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Guardians of the AV

Lancaster, CA · Phase 0 · Antelope Valley pilot

Everyone deserves
a way back.

Find food, work, transportation, resources, and community support in one place.

The people who run these systems already say it — on the record

Custody doesn't save people. The tough part is being out.

A county probation chief

On reentry — the system holds someone, then releases them with no plan at the exact moment they need one.

Six populations. Six funders. Six systems that can't see each other — so people fall through at the exact moment they need catching most. We don't pretend to fix that on our own. Guardians of the AV helps the Antelope Valley's neighbors get real meals and basics, and helps the people already doing this work move a little faster.

See the receipts

Where we are — Phase 0, live

Field validation is underway in the Antelope Valley — with outreach workers, shelter operators, and the people living through it.

Building toward the first meal credits at partner restaurants.

See what we're building

Antelope Valley · LAHSA 2025 PIT · Lancaster/Palmdale pilot

Same gap. Different door.

Mental-health discharge
Antelope Valley crisis-bed capacity · figures being gathered
Domestic Violence Support
DV calls for service · Antelope Valley figures being gathered
Foster youth
children in Antelope Valley foster care · figures being gathered
Housing instability
6,753
experiencing homelessness in the Antelope Valley · LAHSA 2025 PIT, ~81% unsheltered
People leaving jail
Antelope Valley reentry · figures being gathered
Veterans
unhoused vets in the Antelope Valley · figures being gathered

Six populations, six funders, six systems that don't talk to each other. Guardians of the AV is a coordination layer that helps these pieces work together a little better — starting with homelessness in the Antelope Valley. We don't claim to solve homelessness; we help neighbors get real meals and basics, and help outreach workers move faster.

How the coordination works

A little more coordination, where it's missing.

Six systems touch a person at the moment things break — a jail release, a hospital discharge, a foster placement ending. Today none of them can see the others, so people fall through the cracks between them. We can't make those systems whole, but we can give the people working in them a shared view — and make sure a neighbor gets a real meal and the basics while the handoff happens.

Today — six systems, no shared view

Sheriff
Jail release
Hospital
ER discharge
Psychiatric hold
Crisis hold ends
Foster care
Aging out at 21
Outreach
Losing housing
Military
Military separation
Guardians of the AV — a shared coordination layer

One record per person · a shared view for the agencies that opt in · warm handoffs, tracked.

The result: when someone hits the next transition, a bed, an appointment, or a voucher is already waiting — instead of one more person falling through.

What we're building

A coordination layer, in five parts.

Who you are · how we can work

Six ways to meet us.

I need help

The resource map works without a login. Emergency resources need nothing — no account, no ID, no questions.

Open the resource map

I want to support

A small donation funds a real meal at a real restaurant. We document every dollar.

Support the work

I'm in local government

We feed your reporting workflows, we don't replace anyone. See the Antelope Valley pitch + funding logic.

See the operational pitch

I'm a potential partner

Shelter, library, restaurant, recovery program, county service — five minutes tells us if there's a fit.

Talk to us

I'm a journalist

Facts, sources, photos, founder available. Antelope Valley data with citations as it's gathered.

Read the receipts

I'm just curious

Watch the 8-min overview, or follow one composite person — Marcus — through Tier 0 to Tier 4.

Meet Marcus

Phase 0 · The pilot goal

What it takes to support 10 people

Not an abstraction — a number we can hit. This is the Antelope Valley pilot: 10 of the unsupported, fed for a month, with real meals at real local restaurants.

Monthly goal · meals

$7K

$6,900.00 / month

Per person · month

$600.00

~2 meals a day, funded to what's actually used

With the basics

$9K

Meals + rides, clothing, laundry, grooming

$7K a month feeds 10 of the unsupported — every dollar follows a real redemption, and what isn't used returns to the pot.

From the founder

“I'm not going to wait for someone to make a change when I can be the change.”

— Aaron Turner, founder

Stand with us

Help us build this.

Phase 0 is underway — Anadora Turner, MSW (USC), and the field-validation team are talking to outreach workers, shelter operators, reentry coordinators, foster-youth advocates, behavioral-health discharge planners, and the people living through all of this every day. The first dollars go to field interviews, alpha hosting, and the first meal credits at partner restaurants in Lancaster and Palmdale.

Not a donor? Partner your org · Volunteer · Follow along

One-time or monthly. Tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Social Good Fund (a 501(c)(3)).

© 2026 Guardians of the AV · Operator-built. Field-validated. Dignity-first.
Housing & social services:211Suicide & crisis:988LA County Mobile Crisis:(707) 547-1500LA County domestic violence:1-866-487-7233National domestic violence:1-800-799-7233