The very first time I was approached, I was genuinely confused by the opportunity — because I had never even envisioned myself in it.”
She took the job anyway. Now, little girls in APCH’s programs tell her they want her job when they grow up.
“Now they’re able to see someone that looks like them in the role,” Cabot said, “and actually aspire to become the next CEO.”
That pipeline — from the community APCH serves to the leadership running it — is central to what makes the organization tick. Cabot is clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. APCH depends overwhelmingly on private donations, with roughly 94 percent of its revenue coming from individual and foundation giving, according to its most recent IRS filing. In a moment when philanthropic dollars are being stretched and federal funding for social services faces mounting uncertainty, that’s a position that demands constant attention.
She’s also thinking hard about relevance in a rapidly changing economy. When asked about artificial intelligence, Cabot didn’t flinch.
“We’re not a trendy kind of program,” she said. “We’re teaching kids the critical thinking skills, the soft skills, the social skills — the things that an AI economy is actually going to demand more of, not less.”
On a recent evening, Cabot brought that message to a roomful of supporters gathered for a fundraising dinner at Florence Osteria & Piano Bar, the elegant Tuscan-inspired restaurant on Beverly Boulevard where Italian-born restaurateur Francesco Zimone has built one of LA’s warmest dining rooms — live piano nightly, 85-year-old olive trees on the patio, the kind of place where the food and the company both tend to linger. In the front of the house, young couples were sharing romantic dinners. In the back, the conversation was about South Central’s kids.
After the interview, Cabot moved back into the room — back to the donors, the board members, the supporters. Her 16-year-old son was home waiting to ask what was for dinner. Some nights she makes it. Some nights it’s Uber Eats.
He understands, she said, that Mom has a lot of people counting on her.
A Place Called Home is located at 2830 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011. The center is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For membership inquiries, call (323) 232-7653. To learn more, donate, or get involved, visit apch.org.
