Stories

I interviewed 11 Los Angeles County grassroots groups in March 2020 just as the County issued its first safer-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 public health pandemic. The crisis only emphasizes even more the critical importance of their work. Many of the groups didn’t know about the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s Strategic Plan, yet their work overlaps with many of its goals point by point. This fortunate coincidence reveals how communities often meet the challenge of addressing their own healing and can offer valuable perspective on policy, programs and models of care. It also demonstrates how communities are in a perfect position to inform DMH’s organizational structure, process and outcomes.

But beyond DMH’s strategic considerations, these stories are an offering to reflect on our own experiences. It is useful to notice how we personally connect to the stories we receive, the communities they represent and the communities we come from too. Ideally, sharing stories is part of a longer-term process of building trust with communities, particularly those who have historically been hurt by institutions not of their making. Regardless of where we are all positioned, we each carry the potential to work together towards healing justice for all.