Chosen Hearts: Community Healing and Support Hub

Affordable housing and homelessness

Central LA

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

In South Los Angeles, homelessness is a crisis, especially for individuals facing trauma, incarceration, and systemic poverty. Many lack access to basic resources, mental health care, or safe spaces to stabilize. Traditional service systems often turn people away due to untreated behavioral health needs, lack of ID, or criminal history, creating barriers for those in need. Existing models are often fragmented or have high entry thresholds, making it difficult for vulnerable individuals to receive coordinated, trauma-informed care. This is true for those with substance use, mental illness, or reentry challenges who need low-barrier, non-judgmental support. The closure of Job Corps programs further underscores the shortage of services for youth and system-impacted adults. South LA lacks comprehensive, culturally responsive drop-in centers. Closing this gap requires accessible, trust-based care that meets people where they are and interrupts cycles of instability and poor outcomes.

Chosen Hearts will establish a Community Healing and Support Hub to meet the urgent needs of individuals facing homelessness, trauma, and reentry barriers. This low-barrier drop-in center will provide access for those often turned away from traditional systems due to untreated mental health conditions, lack of documentation, and incarceration histories. Operating five days a week, the hub will offer individualized case management, housing navigation, employment referrals, hand-offs to shelter or permanent housing.
On-site mental health services will include weekly individual or group sessions and wellness check-ins. Chosen Hearts also integrates independent living skills coaching as a core service, recognizing that many participants lack the tools and confidence to manage daily life like budgeting, time management, navigating public systems, and housing retention. These skills are often overlooked in traditional programs but are essential for long-term stability, especially for those emerging from homelessness and systemic barriers.
This foundation is based on lived experience and culturally responsive care, designed by and for individuals who have been system-impacted. Staffed by culturally competent professionals, many with lived experience, the team supports participants with dignity and compassion. Chosen Hearts aims to disrupt cycles of homelessness, reduce recidivism, and empower participants to take steps toward self-sufficiency and long-term housing stability.

Los Angeles County will benefit from a stronger, more coordinated response to homelessness and reentry challenges, where access to trauma-informed, low-barrier services remains limited. The Chosen Hearts Community Healing and Support Hub will reduce the number of individuals cycling through emergency rooms, jails, and temporary shelters by offering an accessible pathway to stability. Community members who are often overlooked, especially those with histories of incarceration or trauma, will have a safe place to access housing navigation, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, and life skills support. This will foster greater trust in service systems, reduce community-level trauma, and contribute to long-term reductions in homelessness. Chosen Hearts will document outcomes and share lessons learned with other organizations and County departments. The goal is to establish similar trauma-informed hubs in other high-need neighborhoods, advancing equitable services countywide.