Turning Plastic Waste Into Homes, Jobs, and Hope.
Building sustainable communities through innovation, compassion, and the power of transformation.
Through the Trash to Treasure Recycling Initiative, Hope in Hearts is transforming plastic waste into sustainable building materials used to create affordable housing, job opportunities, and environmentally responsible communities.
We, in collaboration with California State Northridge University, received a research grant to support our recycling initiative: Trash to Treasure. Through this initiative we will build Villages of Hope to support individuals experiencing homelessness all built with recycled materials.
As we work to bring this vision to life, it’s important to remember that grants may only cover some of the costs of such a significant undertaking. That’s why we encourage you to continue to support and donate to help us achieve this goal.
With your help, we can make this village of love a reality and provide a safe and stable home for those who need it most. Your donation can help to fund the construction of individual homes, community spaces, and essential resources like food, water, and medical care. Every dollar counts and makes a difference, and your support can help to create a truly transformative space that offers love, hope, and dignity to individuals experiencing homelessness.
Thank you for considering making a donation to this worthy cause. Together, we can build a village of love that uplifts our community and creates lasting change.
Problem → Solution → Impact → How to Help
Building Sustainable Communities. Restoring Hope.
Across our communities, three major challenges continue to grow:
- Plastic waste filling landfills and polluting our environment
- A critical shortage of affordable housing
- Limited economic opportunities in underserved communities
These problems may seem unrelated, but they are deeply connected.
At Hope in Hearts, we believe the solution can address all three.
Through our Trash to Treasure Recycling Initiative, we are transforming plastic waste into sustainable building materials that can be used to construct affordable housing and community structures.
What was once discarded becomes the foundation for rebuilding lives.
Communities across the United States face an urgent combination of environmental and social challenges.
Plastic Waste Crisis
Millions of tons of plastic waste are sent to landfills every year, polluting our land and oceans while valuable materials remain unused.
Affordable housing continues to decline while homelessness and housing insecurity rise across many cities.
Underserved communities often lack access to sustainable job opportunities that can help families build long-term stability.
These issues impact public safety, economic growth, and the overall well-being of communities.
The Trash to Treasure Recycling Initiative transforms plastic waste into durable construction materials that can be used to build homes, community spaces, and transitional housing.
Using innovative recycled plastic technology, materials that would otherwise pollute our environment are repurposed into building blocks for the future.
This initiative allows us to address multiple challenges at once:
• Reduce environmental waste
• Create sustainable building materials
• Develop affordable housing solutions
• Generate local job opportunities
• Strengthen communities through stable housing
Our next milestone is the development of a demonstration model build.
This structure will showcase how recycled plastic materials can be used to construct safe, durable, and sustainable housing.
The model build will serve as a proof of concept for municipalities, investors, and community partners who want to see this solution in action.
Once completed, the model will open the door for larger community developments.
The long-term vision of Hope in Hearts is the development of Villages of Hope.
These communities will provide:
• Affordable and transitional housing
• Workforce development and job training
• Supportive services for individuals rebuilding their lives
• Environmentally sustainable infrastructure
Villages of Hope are designed to create pathways to stability, dignity, and long-term transformation for individuals and families.
Every structure built through the Trash to Treasure initiative represents plastic waste removed from the environment and repurposed into something meaningful.
By turning waste into building materials, we help:
• Reduce landfill waste
• Support sustainable construction practices
• Promote environmental stewardship in our communities
This initiative goes beyond construction.
By addressing housing stability and economic opportunity, we help communities experience:
• Reduced homelessness
• Increased job creation
• Safer neighborhoods
• Stronger families
When people have stable housing and opportunity, entire communities thrive.
We are currently launching our Friends and Family Campaign to support the development of the first demonstration build.
You can support this work by:
• Donating to the model build campaign
• Sharing the initiative within your network
• Partnering with us as a community or corporate sponsor
Together, we can turn waste into opportunity and build communities rooted in hope.
