When the Money Runs Out, You Find Out What Matters: Buenos Aires and the No-Exclusion Model

Buenos Aires is not a success story with a neat ending. It's a story about a city making hard choices during an impossible situation — and getting some things right that LA has been getting wrong for years.

Homelessness, Letters to the Housed, 2028 OlympicsPaul AsplundMarch 16, 2026#LettersToTheHoused #SecondGraceLA #BuenosAires #NoExclusion #HousingFirst #SystemRedesign #HarmReduction #LivedExperience #2028Olympics, LettersToTheHoused, SecondGraceLA, BuenosAires, NoExclusion, HousingFirst, LivedExperience, 2028OlympicsComment

What If We Gave People Jobs Instead of Excuses? Lisbon's Model and What LA Should Adopt

Lisbon built a restaurant where people experiencing homelessness do the cooking and serving — and 68% landed permanent jobs. LA has the workforce crisis, the funding tools, and the Olympic deadline. What we're missing is the will to connect the dots.

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The World Is Solving Homelessness. Why Isn't LA?

While Buenos Aires redesigned their entire homeless response system during an economic collapse, Greater Manchester cut rough sleeping by 42% through prevention, and Lisbon is moving people from streets into jobs — Los Angeles approved $843 million in homeless spending that includes nearly $200 million in cuts. The world knows what works. The only thing LA lacks is the will to try.

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Part 3: The Money and the Mechanisms from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Los Angeles has $700-790 million in available funding to build 11,700-15,000 Vienna-style social housing units by the 2028 Olympics. Learn how Measure ULA, Palisades reconstruction, and Olympic funds can solve our housing crisis with proven cost-rent financing models.

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Housing First Isn't Enough—It Takes Us to End Homelessness

The concept of "Housing First" has been a guiding principle in the fight against homelessness for decades. It's a simple idea: provide permanent housing as quickly as possible, and then offer supportive services as needed. While this approach has proven effective in many contexts, the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles has revealed a troubling reality: Housing First isn't enough, especially when there's no housing available.