For this episode, we handed the podcast studio over to one of our UCLA interns from the Luskin School of Public Affairs, Mei-Mei Barnhardt. She interviews Marc Novick who brings a wealth of lived experience to his role as a case manager for Project 180, a program that is focused upon diversion and reentry programs for people involved in the criminal justice system.

Since late last year, Heart Forward has been involved in a Hilton Foundation-funded project which involves taking a deeper look at the residential ecosystem that is connected to LA County’s Office of Diversion and Reentry (ODR). This program, working in concert with Superior Court judges in the criminal and mental health courts, offers programs that divert individuals with serious mental, physical or behavioral health needs from jail into community-based care, housing and supportive services.

The Heart Forward team, as part of this project, has been visiting various service providers who staff these residential placements, and when we visited Project 180’s Crescent House last fall, one enthusiastic member of the case management team captured our attention. That was Marc. Mei-Mei, in particular, was drawn to his positive energy and asked if she could meet with him to learn more about his life.

As she relayed back to us the substance of their three-hour meeting – where he candidly shared his challenges with family trauma and addition, starting at a very young age, we thought he would be a great candidate for an interview. And, in the spirit of promoting student learning, we offered Mei-Mei the opportunity to take the reins in the podcast studio.

His journey out of addiction is inspirational, and undergirds the role he plays as a peer supporter with other men facing similar life challenges.

With special recognition to our key sponsors:

• Presenting Sponsor, Tony Hale
• Community Impact Sponsor, Peter Lizotte

And a special thank you to those who have helped to make this season possible:

Sarah Dusseault, Brian Folb, Dave Pilon, Nick Halaris, Jae Lee and David Israelian.