The Revolution Will Not Be Funded | Part 2 of 3 from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of SecondGrace.LA

Welcome back. We ended last week with a quote from Lumbee Tribal member Edgar Villanueva: "All of us who have been forced to the margins are the very ones who harbor the best solutions." But those solutions remain unfunded because funders with the least connection to problems control resources meant to solve them. This week, we're digging deeper into the inequality—and inequity—in the vast majority of nonprofit boards.

Homelessness, Community, Letters to the HousedPaul AsplundNovember 17, 2025EndHomelessness, NonprofitLeadership, SocialJustice, RadicalHospitality, MissionDrift, SystemicChange, HousingJustice, CommunityOrganizing, PhilanthropyReform, TraumaInformedComment

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded | Part 1 of 3 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.

Homelessness, Community, Letters to the HousedPaul AsplundNovember 8, 2025EndHomelessness, NonprofitLeadership, SocialJustice, RadicalHospitality, MissionDrift, SystemicChange, HousingJustice, CommunityOrganizing, PhilanthropyReform, TraumaInformedComment

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.

Letters to the Housed, HomelessnessPaul AsplundNovember 1, 2025EndHomelessness, RadicalHospitality, SystemicChange, SocialHousing, ViennaModel, LA2028Olympics, MeasureU, #AffordableHousing, HousingJustice, CommunityAction, TraumaInformed, SecondGraceLA, HousingFirst, PublicHousing, OlympicLegacyComment

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.

Homelessness, Letters to the Housed, Radical HopePaul AsplundOctober 6, 2025HSH, LACounty, DesignLab, DataOwnership, LivedExperience, SystemicChange, CommunityCoDesign, RadicalHope, HomelessServices, ServiceCoordinationComment

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.

Homelessness, Community, Letters to the Housed, Personal Data RightsPaul AsplundSeptember 29, 2025#HomelessServices, LACounty, HSH, #HumanCenteredDesign, SystemicChange, RadicalHope, ServiceReform, DataOwnership, CommunityEngagementComment

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.