The Revolution Will Not Be Funded | Part 1 from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of SecondGrace.LA

How big funding systematically warps nonprofit missions. Research on institutional isomorphism, the nonprofit industrial complex, and choosing mission over money.

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.

Part 2: A Housing Model That Works from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Paul AsplundOctober 27, 2025Comment

Part 1: House Them or Hide Them from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Paul AsplundOctober 20, 2025Comment

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?

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.

Part 1: Building Solutions from the Ground Up: Inside LA's Homelessness Design Lab from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Inside LA County's groundbreaking design lab where 100+ participants are rebuilding homeless services from scratch. A firsthand account of human-centered design reshaping HSH to replace LAHSA.

Personal Data Rights and Systemic Change: Building Coordinated Care for Our Unhoused Neighbors - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Exploring how personal data ownership and coordinated care systems can transform homelessness services in LA, especially as the city prepares for 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

personal data rights, homelessness services, coordinated care systems, LA Olympics 2028, World Cup 2026, systemic change, homeless industrial complex, federal policy changes, community organizing

Giving Ourselves Grace - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Learn how to practice sustainable self-care in service work. From trauma-informed to healing-centered approaches - you can't give what you haven't got.

What We Could Achieve With The Money We’re Wasting On Occupying Our Cities - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Military occupation costs $1.6M daily while housing all of Chicago's unhoused neighbors costs $383K. Discover the shocking math behind America's misplaced priorities and proven housing solutions.

Paul AsplundSeptember 7, 2025Comment

Hope Series Part 3: Radical Hope - Tools for Working in the Margins from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund

"Radical hope is hope that exists even when we are experiencing the destruction of our culture," writes Jonathan Lear. In times of authoritarianism, violence, and despair, how do we nurture hope? Through a deeply personal story of addiction recovery, spiritual awakening, and 30 years of practice, discover the prayers and tools that sustain radical hope when the world feels broken.

From Wrestling to Surrender: What Happens When We Stop Fighting the Call to Serve - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund

Discover what happens when we stop fighting the call to serve others. From San Francisco's streets to spiritual transformation, learn how sustained engagement with homelessness reveals profound truths about dignity, community, and our own healing.

Practicing Hope: Torn Between Comfort and Calling- Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Paul AsplundAugust 15, 2025Comment

The Grammar of Hope: What Sustains Us When the World Feels Broken - Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA

Why Do You Continue to Work to End Homelessness? The question came at the end of a recent Hollywood Forward meeting, one of those moments when the leader asks each person to share what drives them. Around the circle, people offered thoughtful responses: compassion, justice, personal mission. When my turn came, my answer was simply: "Hope."

Paul AsplundAugust 9, 2025Comment

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.

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.

Inching Forward Isn't Enough - Letters to the Housed

"We've lost the compassion to see these as real emergencies with life-altering complications." When almost seven people die daily from the effects of street life in LA, progress isn't enough. While Hollywood Forward proves that local organizing works—housing 50% of their neighbors—our emergency response systems still fail during the hours people need help most. From broken 2-1-1 systems to the promising new ECRC that closes at 5 PM, we're inching forward when lives demand we sprint. This is an emergency for all of us, housed and unhoused. We choose to let this continue. We can choose to end it.

MacArthur Park's ICE Incursion and the Toll On Us All - Letters to the Housed

Last Monday morning, July 7, approximately 90 National Guard troops and dozens of federal agents descended on MacArthur Park in Los Angeles's Westlake district. The operation included 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances, and Border Patrol agents on horseback. After about an hour of what officials later called a "security perimeter" operation, they left without making a single arrest.

Paul AsplundJuly 13, 2025Comment

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.

We Do This Because We Love People- Letters to the Housed

When anger consumed my love for working with unhoused neighbors after losing a friend, three wise elders reminded me why we serve: not to make a difference, but to be made different. This personal story explores the journey from compassion fatigue back to love-centered service, moving from trauma-informed to healing-centered engagement. Discover practical steps for rediscovering joy in helping professions and why community connection is the antidote to burnout.