Kerry Morrison, founder of Heart Forward LA, shares her journey researching the “failures” of the U.S. mental health system, and what L.A. could learn about radical hospitality from a city with a robust community-based approach—Trieste, Italy.
While Kerry Morrison was the director of the Hollywood Business Improvement District, she noticed a serious disconnect in the ways the mental health and unhoused crises were being addressed and dealing with their root causes. After being awarded the Stanton Fellowship through the Durfee Foundation, Morrison spent two years looking for best practices both in the United States and abroad.
Her research eventually took her to the small coastal city of Trieste in Northern Italy. Starting after the closure of their last asylum, in 1980, the city opened the old facility to anyone who needed a place to stay with resources to support them. Flash forward to today, Trieste is a global leader in "radical hospitality" when it comes to mental health care. The city has set up community centers of care with professionals and supportive services to "treat them in wellness."
After bringing a delegation from Los Angeles County to Trieste and vice versa, Morrison and other L.A. officials began a mission to implement this method of care at home. While the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted some of the work, the L.A. County Department of Health is in the process of setting up a $116 million pilot program in Hollywood. Additionally after leaving the Hollywood BID, Morrison has started up her own non-profit called Heart Forward LA, with the goal of reshaping the American mental healthcare system based on the Trieste model.
For more on Morrison's journey and its implementation here in the United States, click here.
SROs Are Getting People Off the Streets in Portland
Single-room-occupancy hotels are providing much-needed affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Test Article 14
Test
America’s Housing Crisis: Lessons Ignored and Challenges Ahead
A recent study reveals how decades of policy missteps, demographic shifts, and economic forces fueled America’s housing crisis, leaving millions — especially millennials — struggling amid rising demand, racial disparities, and climate-driven emergencies.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
Test News Post 1
This is a summary
Test News Headline 46
Test for the image on the front page.
Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service