About Us

Twenty-six years on the same corner.

Hands4Hope LA started in 2000 with a simple idea: kids from low-income, single-parent homes deserve the same enrichment as anyone else, free, close to home, from people who learn every name. We’ve been keeping that promise in the San Fernando Valley ever since.

Our Mission

Hands4Hope LA provides support to youth and their parents from low-income, underserved, predominantly single-parent households to improve their quality of life through educational enrichment, wellness programming, mentorship, workforce readiness, and family support. Through safe, nurturing, and culturally responsive programs, we help young people build the skills, confidence, and connections they need to thrive.

The Four Pillars

Everything we do stands on four hands.

Develop Talents

Music, dance, and art, taught weekly and proven every June when students take the showcase stage.

Instill Life Skills

Homework done, healthy meals shared, and the everyday habits that carry into adulthood.

Broaden Horizons

The zoo, Dodger Stadium, the Science Center. Experiences kids wouldn’t otherwise get.

Build Self Esteem

Mentors who know every name, small groups, and a stage where every student stands tall.

Small on purpose

Lydia Floyd built Hands4Hope LA on four pillars and a bet: that a program serving dozens deeply beats a program serving thousands thinly. Twenty-six years later, the bet still holds. Two homes, two school partnerships, one park we fill every May.

2000Founded in North Hollywood by Lydia Floyd.

2009Our earliest students are now parents who enroll their own kids.

2015Teens write and star in DAISY, the first of the student road-safety films.

202525 years of impact, measured with UCLA.

2026First student film entirely in Spanish. A new website. A second home, still.

Students and staff together at the Department of Youth Development event

The people who know every name

Program coordinators, music instructors, drivers, tutors. Many have been here for years; some grew up in the program. This is who your kids spend their afternoons with.