It started with a pair of headphones.
In 2013, Paul Avila spotted a blind man on Skid Row wearing headphones and bobbing his head to the music with a big smile on his face, and it reminded Avila of his son, who was born blind with nonverbal autism.
Avila’s son, Pauly, also loved music.
“Music is a universal language,” Avila reasoned, according to his family. “It really calms you down and puts you into a different state.”
When Avila got home, the man on Skid Row was still on his mind. He became determined to unlock the soothing power of music for others, and took the first steps to building Pauly’s Project — a nonprofit that distributes headphones and radios in Skid Row.
After more than a decade of work, Avila died July 1 at the age of 48. In the months since, those closest to him have been working to continue his legacy.
“Paul worked so hard and we’re just going to continue and keep it going,” said his older sister, Linda Sideri, who serves as the organization’s treasurer and is on its board.
When Avila first started Pauly’s Project, his son would occasionally help him distribute headphones and radios, a few dozen at a time, to Skid Row’s homeless. But according to his other older sister, Catherine Butler, the organization now serves around 20,000 people annually on Skid Row, providing food, outreach services and workplace mentoring and development along with their regular music accessories.
Butler, who has worked as executive director of Pauly’s Project since Avila started the nonprofit, said that it felt worse telling Skid Row residents about Avila’s passing than members of his own family.
“He was their family,” Butler said. “Remember that for these people, no one looks at them, no one acknowledges their existence … Every time we went out for outreach, he would say, ‘OK guys, we’re in their neighborhood. Acknowledge them, say hello, touch them, just talk to them like a person.’”
Over the years, Pauly’s Project has become an integral part of the network of organizations serving Los Angeles’ homeless population. During the wildfires earlier this year, Pauly’s Project helped collect donations for displaced people and families in L.A. whose homes had burned down.
In the winter, Avila himself would go out into the pouring rain to hand out clothing, gloves and other warm weather supplies to Skid Row’s residents. News of his death was met with grief online.
“I am heartbroken to hear my good friend … Paul Avila has passed away,” actor Danny Trejo wrote on Instagram on July 2. “May you rest in peace. God bless the Avila family.”
Avila knew the name of every person he helped on Skid Row and what supplies they needed. He would ask how they were doing and shook their hands. During the winter storms in 2023, Avila remembered to hand out raw meat to Reynaldo Roman, a man living on Skid Row, so he could cook food for the entire block, The Times reported.
Avila was raised as the youngest of five children, in a large Latino family in Covina, according to Butler. They had an uncle who was in prison most of his life and lived on Skid Row after being released. Growing up during the 1970s and ‘80s, Avila’s family would visit his uncle to give him packs of cigarettes and food. Seeing his uncle inspired Avila to try to live a better life, his sister said. Although Avila was never homeless himself, he was drawn to those who lived on the streets.
“He knew they were broken people, just like himself,” Butler said. “We all are and we’re all human. And we all need somebody like Paul to bring us up, to not judge us, to give us a hug and that’s what he did.”
Sideri, Avila’s oldest sister, last saw her brother a few days before he died. Avila had stopped by Sideri’s house on June 29 to wish her a happy birthday.
“It was just our usual family gathering, with fun and laughter,” the 62-year-old said. “We have a large family so when we’re together, it’s all about love and laughter and teasing each other.”
At the time, Avila was preparing for a pancake breakfast event and was busy collecting donations at their warehouse and fielding phone calls.
“He just was really busy, but he always made time for the family,” Sideri added.
Along with running Pauly’s Project, Avila was also caretaker for his son, Pauly, who is now 28.
“He never felt like he had enough hours in the day,” Sideri said. “He just always wanted to be helping somebody, whether it was doing food outreach or collaborating with a new organization. He had a lot on his plate, but Pauly was his love. He was his first love, his son.”
Sideri’s daughter Isabella is the organization’s social media manager. She remembered going out with her uncle to Skid Row when she was as young as 12.
“He made sure I was always thinking about other people,” she said.
Linda Sideri has been working for the nonprofit since its creation.
Since her brother’s death, Sideri said family members have taken a step back from other organizations they work for in order to put all of their focus on Pauly’s Project.
“We had to because that was Paul’s,” she said.
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