Homies Empowerment

What Homies Empowerment does

Homies Empowerment is a people-of-color-led, grassroots nonprofit founded in 2009 in East Oakland, California by co-founders Lizbeth Gomez and Cesar A. Cruz. The organization advances food sovereignty, youth leadership, and community healing in historically-marginalized East Oakland neighborhoods through an integrated portfolio of programs: the FREEdom Store (barrier-free food distribution), the FREEdom Farm (urban agriculture supplying the Store, School, and Kitchen), a 24/7 Community Fridge, the Homies Helping Homies Thrift Store, the Care Center, weekly Homies Dinners, and recurring community events including TOWN NIGHTS and an annual Toy Drive. In September 2023, the organization extended into formal education by launching The Freedom School, an alternative high school built on a "Warrior, Scholar, Healer, Hustler" developmental model.

The organization has no proprietary technology product. Operating infrastructure is built on commodity tools—Mailchimp for The Town Newsletter, a Classy.org donation page (giving.classy.org/campaign/670300/donate), Google Forms for volunteer intake, and a WordPress website—and physical service delivery occurs through four clustered sites on MacArthur Blvd plus the separately-administered Freedom School. The business model is purely donation-funded: all services are provided free to community members, with no ID required, no fees, and no commercial revenue streams. Distribution is volunteer-staffed and bilingual (English, Spanish, Mam).

Beneficiaries are concentrated in East Oakland, with the Mam-speaking immigrant community reached via a 2020 partnership with indigenous-language radio station Radio B'alam. Strategic partners include the Urban Services YMCA (founding-era host), La Familia Clinic (healthcare at events), East Oakland Collective, the City of Oakland Department of Violence Prevention, and the Native American Health Center. The organization operates as an independent, founder-led entity with no parent company, no venture funding, and no disclosed institutional ownership.

Name

Homies Empowerment

Legal name

Homies Empowerment

Website

https://homiesempowerment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Homies Empowerment is a people-of-color-led, grassroots nonprofit founded in 2009 in East Oakland that advances food sovereignty, youth leadership, and community healing through free food distribution, urban farming, an alternative high school, and community events serving East Oakland residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Organization operates primarily through donations, accepting contributions via their Classy.org campaign page (giving.classy.org/campaign/670300/donate). Community fridge donations also accepted. Services are provided free to community members.
2. Newsletter Subscriptions: Publishes newsletters (The Town Newsletter) to engage community and supporters. Uses Mailchimp platform.
3. Community Fridge Donations: Accepts food donations for their 24/7 community fridge at 7637 MacArthur Blvd. Volunteers support redistribution model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Homies Empowerment is a people-of-color-led grassroots nonprofit that runs the Freedom Store (free fresh food distribution), Freedom Farm (urban agriculture), the Freedom School (alternative high school), a 24/7 Community Fridge, and recurring community events such as TOWN NIGHTS, Homies Dinners, and an annual Toy Drive. All programs are offered free of charge to East Oakland residents with no ID or other barriers to access.

Product overview

Homies Empowerment is a people-of-color-led grassroots organization that offers a portfolio of interconnected community programs rather than a traditional tech product. The core offerings include: the Freedom Store (free food distribution), the Freedom Farm (urban agriculture producing food for the store and school), and the Freedom School (an alternative high school). Supporting programs include Homies Dinners (weekly community meals), a 24/7 Community Fridge for food access, and community events like TOWN NIGHTS (free carnivals) and annual Toy Drives. The organization focuses on food sovereignty, youth leadership development, and collective resilience building in East Oakland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Freedom Store: Community-led initiative providing fresh, nutritious food for free to East Oakland and Bay Area community through radical free groceries redistribution.
• The Freedom Farm
• The Care Center
• Homies Helping Homies Thrift Store
• The Freedom School

