Have you ever noticed how book clubs are more than just reading a book in a group?

One nonjudgmental conversation at a time, supported by the League’s respected materials, can positively affect the youth vote, as well as disaffected, disillusioned, or underinformed voters.

“It’s complex not to be extractive,” she reflects, including around labor practices. It’s hard to wrap our minds around the fact that we’re “paying” with our previously donated “labor.” Modern life teaches efficiency, convenience, and transactions. Trusting strangers asks for something different.

That's the paradox of service. So often, while we're trying to change someone else's life, our own quietly changes first.

Before the truck arrives, the quilts made that year at St. Paul’s are displayed in the sanctuary, draped over pews and unfurled like flags representing a harmonious galaxy, the fabric version of the stained glass windows. “After the trucks are packed, we say a blessing that what we made with love and care brings comfort to people who need it most,” Sylvia says.

What would happen if we made it easier for Santa Monica residents to gather, learn, share resources, and find small ways into community?

Our second anniversary is a celebration of our collective accomplishments and an invitation to the future. Whether you've been with us since day one or are just discovering Bahala, there’s a place for you here.

Feeling disenchanted with the U.S., financial markets, and capitalism, she wanted to live in nature. “I realized the world was my oyster,” she says.

Through metamorphosis coaching, cacao ceremonies, sound medicine, and art medicine, Quinne creates spaces where people can reconnect with that wisdom. “These are simply tools," she says. “They're toys, really. Beautiful invitations to meet yourself again.”

Sparked this past January in Minneapolis after federal agents killed Renée Good, people spontaneously began singing in the streets and in churches to funnel their heartbreak, fear, and feelings of helplessness into community solidarity and as a key part of the network formed to protect each other. 

“Book clubs are like any communal group, including democracy,” Carlo quips. “How to create the right amount of choice, how decisions are made, how to create equity and a semblance of order, book clubs are fascinating microcosms of all that. They’re good practice for being citizens and community members.” 

At its core, Civic Bites is designed as an evening counterpart to traditional book clubs or community talks. The idea is to spark a fun atmosphere where we can be together and learn together. Not a stuffy lecture hall with a bombastic professor, nor the heady chaos of a partisan rally. 

Communitas in Pictures, featuring community leader and Bahalan, Maria Rodriguez.

The Ladies’ Literary Club of Ypsilanti, Michigan, still running 148 years later with over 100 members, owns a beautiful building where they hold twice-monthly meetings.

People want to do right by the workers who support their families, but they don’t always know how.

Santa Monica celebrated the Main Street Community Garden’s 50th anniversary by honoring the community garden that began in 1976 after residents advocated for dedicated urban gardening space. The event highlighted five decades of local stewardship with a morning of garden tours, music, and hands-on activities. Civic infrastructure rooted in shared green space!

The Early Childhood Task Force joined with SMPL and community partners to transform Virginia park into a farm!

LA Yarn Crawl

Festival of Books at USC

The act of making the cards is just as meaningful as receiving them. Rooted in principles similar to art therapy, the process invites participants to slow down, breathe, and create with intention.