LOS ANGELES — On Sunday afternoon, like millions of people across the U.S., Mike Chavez was getting ready to host a Super Bowl party.

Chavez was making sure the projector was working, setting up a buffet of sliders, corn and dips while deciding how many chairs were necessary. But this wasn’t for a typical Super Bowl party at a house. Chavez was setting up for the Super Soul Party, an event specifically for Los Angeles' homeless population.

"At this time during the Super Bowl, most of the streets are empty of cars because everybody is in a place with friends and family, except for the homeless people. They don’t have a place to go," Chavez said. "Everybody should be tuned in and celebrating this experience."

The event was taking place in downtown LA at The Lazarus Experience, an industrial loft and event space. There were free clothes for people to take, free food and free haircuts. Chavez was volunteering for the Super Soul Party organization.

In 2017, social activist Meir Kay hosted the first Super Soul Party in New York City. It started simply, where he invited a few people living on the streets of New York to a rooftop where the Super Bowl was being screened. It became an annual event, and now Super Soul Parties are held in many major cities around the country.

“People at the parties aren’t even necessarily watching the game. It’s about enjoying the community and conversations that are taking place. The Super Bowl is fun and gets the eyeballs, but you come for the game and stay for the community,” Kay said in a Zoom interview.

There are always different services available at the parties, like clothing and toiletries, but Kay said he’s also working to create more ways to connect homeless people with social services at the events. However, the main goal is to foster an environment that is positive and offers people in difficult circumstances a chance to relax.

“That’s why we don’t do it in the homeless shelters," Kay said. "We want to pull people out of that restrictive mindset, a small mindset, and come to a place of neutral ground."

For Dwight Anderson, who attended the Super Soul Party in downtown LA, it was an opportunity to grab some new sweaters and enjoy the Rams vs. Bengals showdown on a big screen. He had been planning to watch the game on his phone.

“It’s much better watching it inside, somewhere like this. You feel safer and more comfortable, and you get a little food to eat. It’s what the Super Bowl is about,” Anderson said.

John Smith, who is currently experiencing homelessness, had come downtown from Palms.

“I fancied watching it, and when I heard there were haircuts, I thought, oh great, it’s a double. I didn’t want to go to a bar because I didn’t want to drink,” Smith said.

Given the setting, most attendees were Rams fans cheering for their home team. For Chavez, the Super Soul party was about recognizing everyone that makes up LA.

“It feels like there is this vibrating heightened energy of celebration going on," he said. "We’re making sure no one is left behind in that celebration."