Urban Alchemy’s Harbor CIRCLE Team Honored with Eco-Award from Assemblymember Mike Gipson

The Urban Alchemy team providing service for the Crisis and Incident Response through Community Engagement (CIRCLE) program in the Harbor area was honored this week with the Eco-Award from California Assemblymember Mike Gipson (65th District) and the Environment and Water Safety Commission.

Presented during a private ceremony by Joe Lemp, the Executive Director of Beacon Light Mission in San Pedro, the award recognizes the team’s dedication to creating safer, cleaner, and more compassionate communities.

“Our team is honored to receive this recognition for our hard work serving unhoused neighbors living in the San Pedro area,” said Tim Kornegay, Urban Alchemy’s director of operations for Los Angeles. “Our goal is to transform the lives of the people we serve and improve the neighborhoods we work in for everyone.”

Urban Alchemy launched the CIRCLE program in partnership with the City of Los Angeles as an alternative to traditional police response for non-emergency 911 and 311 calls related to homelessness. Since the program’s inception, Urban Alchemy’s specially trained Practitioners—most of whom have personal experience with incarceration, homelessness, or substance use—have worked to de-escalate crises, connect unhoused Angelenos to services and improve public spaces for all residents.

In the first half of 2024 alone, the Harbor CIRCLE team has responded to over 700 incidents, offering compassionate care to people in need while also reducing the burden on LAPD officers.

By centering empathy, lived experience, and community trust, Urban Alchemy’s CIRCLE team is helping reimagine public safety—one block, one neighbor, one conversation at a time.