We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chelsea Muniz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chelsea below.

Chelsea, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Our group came together the end of 2017 and became a nonprofit in 2019.

Originally, I was doing work with DV survivors and a friend had the idea for the name La Chula Crew, so we combined forces. I had been putting together Women’s care packages and raising funds for Rachel’s Women’s Center in downtown SD. My friend and I got to talking about the work I was doing and she wanted to get involved. Her husband always called us “Chulas” when we or her and other friends got together and that’s where the name La Chula Crew came from.

As an organization, we started with collaborative giveaways to help us build community and get our organization out there. All while raising funds and collecting donations for RWC. Eventually, that led to community building workshops and markets.

Once we started doing more and getting more notice, we saw the need to now become official. Not only to help us do more for others, but also to protect us from legal repercussions. We had to establish ourselves as a business, get permits, clear events with the health & fire department — which all cost us some heavy fines we weren’t prepared for. This did cause some stress and tension within our team behind the scenes. Not only were there financial costs, but also all the mountains of legal paperwork and everything else involved. Unfortunately, not everyone on our team was able to stay on at this point due to the financial and legal requirements. It was costing us on average $700 and so much stress to throw a free community building back alley event. Lots of lessons learned in that process, at least. To help navigate that process, I worked with a lawyer and a financial advisor that I still work with to this day.

From there, we changed it up a bit and went on to holding smaller gatherings and working closely with different vendors and venues. Many of these were healing meditations with some amazing people, Dots One & Catalyst Charlene. We also held a Domestic Violence event with Doll Face Club. It was at these gatherings, or other events we would go to, that we would collect donations and raise funds to help DV survivors in the community.

Since becoming a nonprofit, that has increased our ability to help so much more. We have been able to work with larger corporations like Sprouts, Costco, and Albertsons to receive weekly donations from them. We have also become eligible for grants that have allowed us to offer more resources such as, free lock changes and being escorted out of a dangerous situation. We are so very thankful to be able to offer these safety resources on top of clothing, food, and hygiene care. We even now have a probono lawyer we work with that can offer free legal aid to women in SD.

We continue to hold weekly motivational therapy classes for young mothers and monthly support groups open for anyone to attend. We also have several self care services we offer for survivors of abuse and assault.

On average, our nonprofit is now serving about 1500 folks a month.

It has been quite a journey to get here, and we still have so much farther to go! Can’t wait!

Chelsea, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

La Chula Crew was founded in late 2017 by a small group of women who wanted to better their communities by uplifting folks with positivity and support, helping promote small businesses, empowering individuals, giving back to their communities, and rounding up others who want to do the same. La Chula Crew stands for commUNITY because we believe that there is strength in numbers and unity. The more of us that can give back to our communities, support and empower each other the faster we can create a better place for everyone.

In late 2019, La Chula Crew proudly became a California State Nonprofit. We continue to strive to make our communities a better place to this day.

We consistently support & empower womxn and families by providing essential items and resources. Such as donating new & gently used clothing, underwear, bedding, toiletries, diapers/wipes, camping gear – along with providing resources such as support groups, non-traditional therapy/counseling, protection & safety tools, and more. Anything we can do to help, we are there!

You can find more information and access to services at LaChulaCrew.org

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency and openness. The folks we help depend on us.

Story time. There was a woman that asked me to meet her and help take her and check her into a rehab. I showed up and waited over an hour for her to NOT show up. I saw her 2 weeks later, she asked me to meet her again. So I did. This time she showed up. Now she is in a facility getting the support she needed to get clean. If she needs a ride when she gets out, I told her to give me a call and I’d be there.

My point being, sometimes when we are in the thick of it, it can be hard to show up for ourselves. Doing this type of work, is saying I’ll show up for you even when you can’t show up for yourself.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Not everyone has good intentions.

I had to learn that people coming into a space just to tear it down is a very real thing. A bit naïve of me at first, I thought “hey I’m helping folks, if you’re connecting with me you’re like minded and want to help folks too.” Unfortunately, I have learned the hard way, that isn’t always the case.

I’ve seen this present itself in a few ways, leveling from “that’s messed up” to “that’s dangerous.”

I’ve had folks steal donations, which is messed up to do, but I also think they must have really needed it. Some folks are out here just trying to get information so they can report on people. I’ve had the cops called on me or on folks we are helping. We even had someone call the health department about us serving food. Thankfully, we have all our paperwork in order to protect ourselves and the community we serve.

Contact Info:

• Website: LaChulaCrew.org
• Instagram: LaChulaCrew
• Facebook: LaChulaCrew619
• Twitter: LaChulaCrew

Image Credits
Chelsea Muniz Francisco Muniz Shashney Gordon