Longtime activists Carlos Nieto and Allison Riley are strong advocates for community connection, mutual aid and support for the unhoused.
For years, Nieto has regularly brought and handed out food to the unhoused in parks and Skid Row, then he began discussing with Riley what they could do to address the needs right in their own backyard.
“I thought about how we could share our space and put it to good use,” Riley said.
The activists decided to open a community refrigerator earlier this year on the lawn right in front of their house in Jefferson Park to feed the community. An open sign hangs from the door handle 24/7 because the fridge is never closed.
Nieto and Riley say the refrigerator is for everyone without restriction. Since launching in January, their effort has transformed a neighborhood hanging onto its working-class roots amid gentrification — creating a more close-knit and accepting community that is growing more culturally and socioeconomically diverse.
“People are welcome to take as much as they want and also donate when they can,” Riley said. “That may seem radical, sort of incomprehensible to people to hear ‘take everything you want, whenever you want,’ but the goal is that everybody’s needs be met. That’s our dream for the future.”
People from all walks of life are using the fridge, like Antoinette Jones who said she just moved to the neighborhood after staying at a shelter.
“I had a day when I was sitting here and had no food. I’m not from LA and I didn’t know anyone and didn’t know where there was a food bank,” Jones explained, adding that on that day, she remembered someone dropping a flyer about the community fridge.
“I told myself, ‘Let me find it’ and I did. I googled the location and walked over. The refrigerator saved my life that day,” she said.
How the fridge transformed from idea to action
When the idea for the fridge turned into action, Nieto began by painting a mural on the top corner of their house. The mural was of Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and to run for a major party presidential nomination. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, better known as WIC.
Next to her image he wrote: “Shirley’s Free Food Hub.” Nieto said he wanted to honor Chisolm and her legacy of helping others.
The couple later found a sturdy refrigerator, purchased a shed to protect it — large enough to include a pantry — and positioned it right under Shirley’s portrait. Local artist Quincy Alexander Clemons, also known as “Unyenz,” completed the mural by painting the shed with Shirley’s arms outstretched, holding grocery bags filled with produce. He wrote “Free Food, Comida Gratis” across the shed to catch the attention of those passing by.
To keep his neighbors informed about the fridge, Nieto posts enthusiastic updates on Instagram to let people know “what’s in the fridge?”
“Some of our donations have been staples — bread, milk, eggs, produce and others are unexpected — with sushi, wraps, cake and chocolate,” Nieto said.
The community fridge is a community effort
The community fridge also has volunteers, like Jacqueline Harris and Jamee Cornelia Harris, who moved from Atlanta and said they were looking for a way to connect to their new home community.
They saw one of Neito’s posts on Instagram and decided to volunteer. The couple uses the community fridge, as well.
“It’s hard to function when you’re hungry,” Jacqueline Harris said. “We care about people and that’s why we’re here. We know in this community there is more food insecurity.”
Nieto knows many people are living paycheck to paycheck, and “it’s not only the unhoused people that need food.” He said a lot of working-class people are having to sometimes decide between rent and groceries.
“What we have found out so far is that what we are providing right now is a drop in the bucket,” Nieto said. “We need a lot more donations and volunteers. We can put in food at any given time and it will be gone in four hours, which tells us there is a great need.”
Nieto and Riley are currently collaborating with other mutual aid organizations to stock the fridge and are accepting monetary donations to purchase food when supplies are thin.
“This is about community building,” Riley said. “We can’t depend on the government to help us, we have to help each other.”
