Hopes and Dreams

I am raising three boys in Los Angeles…

And I was raising them in a beautiful bubble — one where it was safe to walk home alone at night, where opportunities were just at our fingertips, where an extended family of neighbors and friends helped care for them. That Palisades bubble is now gone, reduced to ash along with our homes, our schools, and the places that held our shared stories.

And yet, even in this loss, my role as a mother remains the same. I once believed this bubble provided everything my boys needed — a sense of security, community and endless opportunities. But over time, I realized that to truly grow into themselves, they needed more than safety and comfort. They needed their perspectives to be challenged, their comfort-zones breached. It has always been my job to expand their view of the world,... to stand beside them in discomfort and to model what open-mindedness, integrity and kindness look like — not as abstract ideals, but as a way of living.

Now, more than ever, I feel the urgency of that responsibility. In the wake of this devastation, I want them to understand resilience isn’t just about rebuilding what we’ve lost, but about expanding how we see the world and who we see as part of our community. That real strength comes not from turning inward, but from stepping outside what’s familiar—learning from, showing up for, and being in solidarity with others whose struggles and experiences may be very different from our own.

That is why I decided to create Ama-LA. Ama-LA exists to make it easier for us to make civic-mindedness and social conscience a priority — not just when it is convenient, but when it matters most. We all have so many demands pulling at us just to keep afloat, but this coming together… reaching across bubbles even when they have been shattered, to find our common humanity — asking how we can help and then delivering… this is what provides the real buoyancy of life.

We’d love to hear from you!

xMeghan

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO GET INVOLVED:  hello@AMA-la.org