By: Heather Wrixon
For more than three decades, New Era Relief has quietly shaped lives across the San Fernando Valley, working at the intersection of recovery, prevention, and community care. Founded in 1995, the nonprofit emerged from deeply personal circumstances, those of its founder, Rachel Cosmic, a woman whose life journey spanned continents, extremes of wealth and loss, and ultimately, redemption through service. Today, under the leadership of her son, Michelangelo, New Era Relief is entering a new chapter, one defined by youth entrepreneurship, creative empowerment, and national ambition.
Rachel Cosmic’s story is inseparable from the organization she built. Born in Israel and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, she came from a family marked by both resilience and trauma, her father a Holocaust survivor. After immigrating to the United States at a young age, she experienced the darker sides of the entertainment and nightlife industries, eventually losing everything to substance abuse, violence, and instability. At her lowest point, she experienced homelessness. Recovery, for her, was not only personal but also communal.
One year after giving birth to her first son, Michelangelo, she founded New Era Relief with a singular mission: to prevent young people from falling into the same cycles of addiction, abuse, and violence that had nearly destroyed her life. For more than 30 years, the organization focused on youth education, substance-abuse awareness, and violence prevention, hosting spring festivals, walkathons, and community events throughout the San Fernando Valley, even shutting down sections of Van Nuys Boulevard to bring families together around healthier living.
“New Era Relief has always been about intervention before the crisis,” Michelangelo says. “What we’re doing now is scaling that philosophy for a generation that needs access, mentorship, and real economic opportunity.”
A visible example of that mission this season is New Era Relief’s annual holiday toy drive, which has collected toys for children across underserved Los Angeles communities. The drive is supported by multiple local drop-off locations, including businesses in Encino, Studio City, Downtown Los Angeles, and Hollywood, reinforcing the organization’s deep local roots.
This year, the toy drive also partnered with a cultural community event, Casablanca Karaoke, a weekly Los Angeles gathering created by Judah J. On December 16, the event transformed into a holiday fundraiser and toy collection hub, blending music, art, and philanthropy into a uniquely LA experience. The collaboration reflects Michelangelo’s belief that youth outreach must meet people where they already are socially, creatively, and culturally.
But the toy drive is only one component of a much larger vision.
Under Michelangelo’s leadership, New Era Relief is launching a Youth Entrepreneur Program, designed to move beyond traditional charity models. The program pairs young people from under-resourced and unstable households with professional mentors, artists, business leaders, and high-level professionals, including public figures who can provide hands-on guidance in creative and entrepreneurial fields.
A key pillar of the program involves youth-created art. Participants are taught how to conceptualize, produce, and sell original artwork, with proceeds reinvested into the program. The result is more than fundraising; it is job creation, confidence-building, and pride in one’s own ability to produce value.
“For kids who grow up without access to mentorship or economic literacy, talent alone isn’t enough,” Michelangelo explains. “We’re giving them tools, structure, and belief in their own potential.”
This approach reflects New Era Relief’s broader philosophy: prevention through empowerment. Alongside entrepreneurship, the organization continues to promote healthy living through initiatives such as marathon participation, volunteer programs, and community-based fitness events, reinforcing the connection between physical health, mental well-being, and long-term success.
As New Era Relief prepares to relaunch its large-scale spring festival and expand its programs nationally, Michelangelo remains grounded in the organization’s origins.
“My mother built this to save lives,” he says. “My responsibility is to make sure it grows far enough to change futures.”