Ask Them First: What Paris Taught Us About Whose Expertise Counts

In 2023, a coalition of 80+ organizations formed to document every displacement, every broken promise, every cascading health crisis Paris's Olympic planning caused. They weren't just opponents. They were architects of a better approach. Los Angeles has two years to decide which version of this story it will tell.

2028 OlympicsPaul AsplundApril 14, 2026Olympics2028, HousingJustice, Homelessness, Los Angeles, Displacement, Paris Olympics, Mega-Events, Co-Design, LivedExperience, Community Power, Radical Hospitality, Encampment Sweeps, Housing Policy, ChangeWell, Le Revers de la MedailleComment

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

Part 3: The Deeper Conversations - Philosophy and Systems Change from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Designing LA County's new Department of Homeless Services revealed a deeper paradox: Can incremental reform address a crisis rooted in capitalism and structural injustice?

Homelessness, Letters to the Housed, Human Centered DesignPaul AsplundOctober 13, 2025HomelessnessLA, LACounty, SystemsChange, StructuralChange, HousingJustice, LivedExperience, AssetFraming, AntiCapitalism, HomelessServicesComment

Part 2: Day 2 - The Energy of Creation from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Day 2 of LA County's design lab: 100 participants prototype solutions for HSH. Data ownership, breaking silos, and power-sharing with lived experience emerge as central themes.