The Restorative Village is a first-of-its-kind project holistically addressing the healthcare needs of the unhoused population. The three-phase complex leverages an underused site on the edge of the Los Angeles County USC Medical Campus. Currently, the County ostensibly has the Emergency Room as an option to treat individuals experiencing homelessness who require care. With needs to reduce costs and make ER beds available, the unhoused patients are released with no real option for recuperation.

NAC joined a team of healthcare and political leaders to conceive a new system with a “no wrong door” philosophy. In other words, the project is intended to receive patients at any stage of a health issue and support them in a continuum of care. NAC developed a concept that centers around a large plaza that unifies the three phases and supports the idea of movement through a care program. The plaza, raised and separated from the street, provides a series of diverse landscapes and healing gardens. The structures incentivize participation and persistence through increased autonomy in upper floors.

Phase 1 includes 100 beds for Recuperative Care and 64 beds for Crisis Residential Housing.

Phase 2 includes a Wellness Hub with an array of human service resources, including consumer workforce, self-care, peer support and navigation, childcare, education, employment training, therapy, and integrative medical and spiritual practices. Additionally, this phase contains 100 beds for rescue, bridge, and transitional housing, 50 beds for a Restorative Center for sobering and withdrawal, 25 beds for a Respite Center, and a 100,000-square-foot Psychiatric Urgent Care facility with a variety of social outdoor and concession areas.

Phase 3 represents a variety of inpatient services with 80 acute inpatient beds, 50 flex units, 20 observation beds, and 40 beds in a psychiatric ER.