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

Lynn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

The Kindred Center provides services to seniors experiencing homelessness and dealing with mental health disabilities in a sober and independent living permanent supportive housing environment. In February of 2018 we were featured on KTLA for finding a missing senior. The senior was crying and sitting in a nearby McDonald’s and three good samaritan’s helped the senior find housing. Before being welcomed at The Kindred Center, the good samaritan’s allowed the senior to live with them for 3 or 4 days until they found housing for the senior. They had visited multiple organizations and housing programs, but when they visited The Kindred Center, the senior told them “This is my home. This is where I want to stay.” Three days later, a staff member seen the senior’s picture on KTLA morning news. The senior was reunited with her family but chose to remain at The Kindred Center as their resident. The senior remained at The Kindred Center for two years until the family found different permanent housing for the senior.

Most of the housing for seniors in the Los Angeles area is not budget friendly for a fixed income. Some of our residents have attempted to become residents in the senior communities, but do not qualify because of their lack of income and/or their Medicare status. The Kindred Center is their middle ground because we can house them even if they have a lack of income and/or Medicare. Although the seniors lack socioeconomic status, The Kindred Center can provide services that will benefit the senior’s whole well-being and daily living necessities. For instance, we can provide shelter, food, mental health services, and medical services as needed as well as assist in obtaining identifying documents (i.e. birth certificate, state id, social security card, etc.) and funding from governing entities and community organizations.

Lynn, 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?

The Kindred Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides permanent supportive housing for seniors (individuals 55+) in a sober and independent living environment who are experiencing homelessness and dealing with mental health disabilities. We provide freshly prepared meals; medical services bi-weekly and monthly; mental health services weekly and monthly as well as assist with obtaining legal identifying documents, such as California state ID. and financial assistance from state and local programs. The home-like atmosphere is a shared living space with 2 people per bedroom and shared bathrooms. The male and female residents are separated and live in different houses. The home-like atmosphere is quiet, but all residents treat each other with respect and like family members including the staff. There are rules and there is an 8 pm curfew which we adopted when we had a younger population to keep residents in a safe environment.

The change was difficult because we needed to cultivate new relationships with community organizations near our new location and some partnerships that were established in the West Los Angeles area did not carry over. We lost some residents during the initial move. Once settled in the new location, a few more residents decided to move on. We had to rebuild by hitting the pavement, passing out flyers, sending email blasts, building a social media presence, and cold calling which we continue to do today when we have open beds that need to be filled or a community event. Our friends and family have been a helpful resource by referring potential residents as well. Consequently, we refer individuals to other organizations if they choose for us to assist them whether they are residents wanting to move, potential residents, or seeking information.

The core of The Kindred Center is to assist the county and city of Los Angeles shelter the most vulnerable population experiencing homelessness and seniors are one of those populations, Homelessness does not only mean the person is living on the street. It could be a person being evicted, living house to house, living in a hotel, short term housing program, being released from the criminal justice system with no housing support, or their car. The Kindred Center is here to encourage the individual, foster positive behavioral changes, and improve situational emotional well-being while connecting with the community to further promote independent growth.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Richard and I met in 1999 at Skate Depot in Cerritos, CA on a Sunday at their family session. He went on Sundays to practice, and I was there with my great niece and nephew, and daughter. As of today, Skate Depot has been closed for 9 years which is saddening to the skate community and family that we created as skaters. We are both avid skaters as well as my daughter. We grew up in various skating rinks throughout the Los Angeles area that are now closed. We still skate together at local skating rinks near the Los Angeles area and far away. It gives us a way to distress for the day and weekly grind as well as find common ground with a taste of balance in our work and personal life.

We were married in December of 2001 after 2 years of dating. We both were divorcees that wanted to remarry, grow old with someone, and not alone. We are a blended family with 3 adult children, five grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. We cherish family time which helps us stay grounded along with taking time to go camping a couple of times a year. We listen to music, take long drives, laugh, have fun, and have quiet time, so we don’t get on one another’s nerves.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

We, Richard and I, used our savings to pay for the fees associated with the documents needed to start the business. We continued to use our savings to repair the building in West Los Angeles before opening the doors in March of 2015 for business. The blessing came from the owner of the building and property by allowing The Kindred Center to flourish without paying rent for nearly three years before we moved to the South Los Angeles area in 2016.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheKindredCenter.org
• Instagram: TheKindredCenter
• Facebook: The Kindred Center
• Yelp: The Kindred Center