Katina Holliday
By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — As the founder and CEO of Holliday’s Helping Hands, Katina Holliday is fulfilling her purpose.
“Purpose is what keeps us going every day,” Holliday said. “Being able to transform someone’s life. When you see lives being transformed, that is what drives you. You know when you are walking in your purpose. This is mine.”
Since launching her organization as a nonprofit in 2018, Holliday has dedicated her life to creating a path toward permanent housing for thousands of families and individuals across 13 facilities in Los Angeles County.
The organization provides interim housing to families and individuals. It provides a safe environment, nourishing meals, an abundance of services, new friendships and individualized road maps that empower people to find their “journey to home.”
“When we first started, the interim housing was for women who were incarcerated, and women who were pregnant and incarcerated,” Holliday said. “Now we have a single father’s home.
“We work with individuals as well. We provide wrap-around services which include meals, life-coaching, and spiritual services, which include Bible study,” Holliday added. “Since we started that program, 50 people have been saved.
“We have therapy and nursing. We take people to and from their appointments,” she continued. “We have an after-school program. We believe in giving a hand, not a handout. We believe in passing down the legacy of helping and love.”
Since its inception, Holliday Helping Hands has helped more than 3,000 people.
To continue that effort, Holliday’s Helping Hands will host its fourth annual Shining Through Service With Hope fundraising gala at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Regent Hotel in Santa Monica.
The black-tie event will honor Mayor Karen Bass, recording artist Major and World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer Thaddeus Bullard. Grammy-nominated artist Eric Benet will perform, and KTLA’s Jasmine Simpkins will serve as emcee.
Funds raised will directly support Holliday Helping Hands’ four pillars: stable housing, education and employment, health and wellness, and youth development.
Holliday said she hopes to raise $250,000 so the organization can continue to help families and individuals through programs which offer job skills and teach computer basics, how to fill out job applications, how to live on a budget, being a good neighbor, nutrition, parenting skills and much more.
“With that money, we can help projects house to home,” Holliday said. “We will furnish an entire home from bedroom sets, blenders, sheets, towels, whatever a house needs.”
Holliday’s approach to reducing homelessness has helped hundreds of families and individuals find traction in getting off the streets.
Having seen the vicious cycle of homelessness up close as a medical professional, Holliday knew that it would take more than a cot and a sandwich to make a sustainable difference to the 72,000 unhoused in Los Angeles each night.
With more than 25 years of experience in the medical field, she has worked in several departments including the emergency room, intensive care unit, case management, cardiology clinics and primary care clinics. She has served as both director of nursing and administrator on duty.
With a passion fueled by her upbringing in Aberdeen, Mississippi, where her father supported those in need and her grandmother radiated joy as she fed the homeless, Holliday, a married mother of one, has built a dynamic, multilayered program that is transforming lives.
“Coming from Mississippi, I really didn’t see a lot of homelessness,” Holliday said. “Everybody helped everybody. My family is a legacy of givers. I’m just doing what I grew up seeing and experiencing. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Holliday said every layer of the Holliday’s Helping Hands program, which includes a thrift store in Torrance, is anchored in what she calls, “the most powerful bond known to humankind.”
“The immeasurable power of love can transform lives in a way that money alone can’t touch,” Holliday said. “From love comes respect, which is essential to helping the homeless see themselves as capable of getting a permanent home.”
The organization’s approach is built on the belief that every individual deserves respect, dignity and a chance to thrive.
When it comes to the issue of homelessness in Los Angeles, Holliday said it was clear that “Some want to be housed and some don’t.”
“For those that do, it takes money,” she said. “To bring them in, the city needs to have funding. It’s all a process. It’s politics. It takes a long time for things to get approved.
“It’s time to think outside the box,” she added. “Do some shared living spaces, which would bring them in quicker and faster.
“What sets us apart is our focus on building relationships and providing individualized support,” said Holliday. “We don’t just provide a roof over someone’s head; we offer ‘a hand up, not a handout.’”
Holliday’s Helping Hands goal is to empower people to find their ‘Journey to Home.’
“I would feed them and clothe them,” she said. “You have to care. I cared. My approach was different. I feel that if people see something different, they can do something different.”
Holliday has been recognized with numerous awards for her work in the community.
“Our work is not just about providing temporary solutions,” Holliday said. “It’s about creating a community that supports and uplifts one another. We believe that every individual has the potential to thrive, and we’re committed to helping them achieve that.”
Holliday’s efforts are far-reaching.
In addition to founding Holliday’s Helping Hands in her hometown of Aberdeen, Mississippi, she built a 30,000-square-foot shopping center, The Pointe, which includes an urgent care facility and a 20,000-square-foot grocery store, Freshly’s Market. Holliday also has founded HHH Real Estate Investments, which, among other endeavors, provides temporary housing to those displaced by natural disasters and other factors.
Holliday said her organization’s expansion plan includes bringing in more beds abd getting seniors and families into more affordable housing.
As Holliday’s Helping Hands continues to grow and expand its services, Holliday remains focused on its mission: “Sharing God’s light and love in tangible ways that transform lives every day on the journey to permanent housing.”
Running an organization like Holliday’s Helping Hands can sometimes be grueling work, but Holliday said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“At the end of the day, I feel amazing,” she said. “I thank God He chose me to do this work. I pray to be grounded. I pray He continues to use me.”
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