Hope in Hearts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring hope and creating opportunities for underserved communities through sustainable solutions, compassionate outreach, and transformational programs.
Trash to Treasure’s recycling initiative aims to provide sustainable transformational housing communities for the underserved and to create affordable housing developments through recycling trash. We turn trash into treasure with recycled materials.
To eradicate poverty one person at a time through sustainable housing, employment, and community awareness.
- Integrity
- Commitment
- Collaboration
- Innovation
- Equality
- CSUN Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition, and Dietetics
- CSUN College of Health and Human Development
- California State University – Northridge
Give to build a home in our Village of Hope community for the unhoused.
Give to support housing for unhoused CSUN students.
Give to purchase property and land.
Volunteer.
“Trash to Treasure: Fighting Homelessness and Hunger” proposes to reduce the housing
crisis and reduce landfill use by demonstrating that trash can be used as building blocks for
homes. Imagine every country, city, and town being able to build and manage affordable and
sustainable housing, create more jobs, and revitalize their own communities simply by recycling
trash. The purpose of the “Trash to Treasure: Fighting Homelessness and Hunger” project is to
turn trash into sustainable building material to build houses, shelters, and spaces to grow food for
the homeless. Our vision is to eradicate poverty one person at a time through sustainable
housing, employment, community awareness, and peace of mind.
The mission and vision of “Trash to Treasure: Fighting Homelessness and Hunger” was
conceptualized by Kesha Hearn, founder of Hope in Hearts, which is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to serving, educating, empowering, and demonstrating love towards individuals who
may have been discounted in society. Collaborators on campus will come alongside Hope in
Hearts to support “Trash to Treasure: Fighting Homelessness and Hunger,” including:
- Dr. Annette Besnilian, Executive Director of the Marilyn Magaram Center (MMC) for
Food Science, Nutrition, and Dietetics at California State University, Northridge
(CSUN). - Dr. Nazaret Dermendjian, Department Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and
Construction Management at CSUN. - Kristin King, Associate Professor, Area Coordinator, Interior Design of the Department
of Family & Consumer Sciences at CSUN. - Dr. Natale Zappia, Director of the Institute for Sustainability at CSUN.
- Site Provided by Waste Management. In collaboration with CSUN.
Our project aims to evaluate the recycled plastic building materials through the lens of civil
engineering, interior design, sustainability, and nutrition to create homes, structures, and spaces
to grow food (such as garden sheds and raised garden beds) that will lead to improved health and
quality of life. Our collaborators will provide faculty oversight to students that will propose
solutions to improve health, shelter, and access to food for individuals experiencing
homelessness using recycled building materials.
Plastic trash and unrecycled materials are accumulating on Earth at an all-time high. Over
the past 70 years, the world has produced over 8 billion tons of plastics, with exponential
production each year. The plastics used in most products are not biodegradable. As a result, they
accumulate in landfills or litter the Earth, rather than naturally decomposing. Only about 9% of
plastics are recycled globally each year.
1 With China no longer recycling foreign waste, the US is
seeking waste management solutions to manage waste and recycle domestically more
effectively.
2 Preventive solutions for managing plastics include minimal packaging or single-use
packaging that will decompose after single use, such as paper straws. These solutions are
beneficial but will not address the billons of tons of plastics currently circulating the globe.
Companies such as Conceptos Plasticos and ByFusion have proposed solutions to the current
plastic waste problem by reshaping plastics into building materials made from plastic and
certified marine debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Affordable housing is a concern for the CSUN community and residents in the San
Fernando Valley. Housing costs are a substantial portion of income for residents in Los Angeles
County, often being the highest monthly expense. Housing burden is defined as housing
expenses greater than 30% of monthly income. Low-income individuals, renters, and
communities of color are often disproportionally impacted and experience severe housing burden
with greater than 50% of income going to housing costs. Housing burden is a risk factor for
homelessness and increased exposure to environmental hazards such as lead, which leads to
developmental delays in children. Housing burden negatively impacts health by inflicting stress
and limiting funding that can be used for other expenses such as food and health care.
