Access to stable housing is essential for individuals living with mental illness and manifests in various forms—from clinical institutions to supervised group homes to supportive housing—each presenting distinct challenges, including affordability, autonomy, physical needs, and freedom from discrimination. Responding to the diminishing availability of affordable housing in Los Angeles, The Head & The Heart proposes a long-term, multi-layered strategy to support individuals with mental illness. First, it expands upon the Housing First model, which has demonstrated improved mental health outcomes and reduced homelessness by prioritizing immediate, unconditional access to permanent housing. Second, it incorporates a limited equity cooperative model that ensures long-term affordability while empowering residents as collective owners, participants, and decision-makers in their communities. Third, it establishes inclusive design principles that support mental well-being by offering a blend of secure, open, intimate, and communal spaces—featuring constant visual connections to the outdoors, central communal areas, open-ended circulation paths, shared kitchens, multi-story collective spaces, and private nooks for retreat. Finally, The Head & The Heart embeds its housing units and supportive programs (such as caretaker residences, a community center, and green spaces) within existing urban sites to form integrated, mutually supportive compounds. One proposed collaboration is with St. Mary’s Catholic Church and its affiliated school in Boyle Heights. Jointly funded by the church and public agencies at the federal, state, and city levels, the project reimagines the site as a shared estate—providing stable housing while enriching the broader community through accessible, communal programming.
THE HEAD & THE HEART: Building for Stability in Mental Illness
