Posts in Immigrant Rights
We Were Born For Times Like These (Right?) from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of SecondGrace.LA
We Were Born For Times Like These (Right?) from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of SecondGrace.LA

I spent the first 33 years of my life in Minnesota. Watching the fascist ICE raids in a place I know so well has hit me hard. But I stay hopeful—not that things will calm down, but that we were born for times like these.

Read More
Letters to the Housed, Radical Hope, Immigrant RightsPaul AsplundRadicalHope, SocialJustice, CommunityAction, Immigration, ICE Raids, ActivismComment
When Someone Lobs a Grenade At You… You Throw It Back - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund
When Someone Lobs a Grenade At You… You Throw It Back - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund

Every day I see the most effective homelessness interventions happening at the community level. It's volunteer organizations providing essential services. It's faith communities opening their doors. It's neighbors who learn the names of people living on their streets and figure out what they actually need. These aren't the organizations getting the big federal grants. They're too small, too grassroots, too focused on relationships instead of metrics. But they're also the ones achieving real transformations because they understand something Washington never will: ending homelessness is about rebuilding human connection, not managing case loads.

Read More
Community, Homelessness, Immigrant Rights, Letters to the HousedPaul Asplund#HousingFirst, #HomelessnessPolicy, #SocialJustice, #CommunityOrganizing, #LAHomeless, #TrumpPolicy, #HousingCrisis, #MutualAid, #SocialChange, #CommunityBuilding, #NonprofitWork, #HomelessServices, #PolicyAnalysis, #SocialWork, #CommunityResponse, #LettersToTheHoused, #SecondGraceLA, #CommunityHealing, #SocialImpact, #NeighborhoodSolutionsComment
When Fear Comes Knocking: Immigration Raids Push More LA Families Into Homelessness - Letters to the Housed
When Fear Comes Knocking: Immigration Raids Push More LA Families Into Homelessness - Letters to the Housed

Over the past five years, anywhere from 127–230 Angelenos have lost their housing every day. But now, we're facing a perfect storm: immigration raids are pushing families into homelessness just as the January fires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades have destroyed over 16,000 structures. California experienced a 3.1% drop in private-sector jobs within a single week after federal immigration raids—worse than the Great Recession or early COVID. With 600,000 people in LA County rent-burdened and 67% of undocumented households already struggling before the raids, fear itself has become a driver of homelessness. But solutions exist: direct cash assistance programs are proving effective, and LA's mansion tax has $14.6 million ready for deployment to help families stay housed.

Read More
Community, Homelessness, Immigrant RightsPaul AsplundLettersToTheHoused, HousingJustice, ImmigrationRaids, LAFires, CashAssistance, MansionTax, SecondGraceLA, HousingCrisis, ImmigrantRights, ClimateJustice, PolicySolutions, MutualAid, EconomicJustice, EvictionPrevention, CommunitySupport, DirectAction, SocialChange, LTTHComment
We Are Not Intimidated: A July 4th Reflection - Letters to the Housed
We Are Not Intimidated: A July 4th Reflection - Letters to the Housed

The past 8 months have been tough. The work I have done for the last decade has become more difficult, more treacherous for the people we serve and requires me to dig deep inside myself for resources of spirit and hope that I never knew I had.

Read More
Community, Letters to the Housed, Immigrant RightsPaul AsplundCommunityResilience, OrganizationalLeadership, CommunityDefense, KnowYourRights, SocialJustice, Leadership, CommunityBuilding, DefendingDemocracy, CrisisLeadership, ValueBasedLeadership, SocialChange, ImmigrantRights, PublicPolicyComment