Lived Experiences is a nonprofit two brothers started in a church basement, and then took on the road, bringing food and laundry services to North County communities.
Now, they have a new home with big dreams for the future.
"Dreams come true," said Oscarin Ortega, the founder of the organization. "This is a long time coming ... we started at the bottom of a church with the same idea that we could have a safe space to provide love, peace and opportunity."
Oscarin and Lalo Ortega used to organize mobile food distributions and hauled around a free laundry trailer to different communities.
"Before it would have to be one day in Carlsbad, one day in Oceanside," said Lalo. "We would spread ourselves out thin."
Now, those resources are being offered at Lived Experiences’ physical location in Oceanside.
"People can come by and do some laundry, play some loteria, some Zumba classes. It's great," Lalo said.
The Ortega brothers want to create a community space, especially for the youth.
"These are a lot of things that we didn't grow up with ... a lot of times we didn't have food. We never had washers and dryers. Mentors. These things mean a lot to us," Lalo said.
They had hoped to add more computers for kids and resources for the community, but their funding has hit a bump in the road.
The brothers said they were expecting a $150,000 grant from the Latino Coalition, but it got rescinded in the last federal budget.
"We call ourselves the 'brokest-richest' nonprofit out there. The money that we do get is just going right back into the community," Lalo said.
For now, they are relying on community support from people like Henry Ocampo, a lowrider bike enthusiast who is sharing his passion with youngsters.
"We’re trying to figure out ways to just build bikes. Have kids come in, get them off the streets, get them to do something positive, and show that our community can do something beautiful, something that shines, something that's, you know, eye-catching," Ocampo said.
The bikes are also available for the public to rent, as a way to generate income for the center.
The center offers services like a small gym, youth groups and a diaper bank.
"It's very helpful because you never know what people are going through. And to know that they have a place like this — it's awesome," said Ginette Curtis, who came to the center to get diapers for her newborn. "You don't see this everywhere. And I feel like back in the days when I was a child, there wasn't any stuff like this."
The center is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 610 North Redondo Dr. in Oceanside.
The brothers’ goal is to offer more classes and resources in the North County.
"The way we see ourselves is, there's the Boys and Girls Club, there's YMCA, and then there's Lived Experiences. So we want to definitely not be competitive, but we want to be a natural kind of resource center for others. And that's a natural support system for the community," Oscarin said.
