Former teacher finds a way to bring community together with open-air market

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- Kenia Haro decided to take a leap of faith this February when she launched Angel City Market.

"It's a place where you can bring your kid your puppy your family, enjoy good food, drinks, and support all the local small businesses that are around us with a variety of choices," Haro said.

Haro had worked as a teacher since 2016, most recently as a third-grade teacher. But she said she saw her Lennox and Inglewood community changing and wanted to do something about it.

Now she organizes the Angel City open-air market full-time.

"We have stadiums, we have, you know, concert halls," Haro said. "I just wanted something where our community can come together and enjoy the crafts that we have, the talents that are already here and just highlight them."

"We do charge here at the event for entry, but other local Lennox and Inglewood, we don't charge anything," said Danny Orivas, one of the event organizers. "We keep this event free for everyone that's a local, so we don't want to take away from the community, we want to give back to it."

Haro said the community response has been positive and supportive and the market has grown drastically since it began.

They've also partnered with a larger venue, La Feria restaurant, for more space and have rented extra parking.

"They fill up," said Miguel Navarro, owner of La Feria restaurant. "And even if we ever need to, we will have some shuttles that we put off site [and] have short shuttle people in for their convenience."

"Being able to help local businesses and people that want to get something started," said Haro. "Especially during the pandemic time, it made me really realize how important it is to bring our community together."

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