By: Heather Wrixon
For more than 30 years, New Era Relief has served as a quiet but persistent force in California’s nonprofit landscape, addressing substance abuse, youth vulnerability, and community violence through prevention-focused programming. Founded in 1995, the organization is now entering a transformative phase under the leadership of Executive Director Michelangelo Falcon, one that shifts the conversation from recovery alone to economic empowerment and long-term opportunity.
The nonprofit was founded by Rachel Cosmic, whose personal journey shaped its mission. After immigrating to the United States from Venezuela, Cosmic experienced homelessness and addiction before rebuilding her life through sobriety and service. Determined to prevent young people from experiencing similar hardships, she launched New Era Relief just one year after her son’s birth.
For decades, the organization’s work centered on California communities, particularly the San Fernando Valley, through awareness campaigns, walkathons, youth outreach, and large-scale community festivals addressing drugs, alcohol, and domestic violence.
Now, Michelangelo is building on that foundation with a scalable model.
At the center of New Era Relief’s next chapter is its Youth Entrepreneur Program, a statewide and future national initiative that pairs underserved youth with mentors in professional and creative industries. Rather than relying solely on classroom instruction, the program emphasizes real-world exposure, hands-on experience, skill development, and income-generating projects.
One forward-looking component of New Era Relief’s youth initiatives centers on youth-created art as an entry point into entrepreneurship. Rather than treating creativity as a hobby, the organization positions it as a viable economic skill. Participants are guided through the full lifecycle of a creative product from concept and execution to presentation and sale, mirroring real-world business processes.
Youth involved in the program will learn to evaluate their work not only artistically but also commercially. They are introduced to pricing strategies, basic branding and storytelling, and the importance of meeting deadlines and delivering consistent quality. Through this structure, creativity becomes more than self-expression; it becomes a lesson in accountability, ownership, and professional responsibility.
For many participants, these skills are otherwise inaccessible. Youth growing up in underdeveloped or unstable households often lack exposure to mentorship, financial literacy, or creative industries as legitimate career paths. By embedding these lessons into a hands-on process, New Era Relief addresses gaps that traditional education systems frequently overlook. The program provides a vital opportunity for personal growth, helping participants build confidence in their abilities. This exposure to real-world skills opens doors to future careers, offering a path that many wouldn’t have the opportunity to encounter.
“This is about closing information gaps,” Michelangelo explains. “Talent exists everywhere. Access does not.”
The program is designed not only to build skills, but to foster confidence. Seeing their work valued by others, whether through purchase, display, or community recognition,n helps young participants develop pride in their abilities and a sense of agency over their future.
Alongside these long-term initiatives, New Era Relief continues to prioritize immediate community support, most visibly through its annual holiday toy drive. This season, the organization is responsible for distributing hundreds of toys to children in underserved communities across Los Angeles. While the toy drive addresses urgent needs during the holidays, it also reflects the organization’s broader philosophy: meaningful prevention requires both compassion in the present and investment in the future.
By pairing tangible support with skill-building programs, New Era Relief bridges short-term relief and long-term empowerment, ensuring that care does not end with a gift, but extends into opportunity.
California’s nonprofit sector increasingly emphasizes measurable outcomes and sustainability. New Era Relief’s approach, which combines prevention, entrepreneurship, health, and mentorship, positions it as a model for modern community development in the state.
With plans to relaunch large-scale community festivals and expand partnerships across California, New Era Relief is not abandoning its roots; it is evolving them.
