We can end homelessness now and for good if we work together.
At Second Grace LA, we believe ending homelessness requires all of us working together. We're not just another organization – we're a community movement powered by neighbors helping neighbors.
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75,000 people are unhoused in Los Angeles tonight. The 2028 Olympics are approaching rapidly. Every Tuesday, Letters to the Housed follows what happens next — and what we can still do about it.
House Them or Hide Them? LA’s Choice Before Olympics 2028
A four-part investigation into Olympic displacement, community expertise, and what Los Angeles can still do before the world arrives.
Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of SecondGrace.LA
The Four-Part Series
Publishing every Tuesday in April 2026
Hi, I’m Paul.
After several years leading operations for direct service organizations serving the unhoused in Los Angeles and San Francisco, two cities where homelessness continues to grow out of control, I’ve seen what does and doesn’t work.
Join Us Building Community to End Homelessness in LA
And I have some thoughts…
I will shed light on why our institutions can’t end homelessness without us and introduce you to some of the most effective programs I’ve found on the streets. Programs addressing the issues around housing, hygiene, community, health, mental health and opportunity—programs that need our help.
In my experience…
In the thirty-five years since I began my return from homelessness, I've seen thousands of people recover and rejoin the ranks of happy, fulfilled humans.
But as this crisis has grown out of control in the past few years, I've witnessed more and more people languishing in homelessness, underserved by the institutions created to try and help them.
Why? Because our institutions can't end homelessness alone. We've spent billions of dollars over the years, but that hasn't stopped homelessness from growing. In 2019, 130 people lost their housing every day in LA County. By 2022, that number had grown to 230 people a day. We were promised a solution, but obviously, that has yet to work out.
And the reason seems clear.
Providing the love, acceptance, and community essential to healing the trauma that keeps people on the streets is something only we can do—it's that simple.
The solutions to homelessness lie within us. You and me, along with our friends and neighbors—housed and unhoused—local businesses, faith communities, neighborhood groups, all of us. We are the only ones who can end homelessness—together, now and for good.
We are the only real solution…
Ending homelessness is possible… if we all work together.
Staying Housed
A Four-Part Series | Letters to the Housed | June 2026
Eviction, displacement, and the community infrastructure keeping LA families in their homes — when the system tries to move them out.