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In February of 2023, H4WRD teamed up with LACDMH to co-host the first in-person event of the Hollywood 2.0 program. After months of meeting only over zoom, this "crosswalk" event took place in the Student Center of Los Angeles City College (LACC), thanks to the generous hospitality of H20’s partners at the LACC Foundation. The event featured attendees from all three of H20's workgroups – People-Systems, Purpose, and Place – gathered together to mix and mingle AND to select their top recommendations of the ideas that will guide H20’s next steps of its innovative path.
After a fun half hour of mixing and mingling, the event kicked off in earnest with H4WRD’s Executive Director, Brittney Weissman, welcoming the community members and setting expectations for the busy day ahead. She then introduced the three H20 participants who’d be ‘reporting out’ on their respective workgroups:
- Kerry Morrison (Heart Forward) provided an overview of the People-Systems workgroup;
- Elvina Beck (PodShare) did the same for the Place workgroup;
- Molly Larson (Chrysalis) followed with an overview of the Purpose workgroup.
This was the first time the workgroups had heard what the other groups had been doing all year, and it was gratifying to see how engaged folks were listening to their fellow H20 participants.
Next up, the DMH team offered a look at their progress behind-the-scenes for the previous 8 months. The DMH speakers and their topics included:
- Dr. Curley Bonds (Chief Medical Officer), offered an overview and some history of H20 in general, and how the Mayor’s recent Emergency Declaration impacted funding;
- Maria Funk (Deputy Director, Housing and Job Development), discussed what community collaboration with DMH would work moving forward;
- Karla Bennett (H20 Program Manager) and Carolyn Kaneko (Mental Health Program Manager) spoke together and talked attendees through some of the Crosswalk process that lay ahead, including:
- Explanation that the People-Systems workgroup members were being integrated into the breakout groups (and polling) for the Place and Purpose workgroups;
- Explanation of the polling process and how the top 3 ideas will be selected from the Purpose and Place breakout workgroups that would be meeting shortly
- La Tina Jackson (Deputy Director, County Wide Engagement) offered an overview of H20’s budget, and how the path forward could most effectively be navigated.
At the conclusion of LaTina’s presentation, it was time for community members to get down to the heavy lifting work of the day. The two breakout groups were convened in separate corners of LACC’s large multi-purpose room, with Brittney and Carolyn facilitating the Purpose breakout group, and Karla and Tim facilitating the Place workgroup.
As Karla and Carolyn had explained, the facilitators for each breakout group now oversaw a polling process, which was used to ensure that no ideas developed over the course of the year would be left behind. The polling process in both breakout groups included rigorous discussion of all the ideas the respective groups had been developing all year.
Once the polling process was complete, the DMH’s Stacy Williams (Service Area 4 Chief) tallied each attendees polling sheet, and turned them into Brittney who announced the final results:
Purpose Polling Results
Essential:
- Job Placement for target population
- Supported Employment
- Pilot within the Pilot
The top 5 Enhancing ideas:
- Psychosocial rehab
- Employer incentives – tax credits, workforce pipeline, etc.
- Non-traditional collabs w/colleges/art/film/policy/communications
- Create non-clinical wellness teams focused on pursuit of a whole life
- Programming specific to formerly Justice-involved individuals
Place Polling Results
Essential:
- Safe Landing Facility – DHS example
- Psychiatric Urgent Care
- Highly enriched residential facility
The top 5 Enhancing ideas:
- Collaborative Living Space – SHARE example
- Gender-specific housing
- Create a Board and Care in H20 service area
- Transition-Aged Youth-Specific housing
- Developmental stage of life-specific housing
After the results were announced, Brittney explained the road ahead.
First up would be the development of six Concept Notes based on the “Essential” ideas selected from each workgroup. These Concept Notes would be fleshed out and drafted by 6 subgroups; participants were encouraged to join the subgroup that most closely aligned with their experience and interest. Once the subgroups turned in their Notes, the DMH team would review them to see which ones were most feasible to fund moving forward.
Tim rang the timer bell, and Brittney smiled as the Crosswalk came to its conclusion. The Crosswalk may be over, but the home stretch of H20 Year One had just begun!
