Every Story Matters: Supporting CityHeART

Hello! My name is Candace Dickerson, and I am a volunteer at CityHeART. I feel deeply connected to the City of Long Beach, as a professor at Long Beach City College for 25 years, as a resident, and as a mother who has raised my children here. I joined CityHeART as a way to deepen that connection and contribute to the community that has been such an important part of my life.

As a professor of Ethnic Studies, I understand the power of testimony, the lived experiences and knowledge of people and communities who have too often been left out of, misrepresented by, or spoken for in traditional historical narratives. This is one of the reasons I feel such a strong connection to the work of CityHeART. CityHeART creates space for people to tell their stories, be heard, and share their experiences with dignity and purpose.

Telling our own stories can be an important part of healing because it allows us to name, reclaim, and shape our own narratives. When people and communities have the opportunity to tell their own stories, they are able to define themselves rather than have their identities defined for them by dominant or oppressive narratives. In this way, storytelling is not simply about remembering the past.  It is also about building connection, restoring dignity, and strengthening community.

To continue the important work CityHeART does, I am asking you to help us protect 15 days of service to our community. It takes approximately $400 a day for CityHeART to provide the services, support, and opportunities that our community members rely on, all while creating space for people to share their testimony and be heard.

Your donation can help protect these 15 days of service and sustain CityHeART vision of a community where people are supported, connected, and empowered to tell their own stories.

About:

CityHeART operates a community Resource Hub in Long Beach, working alongside veterans, seniors, and families with children, many of whom are navigating a housing journey. We work alongside guests, case managers, and frontline staff to fill the gaps that can stall progress, whether that means groceries, laundry, resource navigation, wellness support, household essentials, or simply a consistent community to come back to.

At the heart of our mission is a story-centered approach. We invest in people’s stories by empowering them to name what they need, equipping them with practical resources and support, and engaging them as active members of their community.

What can happen inside one hour?

An hour at CityHeART is rarely just one thing happening.

Inside of a single 60 minutes:

• Groceries might arrive and immediately make their way to families,
• A guest might do a load of laundry while connecting with an intern about another need, 
• A case manager might stop by to coordinate support for someone on their caseload, 
• A veteran might connect with another veteran through our Veterans Homefront HeARTLine, 
• Someone might pick up emergency food, household essentials, clothing, or transportation support,
• A peer support group might be facilitated, and/or
• A neighbor navigating housing and/or trauma may share their story for the first time and experience the transformation of being heard.

Sometimes, all of those things are happening at once.

And because CityHeART is powered by donated goods, volunteer hours, professional partnerships, and community collaboration, every $1 donated is matched by approximately $4 in community time, talent, and treasure contributed in kind.

That turns every $1 donated into approximately $5 in community value.

When you protect an hour, you are not simply helping us keep a building open. You are protecting an hour in which an entire community can show up for one another.

This Long Beach Gives, I am helping CityHeART protect days in 2027.

$100 protects one hour and helps activate approximately $500 in community value.

$400 protects one full day and helps activate approximately $2,000 in community value.

$2,000 protects an entire week and helps activate approximately $10,000 in community value.

Our goal is to raise $25,000 to protect the first three months of CityHeART’s operating time in 2027.

Every gift protects more than time. It protects a place where resources can be shared, relationships can grow, gaps can be filled, and people can continue investing in one another’s stories.

Will you help me protect days at CityHeART?