Origin Story
2017
In November 2017, 13 LA County leaders attended an international mental health conference in Trieste Italy. They were invited by Kerry Morrison, a 2016-17 Stanton Fellow, whose fellowship inquiry was: “why is it so hard to help people with severe mental illness move from the street to a safe place?” The delegation included influencers from the county of Los Angeles, the mental health court, law enforcement, NAMI, LAHSA, nonprofits and philanthropy. Afterwards, Dr. Jonathan Sherin, the new leader of LA County DMH, encouraged the delegation to imagine a new approach to mental health services.
2018
The 2017 LA-Trieste Delegation met monthly during 2018 to imagine a new way forward. The group identified the guiding principles from the Trieste mental health system that were important to embrace, and juxtaposed how those guiding principles contrasted with the ways in which people encounter systems in Los Angeles.
In the summer of 2018, the County of Los Angeles entered into a “Twinning Agreement” with the Trieste mental health system under the umbrella of the International Mental Health Collaborating Network. This facilitated the opportunity to share information and best practices.
In September of 2018, five representatives of the Trieste system came to Los Angeles, owing to the fundraising undertaken by LA Delegation member Caroline Kelly, and spent the week touring various aspects of the county system.
Shortly after their visit, the county retained the services of Dr. Dave Pilon, formerly of Mental Health America, to formulate a proposal that would be eligible for consideration as an Innovations project, according to the terms of the Mental Health Services Act. Dr. Pilon was able to visit the system in Trieste in December 2018 to help inform a proposal that would adapt the Italian commitment to a true community-based model of whole person care, psycho-social rehabilitation and peer engagement to an American system.
2019
Kerry Morrison departed from her position managing the business improvement district in Hollywood on February 1, 2019. Her intention was to devote her time completely to promoting the importance of this model to a receptive American audience. She lived in Trieste in March 2019 and was graciously welcomed into the Trieste mental health system as an embedded observer. She wrote about that experience, and continues to share her observations, in her blog Accoglienza.
Dr. Pilon, under the direction of the County Department of Mental Health, and in consultation with the 2017 LA-Trieste delegation, drafted an Innovations proposal which was presented to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Committee in May 2019. At their May 23, 2019 meeting, the MHSOAC approved a $116M five-year pilot for Hollywood.
Heart Forward was accepted as a project of Community Partners in July 2019.
In September 2019, Kerry Morrison organized a delegation of 39 state and local leaders to attend the bi-annual mental health conference in Trieste, Good Practice Services: Promoting Human Rights and Recovery in Mental Health. The size of that delegation is a testament to the allure of the Basaglian model to leader in California who are looking for a new way forward.
2020
The county was preparing the framework to accept the state Innovations grant and commence the planning year for the pilot. It was anticipated that this process would have been completed in the first part of 2020. However, the crisis presented by the coronavirus and the need to focus all county health-related efforts on the immediate response has forestalled any consideration of projects like this for the foreseeable future.
Prior to the pandemic, Heart Forward LA was initiating some volunteer-driven projects to begin to practice what we preach with respect to building social connections.
Kinship Afternoons – this was a project initiated in January 2020 between volunteers at a local church, Ecclesia Hollywood, and a Hollywood board and care home located off of Sunset Blvd. Between late January and March 8, volunteers came every other Sunday afternoon to hang with willing residents to talk, journal, create scrapbooks. The final session (pre-coronavirus lockdown) was a “MOTH-inspired” open mike story telling afternoon.
Kinship Circles – this idea involves creating teams of three community volunteers around a resident at a local supportive housing building. Heart Forward worked with a local Hollywood nonprofit, The Center in Hollywood, to apply for a MHSA mini grant to do a pilot of this program. Unfortunately, the MHSA mini-grants have been postponed indefinitely because of coronavirus.
Considering other ways to forge human connections has remained a priority of Heart Forward LA. Click into the Get Involved section for more ideas, but in the works right now is an effort called Kinship Connection to identify pen-pals for inmates living at L.A. County Twin Towers.
2020
As we started this year, the county was preparing the framework to accept the state MHSA Innovations grant and commence the planning year for the pilot. It was anticipated that this process would have been completed in the first part of 2020. However, the crisis presented by the coronavirus and the need to focus all county health-related efforts on the immediate response has forestalled any consideration of projects like this for the foreseeable future.
Prior to the pandemic, Heart Forward LA was initiating some volunteer-driven projects to begin to practice what we preach with respect to building social connections. In particular:
Kinship Afternoons – this was a project initiated in January 2020 between volunteers at a local church, Ecclesia Hollywood, and a Hollywood board and care home located off of Sunset Blvd. Between late January and March 8, volunteers came every other Sunday afternoon to hang with willing residents to talk, journal, create scrapbooks. The final session (pre-coronavirus lockdown) was a “MOTH-inspired” open mike story telling afternoon.
By the end of Q1, the pandemic forced a new work rhythm due to the “stay at home” order, and Heart Forward LA had to discover new ways to tell the story of Trieste. Technology allowed Heart Forward to engage with a receptive audience beyond Los Angeles.
Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart: In Q4, after months of planning, Kerry Morrison launched first season of a well-received podcast consisting of 10 episodes. Zoom interviews allowed for interviews that might not ever have seemed possible prior to the pandemic – ranging from talks with people from Glasgow, Trieste, New York, Santa Barbara and L.A. County jail. Season Two is in the conceptualization stage and will be launched in the Spring of 2021.
Conference and panel participation: Arguably, more outreach was accomplished via virtual meetings this past year than may have been possible, given the traditional reliance upon travel. Here is a sampling of Kerry’s outreach:
5/20/20. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association – description of the Trieste model
6/4/20. Center for Nonprofit Management – homelessness and mental illness
7/2/20. YPO Global Alliance - Los Angeles Chapter. Intersection of homelessness and mental illness
10/15/20. Crisis Residential Association Conference – description of the Trieste model
10/15/20. Downtown Seattle Association – panel on homelessness and mental illness
Finally, Heart Forward was awarded a consulting project by PATH Ventures to work with staff and residents at several permanent supportive housing (PSH) communities to create a “radical hospitality” culture. This project was launched in Q3 and will extend into early 2022. Heart Forward will be collaborating with the residents and staff at Villas at Gower, PATH Metro Villas I and II, and Long Beach – Willard Street.
2021
As we start this year, with the hope that some activities will open up and we can move from virtual engagement to more hands-on experiences, we anticipate the following:
Season Two of Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart Podcast will commence in the Spring.
The PATH Radical Hospitality Pilot will resume with plans for resident surveys, focus groups and the creation of resident advisory councils at the four communities.
A new working relationship will be forged HFLA and Fountain House in New York, who has expressed intent to expand their reach to California. Heart Forward will partner with Fountain House to pave the way into the Los Angeles area, with hopes for an initial clubhouse in Hollywood.
HFLA will expand its outreach into the Los Angeles peer community through intentional listening sessions to gain insights into the need for systems change, advocacy and culturally appropriate activities and pursuits.