Products and services

• Freedom Store Community-led initiative providing free fresh, nutritious food to East Oakland and Bay Area residents, distributing items sourced from partners and local businesses with no ID required.
• Freedom Farm Urban agricultural space in East Oakland producing fresh produce for distribution through the Freedom Store and Freedom School; offers workshops on sustainable agriculture, seed-saving, and community gardening.
• The Freedom School High school operated by Homies Empowerment supporting individual and community emancipation through the development of the Warrior, Scholar, Healer, and Hustler within each student.
• Community Fridge 24/7 accessible refrigerator at 7637 MacArthur Blvd where community members can access donated fresh, unexpired, sealed food items at any time.
• Homies Dinners Weekly community gatherings held since 2009 where youth, neighbors, and community members share meals, reflect, and build relationships rooted in solidarity and love.
• TOWN NIGHTS Free community carnival events held at Arroyo Viejo Park featuring food, games, prizes, and resources from partner organizations for East Oakland families, drawing 300-470+ attendees per event.
• Toy Drive Annual community toy distribution event providing toys and meals to families in need, organized with volunteers and community partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 449 families served at toy drive
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• La Familia CliniccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2024Healthcare partner present at community events including the annual toy drive. Provides free flu shots, COVID vaccines, and testing at events. Part of ongoing community health outreach collaboration.
• East Oakland CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaboration for TOWN NIGHTS community events. East Oakland Collective participated in making events successful by providing services and resources at carnival events in 2023.
• Department of Violence PreventioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Government partner supporting TOWN NIGHTS events. Participated in community events helping provide services and resources. Aligned with organization's violence prevention mission.
• Native American Health CenterminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Healthcare and community service partner participating in TOWN NIGHTS carnival events. Provided health-related services and resources at community events.
• Amigo Ayuda A Tu AmigominorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Community partner participating in TOWN NIGHTS event on 06/16/23, contributing to event success.
• Radio B'alamminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Online radio station serving Oakland's immigrant Mam community with local news, music, and community conversations in the indigenous Mam language. Featured in Oaklandside article about serving immigrant communities.
• Urban Services YMCAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Initial partnership formed in 2009 when co-founders Lizbeth Gomez and Cesar A. Cruz worked at a continuation school. Urban Services YMCA provided space for Homies Dinners at the Eastlake YMCA building on 45th Ave in East Oakland. Wednesday night gatherings were held there, with young people, neighbors, and community members sharing meals and building trust.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• The Unity Council: Long-established Oakland community development corporation offering a broad portfolio of services (workforce, housing, youth, cultural programs) in the Fruitvale / East Oakland area. Comparable geographic focus and community-empowerment mission, but operates as a multi-program, much larger CDC.
• Alameda County Community Food Bank: The largest food bank serving Alameda County, distributing millions of pounds of food annually through a partner network. Comparable in food-distribution function but operates at vastly larger scale and through institutional channels rather than grassroots community organizing.

Direct peers

• Mandela Partners: Oakland nonprofit focused on food access, small business development, and community health across West and East Oakland. Operates a food distribution and cooperative development model that directly overlaps with Homies Empowerment's FREEdom Store.
• Dig Deep Farms: Alameda County urban agriculture and food access initiative producing fresh food for distribution in underserved communities. Operates a similar farm-to-community food access pipeline as Homies Empowerment's Freedom Farm.
• People's Grocery: Oakland-based grassroots food justice organization working on healthy food access, urban agriculture, and community economic development in low-income neighborhoods. Highly comparable mission and operating geography to Homies Empowerment's food sovereignty work.
• Youth ALIVE!: Oakland-based violence prevention and youth development nonprofit. Highly comparable in mission (youth empowerment, violence prevention, community healing) and shares the same Department of Violence Prevention partner ecosystem as Homies Empowerment.
• Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project: Oakland-based nonprofit operating an urban farm run by and for youth, combining food access with youth leadership development. Closely mirrors Homies Empowerment's farm-plus-youth empowerment model.

Regional players

• Hope Center Oakland: Oakland-based community services organization offering food, housing support, and basic-need assistance in the same East Oakland geography. Comparable in providing no-barrier food and community services to vulnerable residents.

Emerging players

• Eastside Arts Alliance: Oakland-based cultural and community organizing group rooted in people-of-color-led frameworks. Comparable in grassroots, culturally-rooted, East Oakland community-organizing identity and is a current partner of Homies Empowerment at TOWN NIGHTS events.
• Attitudinal Healing Connection: Oakland nonprofit offering arts-based healing, youth leadership, and family services in historically marginalized Oakland communities. Comparable in combining youth empowerment, community healing, and culturally-rooted programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/homiesempowerment
• Xx.com/HomiesEmpower

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Homies Empowerment