Like Our Own was founded in September 2021 with a vision to create safe, stable, and loving homes for youth impacted by the foster care system, juvenile justice system, trauma, and other difficult life circumstances.
At the heart of our organization is the belief that every young person deserves more than shelter. They deserve stability, guidance, encouragement, opportunity, and a place where they can feel safe, supported, valued, and loved.
Our long-term goal is to develop supportive residential environments where young people can receive the individualized care, resources, mentorship, and life skills they need to heal, grow, and prepare for successful, independent futures.
Like Our Own was born from a deeply personal place. Founder and CEO Brandi Martin understands how profoundly a child’s life can be shaped by loss, instability, and the need for a safe and supportive environment. After losing her mother at just seven years old and experiencing difficult circumstances throughout her childhood, Brandi carried with her an understanding of how important it is for a young person to have someone who sees them, believes in them, and provides the stability they need to grow.
Years later, those experiences became part of the inspiration behind Like Our Own. In 2021, Brandi founded the organization with a vision to create the kind of safe, loving, and supportive environment that every child deserves—especially young people navigating foster care, juvenile justice, trauma, and other challenging circumstances.
What began as a vision has grown into a commitment to serve. Through community outreach, family events, essential resources, partnerships, and youth-centered experiences, Like Our Own is making an impact today while building toward an even greater goal: establishing supportive residential homes where young people can find stability, guidance, opportunity, and a genuine sense of belonging.
Our vision is to establish safe, stable, and supportive residential homes where young people can experience consistency, structure, compassion, and a genuine sense of belonging.
Beginning with the community we serve today, our long-term vision is to expand Like Our Own beyond San Diego and ultimately create a network of supportive homes and resources for youth in communities across the nation.
We envision environments that address the whole child—not simply where they will sleep at night. Our goal is to provide educational support, mentorship, life-skills development, emotional and social support, enriching experiences, and access to resources that help young people discover their strengths, build confidence, and prepare for successful futures.
As Like Our Own grows, we envision an organization that can reach young people nationwide, creating places of hope, stability, opportunity, and belonging one home, one community, and one life at a time.
While our residential vision represents where Like Our Own is headed, our mission is already in motion. We believe making a difference does not have to wait for tomorrow.
Through community outreach, family-centered events, essential resources, youth experiences, giveaways, partnerships, and direct acts of service, Like Our Own works to support children, families, and individuals experiencing homelessness throughout our community.
Our outreach efforts have included providing meals, clothing, hygiene items, essential supplies, and other resources to people in need. Whether we are creating a memorable experience for a child, supporting a family, or providing necessities to someone experiencing homelessness, our goal is to meet people with dignity, compassion, and care.
Each event, partnership, resource, and relationship strengthens our connection to the community while helping us build the foundation for our future residential programs.
The work we do today is part of the future we are building, one where young people have access to safe environments, caring adults, meaningful opportunities, and the support they need to thrive.
Every young person deserves to feel safe.
Every young person deserves to feel supported.
Every young person deserves to feel valued.
Every young person deserves a place to belong.
At Like Our Own, we believe a young person’s circumstances should never define their potential. With stability, compassion, guidance, opportunity, and people who genuinely believe in them, their future can be bigger than what they have experienced.
Their past may be part of their story, but it does not have to determine their future.
The vision for Like Our Own is bigger than any one person. With the support of individuals, businesses, community partners, volunteers, and donors, we can continue serving our community today while building toward safe, supportive residential homes for youth tomorrow.