A Home for bookS

By Fiona Tieche

I have lived in Culver City all my life, and I often go to downtown Los Angeles for dance classes, events, and visits to museums. Because of this, I have seen firsthand how severe the homelessness and housing crisis is. The severity of this issue has pushed me to take part in combatting homelessness in Los Angeles and the learning disabilities that often go alongside it.

I am a junior at Culver City High school and have been a part of Girl Scouts for 7 years. I am also an active member of my community through volunteering at the local elementary schools, working on the community garden, and being a member of the Best Buddies special-needs organization.

In researching for my Gold Award, I found that with the recent economic downturn and the unfolding foreclosure crisis in the United States, there has been an increase in the number of children experiencing homelessness and poverty. A large percentage of the homeless population struggles with illiteracy and children experiencing homelessness have twice the rate of learning disabilities.

I have always had a strong connection with reading as it gives me an imaginative way to escape everyday life. Books can positively impact a reader in many ways such as increasing vocabulary, benefitting mental health, reducing stress, and leading to opportunities for greater education. It was important to me that I take my love for reading and develop it into a Gold Award to benefit my community and the women within it. This is why I decided to partner with a transitional living facility for my Gold Award project, titled A Home for Books.

I chose to work with Harvest Home for my Gold Award project because their mission to help pregnant women and young children experiencing homelessness resonated with me greatly. I was very eager to begin working to build the library at Harvest Home and fill it with books for the residents and their children to enjoy. Through my Gold Award project, I sought to encourage a lifetime love of reading and offer a way to combat learning challenges often experienced by those living without a permanent home. 

In my nine months of working on my Gold Award project, I partnered with the Junior League to collect brand new books, the Harvest Home interior designer, Sandy, to create an outline for the furniture and layout of the reading area, and many other people in my community to help me raise funds and materials for this project. I have enjoyed collaborating with all of the members of Harvest Home to bring my vision for the library to life and in doing so, aid the residents of Harvest Home. This project has been an incredibly fulfilling experience and I am very happy to have found this opportunity to share my love for reading while helping others.