Photo: Sarah McClure

For more than 40 years, founder Mimi Silbert and her Delancey Street Foundation has helped ex-convicts, former drug addicts, prostitutes, and those who have hit rock bottom, to turn around their lives for the better.

Here, residents are given the opportunity to rehabilitate outside of jail and work as an employee at one of Delancey’s businesses, from the moving company to the restaurant.

Every December, Delancey opens its long-awaited Christmas tree lot. All profit raised goes directly back to the foundation. Here, we share the story of one of their newest lot managers and inspiring residents, Robert Pearl.

 

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Sarah McClure loves the colorful writing, and opportunity to connect to larger issues, that Arts & Culture reporting allows—she reads the Times’ Art Beat often. Here, she’s experiencing art on the street that the LA native is accustomed to seeing whiz-by from car windows. She is a Master's degree candidate at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she is specializing in multimedia, Spanish-language reporting and Latin America.

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  2. Delancey is a phenomenal organization and this story comes from my local lot. I always love buying my Christmas tree from them. The people working there are so sweet and helpful and the trees are beautiful! A great Christmas experience and knowing the money goes to such a life-saving program makes it all the better. Christmas spirit in action!

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