Project X LB equips youth and families with healing-centered tools to build safer relationships and transform generational outcomes.
From the Ground Up, We Build Systems of Healing
Culture. Creativity. Connection. Building what families actually need.
Impact Numbers
500+
COMMUNITY MEMBERS REACHED ANNUALLY
90+
YOUTH SERVED PER SEMESTER
3
COUNCIL DISTRICTS
Who We Are
Project X LB is a community organization serving Long Beach families through healing-centered programs, youth development, and violence prevention. The X in our name is a variable; it becomes whatever the community needs most. Some seasons, that's a washing machine in a school. In other seasons, it's a circle of parents healing together. We don't decide from the outside. We listen, then we build.
Why X?
Words From the Founder
The “X” in Project X LB isn’t a mystery—it’s a promise.
X is a variable. It becomes whatever our community needs most in that moment.
In some seasons, X is a washing machine in a school, so a child never has to choose between clean clothes and showing up. In others, X is a circle of parents healing generational patterns together. X is job training. X is a mural. X is a summer arts camp where local and aspiring artists are given a voice, mentorship, and a place where they feel truly valued.
We listen first. We partner intentionally. And then X takes shape.
This is how we stay responsive, relevant, and rooted in the real lives of the families we serve.
Founder's Story
Marcus Hobbs grew up in Long Beach, went to Millikan High, and studied at CSULB. Three decades later, he watched mothers in his community facing the same challenges his own mother navigated — and realized the systems hadn't changed. That's why he built Project X LB. Not to create another program, but to build something that actually shifts conditions for families. Marcus is currently pursuing his MSW at Howard University, grounding his lived experience in clinical practice.
What drives him is simple: he wants to see people living, not just surviving.
Our Programs
S.H.I.F.T.
Healing-centered youth development for grades 7-12. Art therapy, culturally grounded mentorship, and the BRUH approach — building emotional resilience and creative confidence.
P.E.A.C.E. in the Park
Community gatherings that reclaim public parks for wellness, art, food, and connection. No registration. No strings. Just a neighborhood showing up for itself.
Load of Kindness
Free laundry access and dignity-centered care for families. Providing laundromat vouchers, no-cost wash days, school-based washers and dryers, and hygiene support so students can attend school confident, clean, and ready to learn.
Our Village
Monthly parenting workshops for families with children 0-5. Not classes handed down by experts — circles where families learn from each other.
What Is S.H.I.F.T.?
Support. Heal. Inspire. Flourish. Transform. The framework that runs through everything we do.
S.H.I.F.T. is not a program. It's the philosophy underneath every program. Shaped by Africentric psychology, the BRUH approach, and the lived knowledge of the communities we serve — S.H.I.F.T. is how we think, how we build, and how we show up. Every program at Project X LB — from youth development to family healing to community gatherings — is fed by this root system. The methods change. The populations change. The framework holds.
The B.R.U.H. Approach
Bonding through Recognition to promote Understanding and Healing was developed by Dr. Allen E. Lipscomb, PsyD, LCSW, as a culturally congruent, honoring-based therapeutic model for African American and Black men and youth experiencing traumatic grief and loss. Rooted in Africentric psychology and anti-oppressive practice, the BRUH Approach centers the lived experiences of Black communities as the foundation for healing, but not as a reaction to Western frameworks, but as a practice that stands on its own.
Research & Attribution
The BRUH Approach to Therapy (BAT) was developed by Dr. Allen E. Lipscomb, PsyD, LCSW. His model introduces a culturally congruent, anti-oppressive, and honoring-based practice for promoting healing among African American and Black men and youth who have experienced various forms of loss, including racialized traumatic grief.
Project X LB applies the principles of the BRUH Approach across our programming with deep respect for its origins and ongoing evolution in clinical practice.
Reference: Lipscomb, A. E. (2020). BRuH Approach to Therapy (BAT) and Other Related Services to Promote Healing of Traumatic Grief Among African American Men and Youth: A Clinical Workbook: Honoring-Based Practice Approach.
See S.H.I.F.T. in Action
Every program at Project X LB is built on this framework. See how it shows up in practice.
Growing together with
Voices From the Community
The X becomes what the community needs. Some days that's art supplies. Some days that's a circle of parents learning together. Every day it's showing up.
Project X LB
Where to Find Us
Community events and volunteer opportunities. RSVP helps us plan and serve you better.
