Aetna Street Solidarity

Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, United States

Bio

Carla is an artist, writer, and community organizer born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. She organizes mutual aid networks of care alongside unhoused people on Aetna Street in Van Nuys. She believes in the power of love and neighborhoods.

Zines

Street Views, $5-$25 - A Los Angeles street-based publication made with, by, and for unhoused communities and organizers in Los Angeles. 12 pages, black & white newsprint. 100% of sales go to supporting weekly community nights and mutual aid projects on Aetna Street. If cost is a barrier, come by and pick up a free copy on Tuesday community nights on Aetna Street, just off the Van Nuys Orange Line metro station. Purchase here.

Other Work

Aetna Street Solidarity is a network of community organizers, housed and unhoused, dedicated to building a more visionary and inclusive world with people living unhoused on Aetna Street. On any given night, 10,000+ people are sleeping outside in tents, in their cars, or in temporary shelters in the San Fernando Valley. We host weekly community nights on Tuesdays along the Van Nuys Orange Line metro stop where we cook hot meals and share clothing, harm reduction, and medical supplies. Together we are building community resistance to Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18, a law which banned sitting, lying, and sleeping on sidewalks across thousands of blocks across LA, including Aetna Street. We also publish a newspaper called Street Views, which features artwork, poetry, personal stories and original reporting on housing and homelessness in LA from the perspective of unhoused people living here in LA.

Links, Social, & Support

Social media: @AetnaStreetSolidarity on Instagram

Support: @Carla-Orendorff on Venmo with note: Aetna Street Solidarity, AetnaStSolidarity on PayPal

Street Views on KCRW: ‘Street Views’ paper tells stories by and for unhoused Angelenos

Open Letter from Aetna Street Residents to Mayor Bass’ Office