Let's build a community where we can grow and thrive.
Good Seed's mission is to help our clients thrive through healthcare and housing. We provide specialized services so that people have the tools to overcome challenges, the ability to realize their goals and dreams, and the chance to live healthy and meaningful lives.
Born out of Good Seed Church; outreach projects since 2014
Status
Community Development Corporation · 501(c)(3)
Reach
1,000+ people a year across Los Angeles County; offices in Long Beach, South LA and Tukwila, WA
Our story
It started with transition-age youth. It didn't stop there.
Birthed out of Good Seed Church, Good Seed CDC was originally established to provide supportive services exclusively for transition-age youth, ages 18–25. It has since expanded to serve women, families and older adults — and, through ASCENT, people coming home from incarceration — creating an environment where they can thrive, grow and achieve their full potential.
We provide supportive, nurturing and specialized care throughout Southern California through temporary and supportive housing, comprehensive services, intensive case management, street outreach, and individualized planning and placement. Our aim is to ensure our clients have the tools they need to realize their goals and become healthy, productive members of society.
Good Seed's staff understand that a human connection — non-intrusive and compassionate — is necessary to plant the seeds of trust.
Four approaches
Intensive care management — one worker, one plan, for as long as it takes.
Community engagement — street outreach, drop-in centers, mental health promoters.
Innovative special projects — the things a neighborhood asks for.
How we work
Every staff member is trained in Psychological First Aid and Trauma-Informed Care. We practice Housing First, harm reduction and Motivational Interviewing, and we track outcomes by race, gender and disability so that support is equitable. Peer support specialists with lived experience are part of every team.
Leadership & team
The people behind the doors.
Clinicians, managers and mentors who show up every day for the young people and adults we serve.
Clinical Director
CrystalMSW, LCSW
Crystal is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and doctoral student who serves as a Housing Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Development Authority’s Housing Advisory Committee, appointed by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell. She previously directed Adult Intensive Services at the Southern California Health & Rehabilitation Program (SCHARP), leading multidisciplinary teams serving adults with severe mental illness, homelessness and legal involvement. A Coro Southern California Women in Leadership fellow, she holds an MSW from USC.
Associate Marriage & Family Therapist
JenniferAMFT
Jennifer is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and ICF Associate Certified Coach who works with teens, adults, couples and families. Her integrative approach draws on family systems, CBT, Internal Family Systems and somatic practices, and her clinical background includes youth shelter work at Noah’s Anchorage and the Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Center. She holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University.
Clinical Director
AudreyLCSW
Audrey brings more than 30 years of mental health leadership to Good Seed as Clinical Director. She spent 26 years at Crittenton Services for Children and Families, most recently as Vice President of Community Based Programs and, before that, Vice President of Integrated Behavioral Health. She holds an MSW in clinical social work from Cal State Long Beach and a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA.
Mental Health Clinical Supervisor
LuisLCSW
Luis is Good Seed’s Mental Health Clinical Supervisor and a psychotherapist who believes good mental health can change a person’s life, and in turn strengthen a community. He works with adults facing depression, anxiety, stress, self-confidence and gender-related concerns and the effects of trauma, blending solution-focused and cognitive behavioral therapy with strength-based skills, motivational interviewing and mindfulness. His own experience as an immigrant shapes the empathy, cultural humility and direct, relaxed style he brings to every session, creating a safe space where clients set realistic goals and feel motivated to do the work.
Quality Assurance
ShenikaMPH
Shenika holds a Master of Public Health and leads quality assurance, making sure our programs meet the standards our clients, partners and funders count on.
Chief Financial Officer
JustinCPA
Justin is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 15 years in nonprofit finance. He served six years as Chief Financial Officer of Olive Crest, a child welfare nonprofit, led grants and accounting at Drew Child Development Corporation, and began his career auditing nonprofits and federal Single Audit programs at Onisko & Scholz. He holds a B.S. in Accountancy from Cal State Long Beach and serves as a director of Southland Credit Union.
U.S. Air Force veteran
Cameron
Cameron is a former U.S. Air Force officer and MQ-9 pilot who served in a senior standards and evaluations role and was competitively selected as a squadron Liaison Officer. Before the Air Force he coached high school football and served as an assistant athletic director, mentoring young people on and off the field. He holds a B.S. in Business Economics from UC Davis and is completing an M.S. in Organizational Leadership at Western Kentucky University.
Project Manager
Darius
Darius is Good Seed’s Project Manager. He plans and coordinates projects across our programs, keeping timelines, teams and partners on track so that services reach the people who need them.
Data Analyst
Noah
Noah is a Data Analyst who turns program data into clear reporting and dashboards that help our team track outcomes, improve services and show partners and funders the difference our work makes.
Executive Director
Jonathan
Jonathan is the Executive Director of Good Seed Community Development Corporation (CDC), a South Los Angeles nonprofit providing comprehensive housing and wraparound social services to transition-age young men and women, ages 18–25. Under his leadership, Good Seed has built a model of care grounded in a simple conviction: that young people stabilize fastest in places that look and feel like real homes, not institutions.
A Los Angeles native, Jonathan brings an unusual combination of skills to the nonprofit sector. Before leading Good Seed, he spent many years in real estate development as a commercial broker and licensed general contractor, while simultaneously founding and operating a local food bank. Compelled to put those talents in service of others and to carry forward the legacy of Good Seed Ministries’ Homeless Outreach Program and Services, he designed and built the supportive housing that transition-age youth now call home.
His commitment to young people predates his career. A former competitive swimmer and water polo player, Jonathan began working as a lifeguard for the City of Los Angeles, then served as a pool manager and coach before attending college. He went on to study Sociology and International Development at George Washington University. More recently, he has volunteered with nonprofits building and renovating youth shelters across Mexico.
Jonathan is a dedicated lifelong learner. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management and has completed Extreme Ownership leadership training with Echelon Front, the firm founded by former U.S. Navy SEAL officers. His leadership and entrepreneurial spirit were recognized in 2007 when he was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Black Business Association Awards, presented by then-Assembly Member Curren Price, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Travel, for Jonathan, is a form of study. He has lived and studied in Taiwan, Costa Rica, China, and Inner Mongolia, and trained in martial arts in Thailand and the Philippines. He backpacked through the rainforests of Guatemala to Tikal, exploring the ancient Mayan city alongside local archaeologists, traveled to Rwanda to understand how a society descends into genocide and how it rebuilds afterward, and was in Yerevan, Armenia, at the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial in April 2021, on the day the United States formally recognized the Armenian Genocide. He has also journeyed to Israel to walk the historic roots of his faith, deepen fellowship, and learn from local customs.
Jonathan is a proud supporter and donor to United Way, Disabled American Veterans, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
Case managers, housing navigators, outreach workers, mental health promoters and peer support specialists — many with lived experience of what our clients are facing.
In the field
Where you'll find us
Resource fairs, encampments, libraries, clinics, court steps and drop-in doorways across South LA, the South Bay and Long Beach.
Who we serve
Youth, adults, families
From a 16-year-old at the drop-in center to an 80-year-old in ICMS — and everyone in between.
Want to be part of it?
Fund a program, refer a client, hire a graduate, or volunteer at the garden.
