Benu Mekhat is a woman not only on a mission but also a woman with a huge heart. Although she has very little, Mekhat distributes essentials to those in dire straits with her nonprofit organization.
“I have a nonprofit called MyNu Lyfe that I established in 2016. It is transitional housing for the homeless. I feed, clothe and give resources six days a week to the less fortunate. I pick up 150 meals a day to feed the children,” Mekhat said.
“I have an after-school program, so I pick up lunches for them,” she added. Each week, Mekhat and her organization help those in need in Leimert Park.
“Monday through Friday, I don’t stop with this. I’ll pick up donations literally every day, or somebody’s coming to drop them off,” she said. Her donations come from many places but her main source of donations are from Facebook followers.
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“I’ve been doing this for 26 years, so people know me, I got grown men that’s older than me calling me ‘Mama.’ Anything that they need, I’m always here to provide, whether it’s clothes, resources, food, anything, they know I will have it,” she insisted.
With her mother, Mekhat started her organization during her career as a home health aide, who was tasked to help her patient clean out her closet.
“I had an Asian client,” she explained. “I went in her house and when I saw she had only the things that she needed, it made me start looking at all the stuff that we have, that we don’t need, that we just want.”
The encounter not only assisted her in beginning her non-profit but made her feel that more should be done to help the community that she loves.
“Look at people on the street and them not have? And I’m like, ‘Nah.’ We have too many resources in Los Angeles or too many resources for people to be homeless,” she said.
“Then, I started doing numbers to find out that we have more vacant property than we have homeless people. So, it started making me do more research. Like, wait, what’s going on? Why are these people homeless?”
She then reached out to the religious leaders of the community to help with her mission of healing and helping those in need. She tused those donations to assist those who are less fortunate even more.
“I started going to churches, giving out food. I did this for three months, I was going to these churches, and I’m gathering all these canned goods to where I can make a meal,” she explained.
“I started cooking stuff at home and went to deliver it to the homeless that were sleeping in the alleys or on the bus stops and stuff. Because when I hear nonprofits giving to the homeless, they’re always going downtown. And I’m like, you are passing up so many hundreds of people that can’t get downtown to go to those programs, who can’t get up to walk and stuff like that.”
Yet, she also assists those in need with employment, housing and other services.
“I’m the reason why in Leimert Park there’s no more homeless people in the park. I don’t have any buildings myself, but I’m like a referral service, so you tell me what you need, and I’m gonna find it for you,” she said. In fact, MMekhat tells how she helps others find housing.
“When people come to me like, ‘I’m tired of being outside. I want to own my own place’. [I’ll say] what type of housing are you looking for? You’re looking to rent a room. I do what I can, I’m a problem solver,” she said.
“I’m gonna find a solution for you the best way I can. And I’m on it so much like that because you’re not the first person that needs help like that.”
She also feels many of those she helps don’t fall into the homeless stereotypes assumed by some.
“I went to school for computer engineering, so I have my certificates in PowerPoint, Access and Excel. So, I don’t fit into anybody’s criteria,” she said.
“That’s what’s happening to a lot of people that’s here on the street. They don’t fall into the criteria that you’re asking for. So that’s why you still have a lot of people out here on the streets that need help.”
Mekhat is located in Leimert Park daily just to help others and accepts donations either in person or through her Facebook page, MyNu Lyfe.
“I accept donations on the daily. They can either call me and drop off the local donations, or if they’re not too far, I don’t have a problem with going to pick them up,” she said.
“But this is not like, ‘Oh, I’m only doing it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or from this time to this time.’ This is what I do.”
