We had the good fortune of connecting with Nica MaryJane Hermosillo-Vanella and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nica MaryJane, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
COVID has been such a difficult time to live through for everyone; the only thing on my mind when creating FEEDING DAYGO, was finding a way to contribute and heal my community. At the very beginning of the pandemic, and we were home all day long with nothing to do but watch the news and be scared. I couldn’t think of anything we could all contribute to but make lunch bags with pb&js, masks and snacks. I wanted to show my younger siblings that even the smallest gesture can make a difference. At night I would go drop them off the baggies we made in downtown. Soon after my friends started participating. We all felt so passionately and knew we wanted to help. And that’s exactly what we did. The organization and development was hard, and took a toll on our friendships. But we needed eachother, we all had amazing ideas and found ways to work together. Despite all the ups and downs we were still able to accomplish so much. Together our goal was to show that anyone and everyone can do their part, and we continue to do so everyday.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I currently work full time for a local non-profit called The Regional Task Force on Homelessness. I am also founder and lead organizer of a local mutual aid, FEEDING DAYGO. The most challenging part of this is learning how to balance school between both of these roles. It’s interesting to compare the different lenses of non profit work vs mutual aid. The only similarity between the two is the end goal, prior to this I had no idea how different they really are. As I navigate through these positions I am learning so much and hope to incorporate these lessons into FEEDING DAYGO and expand our resources.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I grew up in little Italy San Diego, so my first recommendation would be to take a walk down there and explore. So much to see, so many activities to do, and there’s always live music.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to anyone whose ever supported feeding daygo, and my entire family. Thank you all for never letting me forget the importance of where I come from. And especially my grandparents, Domenico and Tayde, for being such strong, generous and loving people.

Website: http://feedingdaygo.com/

Instagram: @feedingdaygo

Twitter: @feedingdaygo

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.