Business Cares

The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Homelessness Committee shares these stories from our members as inspirational examples for local businesses and organizations to follow. These Business Cares Honorees have not only advanced our efforts to end homelessness, but have also positively impacted their own employees, operations, and community as a whole.

Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.

Downtown Santa Monica’s Business Improvement District (BID) has consistently been an active community partner throughout their 20 years . . . and the Dolphin donations are just the beginning. Their contributions come from their staff members, who over the years have been encouraged to participate on boards, committees and events of nearly every non profit in the district. One specific contribution we are acknowledging today is the hiring of workers from Chrysalis to do maintenance in downtown in support of City services. Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. recognized this as a win-win opportunity: a cleaner district with deserving workers getting a chance to change their lives.

Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel

In keeping with Loews Good Neighbor philosophy, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel has been involved with Meals on Wheels West since 1994, providing twenty meals a day for MOW West’s homebound participants. In their 17-year history with the program, this totals over 124,000 “angel-delivered” meals. The Loews donates function space, labor and $8,000 in complimentary food and beverage services, all while hosting an MOW annual fundraiser. By encouraging their executives, managers and team members to get involved with their local communities, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel is a shining example of community partnerships in action.

MTV Networks

For the past several years, a group of volunteers from the Santa Monica division of MTV have donated their time, talents and resources to OPCC. Whether they are making lunches, sorting and handing out clothing, or taking information at the front desk, everything is done with a positive attitude. In addition, at the end of each visit, volunteers leave with a better understanding of OPCC. In MTV’s own words: ”At Viacom / MTV Networks, we like to use our powers for good. We support pro-social initiatives, which raise awareness about important social, educational, health, environmental and other current issues. Our partnerships with leading nonprofit organizations, are an integral part of the work we do every day. We’re proud to champion the causes that matter to our audiences and their communities.”

Santa Monica Place

Santa Monica nonprofits are lucky to have a great community partner in Santa Monica Place. This world class shopping mall encourages all employees to volunteer at local nonprofits. Their community room is always available and the businesses in Santa Monica Place follow their lead. An amazing leader in the public-private partnership model, the City garages at Santa Monica Place hire Chrysalis workers for their overnight cleaning crews, helping dozens of workers over the last 4 years onto the road to self sufficiency. It’s all part of Santa Monica Place’s policy of community partnership.

Shutters on the Beach & Hotel Casa Del Mar

Hotels have to be sure about who they are hiring and who is representing them, so when Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa Del Mar committed to helping those Santa Monicans who were transitioning from homelessness, they put their image on the line. And, like many of our honorees, the impetus comes from the top to successfully implement the program of hiring individuals, many of whom are looking for their first job in years. CEO Tim Dubois is committed to Chrysalis, but also on board are his HR director, facilities department, and managers at both hotels. In going the extra mile to help Chrysalis clients, these hotels have hired 18 Chrysalis Enterprise workers in the last year alone!