In late 2019, the onset of the COVID-19 virus left many people around the world facing fear and uncertainty about the future. For Long Beach native Sylvester “Duke” Givens, that uncertainty sparked an innovative approach to supporting people living on the streets.
“We first started out with just meeting the needs of our unhoused brothers and sisters,” Givens, the founder and CEO of Care Closet LBC, explained. Those needs included clothing, food, and care packages.
Givens wanted to do more. He desired to empower people living on the streets to take ownership of their surroundings while gaining skills that could shape their future.
“A unique idea came to me of wanting to help clean up our town,” he recalled. With stay-at-home orders limiting day-to-day city operations, Givens and his team began cleaning up areas near unhoused encampments.
“Councilman Dee Andrews at the time, put some funds together,” Givens said. “Then Councilwoman Suely Saro picked up the baton because she said ‘Duke I see what you’re doing. I believe in you.’”
That support helped Givens buy a small truck.
Through repeated outreach and compassion, unhoused residents not only began to trust the Care Closet team — they began assisting the nonprofit in their efforts to help keep the city clean.
"We're getting people housed," said Givens. "We're helping people find themselves skills that will ultimately set them in a place where they can get employed."
As a Long Beach native, Givens takes pride in the work his team has done to support the community. But he hopes the model can grow far beyond the city.
“It has grown into something beautiful that other cities can emulate,” he says. “Cities can do case studies to see how well the system works. From our city, to our state, to our nation, this works in real time.”
The Care Closet team focuses on ensuring that people living on the streets feel seen and supported. Its mission is to eliminate homelessness by providing essential tools and resources that create lasting change. Through volunteer opportunities, career training, consistent support and a culture of compassion and accountability, Givens believes fundamental change is possible.
“I’ve had individuals who’ve volunteered with me for years, and they totally understand it. So much so that they pass that on to their community,” he said.
Despite the impact of Care Closet’s work, Givens acknowledges that eradicating homelessness entirely is a challenge.
“Some of it is choice,” he explains.
“Some people don’t want to go inside. So, how do you deal with individuals that just don’t want to be housed?”
Givens understands that factors such as mental illness, substance use and trauma often shape a person’s willingness to rejoin traditional society. Still, he emphasizes the need to lead with compassion, noting that heartache and pain often pave the road to life on the streets.
For the nonprofit’s CEO, seeing the organization’s impact — from helping unhoused residents to inspiring others to give back and working alongside the city — makes being out in the community seven days a week rewarding. But the work isn’t without heartbreak.
Givens recalls one man he considered one of his “biggest success stories” relapsing and returning to the streets after securing housing, a car, and a job for the first time in decades.
“It devastated us for a while,” he admits. “But, it also taught us some resiliency and reminded us that we can’t quit the mission.”
That mission has not gone unnoticed. In 2024, Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal named Care Closet the Nonprofit Organization of the Year for the 69th District.
"Care Closet is doing things that transcend the way we should work with the homeless population," Lowenthal said. "We're collaborating to solve problems, not just in the community, but in the region and the state as a whole."
In October, the Long Beach Branch NAACP presented Givens with the President’s Award. “Duke Givens was selected for the NAACP Long Beach Branch President Award because his work with Care Closet exemplifies the spirit and mission of the NAACP,” Long Beach Branch President Dr. Sharifa Batts explained.
“His work with Care Closet is advancing equity through action, compassion, and community empowerment. His dedication to restoring dignity and hope to our unhoused neighbors is not just service — it is leadership in its purest form.”
From the business district to the unhoused encampments on the river bed — Givens and the Care Closet team will continue to embrace the company motto and do the work that impacts the lives of others, "one person at a time, lil’ by lil’."
“It has grown into something beautiful that other cities can emulate."
"One person at a time, lil’ by lil’."