3 According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, an estimated 69,144 people
experienced homeless in Los Angeles County during 2022. Although homeless people are found
throughout the county, the largest concentrations in 2022 continued to be in the Metro (Central)
Los Angeles region (26%), South Los Angeles region (21%) and San Fernando Valley region
(14%). Looking at a neighborhood-level snapshot of the number of people experiencing
homelessness in the San Fernando Valley, thousands are estimated to be living in tents, vehicles,
and shelters with the following data from July 2020: Mission Hills, only 26 of the estimated 102
people experiencing homelessness had shelter; North Hills, only 36 of the estimated 175 people
experiencing homelessness had shelter; Canoga Park, only 27 of an estimated 198 people
experiencing homeless people had shelter; Sylmar, only 28 of the estimated 373 people
experiencing homelessness had shelter; Van Nuys, only 90 of the estimated 669 people
experiencing homelessness had shelter; Pacoima, only 141 of the estimated 477 people
experiencing homelessness had shelter; and Sun Valley, only 711 of the estimated 1,301 people
experiencing homelessness had shelter.
4 Building materials made from plastic provide benefits that are superior to using
traditional building materials such as wood, metal, or concrete. Plastic building materials are:
durable even in extreme weather conditions, waterproof and seawater resistant, immune to
insects/rodents/microorganisms, anti-corrosive with no paint required, fireproof, impact resistant,
provide thermal/acoustic/electrical insulation, and can be installed without specialized labor.
Costs are lower than traditional building materials due to decreased labor and equipment needed
to install. Through this project, our collaborative efforts can bridge discussion with legislators on
how CSUN and Hope in Hearts can make reducing homelessness and hunger attainable.
Within this grant timeline, the goal is to demonstrate how trash can be transformed into
sustainable building material to build houses, shelters, and spaces to grow food for the homeless.
Four interdisciplinary student assistants from Civil Engineering and Construction Management,
Interior Design, Nutrition, and Sustainability will work together to build a model building using
recycled plastic bricks. They will each have faculty oversight from their respective department to
supervise and provide guidance. Prior to creating a model, the student assistants will evaluate
various recycled building material options, such as blocks made by Conceptos Plasticos and
ByFusion, to compare their utility, cost, design applications, and sustainability. Their findings
can be shared at the Marilyn Magaram Center Public Policy Day 2023, which is an annual event
held on campus to provide public policy and advocacy education for students and the
community. Legislators and speakers update the campus community on current health policies
and regulatory and legislative initiatives to motivate and inspire everyone to become advocates
on local, state, and national issues.
Student assistants will investigate housing solutions currently offered by Los Angeles
County and present this project as an additional solution. In culmination, student assistants will
create and send a packet outlining the benefits of this project to city council. The long-range goal
of this project is to have public agencies partner with this project and share the vision of how
reshaping trash and plastics can build sustainable jobs and revitalize communities, which would
further reduce homelessness and hunger.
Our solution to the epidemic of displaced people and displaced trash is to give them all a
home. “Trash to Treasure: Fighting Homelessness and Hunger” will reduce trash littering the
Earth while synergistically building sustainable housing to improve health, shelter, and access to
food for individuals experiencing homelessness.
- Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R. & Law, K. L. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever
made. Science Advances 3, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782 (2017). - Wen, Z., Xie, Y., Chen, M. et al. China’s plastic import ban increases prospects of
environmental impact mitigation of plastic waste trade flow worldwide. Nat Commun 12,
425 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20741-9. - Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. City and Community Health Profile
Series. San Fernando, Los Angeles County (2018). Accessed December 1,
2022. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ohae/cchp/healthProfilePDF.htm - Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Homeless Count by SPA (2022). Accessed
December 1, 2022. https://www.lahsa.org/
