2-1-1 is the number that over 400,000 people in Los Angeles County call every year when looking for food, shelter, and other crisis and disaster services including during the ongoing COVID pandemic when calls for assistance nearly doubled. 211 LA is the non-profit organization that has provided this 24/7 helpline service since 1981 when it…

By Pastor Joe Paul, V.P. of Network Partnerships and Government Relations, The Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership August 1, 2022 Thirty-five years ago, I committed a crime: I was involved in the murder of a young black man – a casualty of the crack epidemic. I too, as a young black man, was a victim…

By Pastor Joe Paul, LARRP Vice President of Network Partnerships & Government Relations Last week, I was in a Chicago-based training where clergy learned how to better organize our community around community-based violence. During the same week, President Biden signed a gun bill package that will give more financial resources to typically underfunded organizations and…

WRITTEN BY JOE PAUL, LARRP Vice President of Network Partnerships & Government Relations In 2020, the death of George Floyd launched an unprecedented demand for policy reforms and transparency in law enforcement. Communities, citizens, and activists united in a strategic and sustained call to divert law enforcement funding toward community prevention and intervention programs. We…

By Lynne Lyman, LARRP Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member I last spoke to Joe on a leisurely Saturday afternoon in early December, it was a lovely rambling conversation covering some of the pressing policy issues in the justice sector, as well as recounting significant early moments in each of our political awareness and justice work.…

Healing in Action Last fall, LARRP announced the launch of its first Community Safety Committee. This committee is designed to understand both the upstream drivers and downstream consequence of violence in all of its forms. Its formation stemmed from a growing recognition that if we do not address the origins of criminality and violence, we…

Mark was at the table for LARRP’s inception, as they brainstormed how it would be possible, in a County as large as Los Angeles, to weave a tapestry of relationships and partnerships that could make a difference in the lives of individuals coming home from State Prison and Jail. Mark was also on the team…

  October 7, 2021 was a great day of celebration to recognize the 10 year Anniversary of The Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership (LARRP). LARRP steering committee members and leaders, gathered together at Amity Foundation to be recognized by the City of Los Angeles for a decade of providing support and community-building for men and…

California has a myriad of issues that it faces today; and chief among them is homelessness. This is largely promoted by the daily encroachment in our lives. There are tens of thousands of people living in encampments in cities large and small across the state; and many of them have criminal records. Gov. Gavin Newsom…

According to L.A. Times: “As COVID-19 began hospitalizing and killing more people in Los Angeles last year, so did shootings in the street. The increased bloodshed, much of it linked to gangs, surged as the economy faltered, leading to the deadliest year of violence in L.A. in a decade.” Unlike COVID 19, which spawned the…