A Los Angeles woman who has spent six years feeding the homeless was violently attacked while serving meals at MacArthur Park, leaving her with a shattered jaw and six missing teeth, according to a fundraiser set up to help pay for her medical care.
Eva Woods, the founder of the MacArthur Project — a volunteer mutual aid effort that serves more than 700 meals a week to people living in and around the park — was struck from behind with a metal pipe on February 22 during the group’s regular lunch service. The suspect, described as a woman, approached Woods without warning and hit her in the face.
According to the GoFundMe page organized by Catherine Schetina, Woods was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery the next day. Doctors determined that both her upper and lower jaw had been fractured. Her jaw is now wired shut, and she will need dental implants to replace the six teeth she lost in the attack — a process organizers estimate will cost around $30,000.
“During our regular lunch service on Sunday, Feb. 22, a woman came through the park with a metal pipe. Without conversation, she came up behind Eva and hit her in the jaw,” the GoFundMe page states.
The fundraiser has already surpassed its original goal, raising roughly $39,000 as of the time of this report. Woods expressed gratitude to donors in an Instagram post, writing, “I am healing and will be back in the park as soon as physically possible. Being able to heal without worrying about money is a gift I can’t even describe.”
Schetina was quick to note that the attacker was not a familiar face in the park community. “This woman, and this incident, are not representative of the culture of MacArthur Park and the community we serve there,” she wrote on the campaign page. “She is not someone we’ve met in the past, and others in the park weren’t familiar with her. This was absolutely a bizarre one-off.”
As reported by Hoodline, Woods has led the MacArthur Project since the pandemic began, organizing hundreds of meal services and supply drives. Volunteers serve food three times a week and regularly hand out hygiene kits, groceries, and tents to people in need. Details about the group’s ongoing work can be found on the MacArthur Project’s Patreon page.
The attack comes as MacArthur Park remains a focal point of safety concerns in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reported that the city approved a $2.3 million fence and expanded outreach programs in an effort to improve safety in the park while keeping it open to the public.
The park’s surrounding area is also one of the most demanding in the city for emergency responders. According to the New York Post, roughly one-third of all calls to the Los Angeles Police Department — about 40 calls every hour — involve someone experiencing a mental health crisis, a figure confirmed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell. Los Angeles Fire Department Station 11, which covers the MacArthur Park area, responded to 8,568 ambulance calls in just the first eight months of 2025, compared to only 55 structure fires, making it one of the busiest firehouses in the country.
Despite the attack, organizers say volunteers plan to keep showing up at MacArthur Park. No arrest has been publicly reported in connection with the assault, and Woods’ recovery remains ongoing.
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