Founder's Story

My name is Pamela Marshall. I was once a woman navigating homelessness across Los Angeles - including Skid Row - while carrying the weight of addiction, disability, and unhealed trauma. By God’s grace and through the compassion of others, I overcame things that once felt impossible. Today, I understand that those hardships did not define me; they shaped me and prepared me for my purpose.

My recovery began right there on Skid Row. I asked God to turn my pain into purpose, and He did. I entered into treatment and began applying AA’s 12-Step Program to my life. Then, I moved into sober living. When I finally secured affordable housing, my healing deepened - because as I learned firsthand, housing is health.

Later, I was hired as a Peer Advocate. During my first week, my team referred me to the Corporation for Supportive Housing. I was interviewed, selected, and trained as a C.S.H. Speak Up Advocate, learning how to use my voice and my story to influence systems, policies, and public understanding.

Having stability, surrounded by supportive people, with goals and having something to look forward to each day opened the door to rebuilding my life, and stepping fully into my purpose.

My work continued to grow. My lived experience gave me a deeper level of compassion, connection, and the ability to meet people exactly where they were - without judgment. My colleagues suggested case management but I wasn't so sure. Ultimately it was my case manager who pushed me to become a case manager, myself. I served for several years as a residential case manager, and later as a housing navigator in the same communities where I had once struggled.

Every step of my journey taught me that healing is possible, hope is powerful, and every person deserves dignity. Even in my darkest moments, I had visions for greater things forming inside me. I was so grateful to have a career that for a long time I pushed aside my dreams and simply continued working for different programs.

My disabilities worsened, and a car accident took me off work. Still, the dreams and ideas kept growing. My desire to simply feed people became impossible to ignore, especially with our housing crisis constantly growing. I thought about Hope Street and the little soup kitchen I started with my youngest daughter’s help during the beginning of the pandemic while all of the missions were closed and the people who depended on the missions for meals were struggling. During the government shutdown, that vision returned - but stronger, clearer, and rooted in purpose.

Out of that vision, The Community Bread began to take shape.

Today, The Community Bread wants to inspire understanding, connection, and support. Our first step is simple but meaningful: serving neighbors in need of a decent meal, offering resources and genuine human connection. When we secure a building we will be able to offer supportive services and direct people towards affordable housing. We will offer job training workshops, peer led groups, recovery solutions adding pathways toward stability.

We want to meet people with empathy, respect, and practical support. And we invite volunteers, donors, and community partners to join this movement of compassion.

My story is just one example of what becomes possible when people are met with kindness, stability, and support. Through this organization, my hope is to extend that same grace to others - one neighbor at a time.