About Us
We are an inclusive faith-based organization made up of volunteers from all different backgrounds, religions, and cultures.
Our Mission
Our mission is to feed people, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, while empowering and equipping them to be productive members in our community.
What We Do
At New Friends Homeless Center, we serve a delicious, freshly-cooked 4-course meal in a sit-down, restaurant-style environment every week on Friday nights & Sunday afternoons. Amongst our unhoused guests are veterans, senior citizens, those who are food insecure, those who are disabled, those with special needs, and often their pets. At each meal, guests also enjoy live entertainment which includes a variety of talented performers, singers, dancers and comedians who volunteer their time to be a part of what New Friends is doing. Birthdays are celebrated each month so the guests know that their lives do matter regardless of their situation. After dinner there is distribution of hygiene kits, pet food, clothing, blankets, sleeping bags and other needs as the guests leave for the night to head back to the streets. At all of our meal services, New Friends Homeless Center hosts the Family Giveback program at both the Encino and Woodland Hills locations. This gives local families the opportunity to volunteer by setting up a table with their donated items to distribute to the guests as they leave for the night. If you are interested in supporting our mission, click here to find out how.
Our History
New Friends Homeless Center was first conceived in 2010 when April Belt, as a Pastor, witnessed the need for resources for the growing homeless population in her neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley.
This vision led us to provide every unhoused person that enters our doors with a four-course meal in sit-down, restaurant-style environment where they could get off the streets for a few hours. At New Friends, our guests are treated with respect and dignity. They would be served a delicious hot meal and be able to relax – it was to be a place where anyone in need would feel welcomed, be acknowledged, feel a sense of community, build friendships, receive words of encouragement and hope, and forget about their worries for even a short while.
Over the years, the transformation of the guests has been remarkable. Their basic physical need for food is being met, but they are also receiving much needed emotional and spiritual fulfillment. The guests feel like they are part of a family, where they truly feel the unconditional love from the teams of dedicated volunteers. They feel that everyone genuinely cares about them. Financial contributions and donated food items have sustained the weekly feedings, and in-kind donations have allowed for distribution of hygiene kits, clothing, sleeping bags, pet food and tents.
Future Plans
Serving three meals a week is simply not enough to meet the rapidly growing needs of the San Fernando Valley’s homeless population. The long-term vision and goal is to have our own facilities that we can operate out of on a permanent basis. Our New Friends Homeless Centers will not only provide daily meals, but they will provide shelter, hygiene, rehabilitation and vocational training as well. No one deserves to go without a meal and we believe that everyone deserves a warm bed to sleep in each night. We as a community need to be able to provide the necessary services to help them. It pains us to have to release all of our guests back onto the streets after finding temporary respite within our locations, and we look forward to the day when we won’t have to do that.
FOUR Phase Plan…More Than a Meal
What began as a simple desire to give hope to the homeless and poor in San Fernando Valley has quickly demonstrated the tremendous need that must be addressed. As we look to the future, we strive to not only provide meals to those suffering from such circumstances, but also to bring a sense of fellowship, dignity and joy while working to make restoration a reality for our New Friends. Ultimately, our plan is to fulfill our vision by providing an environment thriving with educational, spiritual and vocational services to help empower people in need, with the aim to transform their lives by equipping them to be productive members in our community.
Please consider supporting New Friends Homeless Center towards our future goals so that we can continue to help so many people and more.
Our Vision
PHASE 1
Weekly Service
Current Phase – We opened in Woodland Hills in March 2011, Encino in November 2011
Preparing over 500 meals per week and distributing extra food packs
Offering free clothing, hygiene kits, pet food, blankets, and sleeping bags
Over 75 New Friends volunteers provide food service, entertainment and counsel
PHASE 2
EXPANDING MEAL SERVICES AT NFHC
Meal services expanded to 4 times a week at the New Friends Homeless Center
Preparing over 1,500 meals per week
Offering free clothing, hygiene kits, pet food, blankets, and sleeping bags
PHASE 3
New Friends Homeless Center Facility
Daily food service anticipating 3,000 meals per week
Showers with continued providing of necessities that they would need
Educational services and vocational support
PHASE 4
New Friends OVERNIGHT HOMELESS CENTER
Overnight shelter with 50-100 beds including shower facilities
Daily food service, available throughout the day
Educational services and vocational support
Leadership
New Friends Homeless Center began in 2010 when April Belt, our founder and a pastor, witnessed the growing need for resources in the San Fernando Valley. On Thanksgiving Day, she met a homeless man who had left Skid Row for safety, but struggled to find meals & support in his new surroundings. His story deeply moved her and sparked a mission to serve those in need.
April envisioned more than just a meal service—she wanted to create a welcoming space where the unhoused could experience dignity, kindness, and community. Her goal was to provide a restaurant-style, four-course meal where guests could relax, feel seen, and find hope, even for a short time. Her desire was also to provide basic necessities to those surviving on the streets, struggling to get by with limited resources.
With the help of dedicated volunteers, the first meal was served in March 2011 at a Methodist Church in Woodland Hills. Word spread, and New Friends Homeless Center became a trusted refuge. Later that year, after seeing an even greater need, April expanded to serve weekly meals in both Encino and Woodland Hills, continuing her mission of compassion and support for the unhoused and those who are food insecure.