Local outreach programs offer food, shelter to the homeless
During the winter season Pasadena gets cold at night, especially for those without a home. Several local outreach programs offer emergency shelters and other services for those looking for a place to sleep and eat.
The outreach program at Pasadena Covenant Church at 539 N. Lake Avenue offers an emergency shelter in collaboration with Friends in Deed (FID), an interfaith collaborative of different churches in the Pasadena area that’s dedicated to meeting the needs of the homeless and at-risk individuals.
“PasCov hosts the shelter in our gym,” said Vikki Randall, a pastor for the church. “Area churches share responsibilities to send volunteers and provide dinner.”
The Bad Weather shelter was activated on Nov. 27 and will be open during nights when the temperature is below 40 degrees or there is a 40 percent chance of rain. The emergency shelter will operate to until the end of February.
According to Randall, anyone who is looking for a place to stay for the night is welcome. There is no discrimination based on race, sexual orientation or disability.
“There’s a check in and they will have a cot,” said Kim Dorman, a member of Pasadena Covenant Church.
The emergency shelter opens at 8 p.m. and those that do go also receive dinner, which includes a meat dish, salad, bread, and desert. The shelter is staffed with professionals who have experience working with the homeless and mentally ill. A nurse is provided on-site to give flu shots and health evaluations.
The check out time is 6 a.m. to 6:30 am.
For those looking for more services, the Union Station Homeless Services offers a variety of outreach programs.
Since 1973, Union Station Homeless Services has served the poor and homeless population of Pasadena. Located on Raymond Avenue, the hospitality center offers services for at-risk individuals and families.
The Family Center offers shelter, meals and health services to parents and children. There is also an Adult Shelter for individuals looking for a nutritious meal and housing. Housing for both centers are on a first come, first served basis.
Union Station Homeless Services also offers permanent, supportive housing.
The center, along with Pasadena Covenant Church and 40-plus other social service agencies throughout the San Gabriel Valley, are working on ending homelessness in the area by 2016.
The Coordinated Entry System (CES) program finds housing for those that are chronically homeless with the goal of housing the most vulnerable first.
“This is an important and worthy goal, and one we are progressing towards steadily,” said Randall. “But it will take time—a lot of time—to house the 600 some homeless in Pasadena (at last census). So in the meantime we need the emergency shelter.”
Pasadena Covenant Church’s emergency shelter will be open on Christmas Eve for “Christmas at the Shelter” where they will provide a full holiday dinner.
The hotline for the Bad Weather Shelter is 1-888-915-8111.
The number for the Adult Center front desk is (626) 791-6610.
Two Men And A Truck in Pasadena recently wrapped up its 2015 Movers for Meals campaign to provide families facing hunger this holiday season with a warm Thanksgiving meal. This year, the moving company worked with Union Station Homeless Services of Pasadena in their Adopt-A-Meal program and provided 15 employees to serve a lunch to families.
Two Men And A Truck Pasadena also donated $1,000 to Union Station to help them with their various programs. This fall marked the fifth anniversary of the Movers for Meals national program.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 25 Los Angeles holiday drives that you can participate in this year. Whether it’s to donate your time, money and more to local charities in need, we’ve discovered family-friendly activities perfect for both individuals and groups. There are so many ways to cherish the city of Los Angeles, from its people, beaches and museums. Start giving back to the community by choosing from our list of some of the best places to make a difference, from Downtown Los Angeles, to the San Gabriel Valley and even Santa Monica.
Children’s Institute, Inc. with help from Mattel Inc. and other partners will host a holiday celebration for more than 1,000 of Los Angeles’ most vulnerable children – many are victims or witnesses to violence in their homes and communities. Event activities include toy selection, arts and crafts, cookie decorating, story time, music and more. Be a part of the holiday cheer on Saturday, December 5th at CII’s Otis Booth Campus. Volunteer responsibilities range from helping with set up, helping children select a toy, a book and or handing out food and water, to helping with breakdown of the event. Register to volunteer today.
Come to Boys Town California’s campus and enjoy a tour of Family Homes while visiting with the boys and girls who call Boys Town home. Refreshments, joy and merriment will be provided as the home opens for you. RSVP here!
During the holidays, some families don’t have the extra time it takes to shop so, with your help, the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House is making it easy for them. Families served by the organization will be coming together to shop for each other – parents for their kids and kids for the parents. Gifts needed include gift cards, bath items, socks, a good book and so much more. More info here.
Donate canned food items and gently-used clothing to benefit LGBT seniors and youth served by the Center. This ninth annual donation drive party is free admission and guests who donate a bag of gently used clothes and/or a bag of canned, non-perishable food items will receive a complimentary drink. More info here.
5. Holiday Art Bazaar
Organization: Theatre of Hearts Youth First
Date: December 12
Join Theatre of Hearts Youth First for wine, cheese, and a unique shopping experience with art and handmade goods by local artists and students. Admission is free. More info here.
Lend your voice in song and come lift the spirits of seniors as one incredible family. Two opportunities available to sing carols with glee at local Senior Centers! Register for caroling here.
9. Food & Clothing Distribution
Organization: Food on Foot Date: 12/20, 12/27, 01/03, 01/10
Every week, volunteers from around the city gather and help distribute food and clothing. Use the online volunteer sign-up, and show up. It’s surprisingly easy – and a few hundred people will thank you for it. Approximately 90 minutes of your time on a Sunday. No contractual agreements. Show up once. Or twice. Or every week. Sign up to volunteer today!
10. Cherishing Children
Organization: Day One Date: December 21
For four decades, Union Station Homeless Services has hosted Holiday Dinner in the Park on Christmas Day. This incredible community event provides thousands of holiday meals and hope for all who attend, including homeless men, women, children, seniors, very low-income families, and those with no place to go during the holidays. Other ways to help include pie donations and Christmas wishlist purchases. The impact of this event in the community is huge! Sign up to volunteer here.
Experience the true spirit of giving this holiday season through the Mother’s Club Family Learning Center Adopt-A-Family Program. You’ll be linked with a family in need, and you will have the opportunity to provide the makings of a wonderful holiday. Bring a smile to a child’s face with a new toy or book…bring joy to a mother with some comfy slippers or a photo album for her keepsakes…and bring joy to a whole family with all the fixings for a delicious holiday meal. The process is simple and the rewards are priceless for both those who receive and those who give. Adopt a family here.
13. Help Fill A Holiday Stocking For A Child Or Family In Need
Organization: Aviva
Date: December 2015
Help bring a moment of holiday cheer into the lives of children and families. Please consider hosting a holiday gift and toy drive for Aviva. If you want to “adopt” an individual child or a family who will not have a Christmas without our help, Aviva can provide personalized wish lists from these children and families, many of whom need almost anything you can think of – from blankets to food gift cards. Click here to download the general wish list and learn how to “adopt” a child or family for the holidays.
14. Divine Chocolate Supports Women Cocoa Farmers
Organization: Whole Planet Foundation
Date: December 2015
This holiday season, Divine Chocolate is supporting Whole Planet Foundation with a portion of sales from their Advent Calendar at Whole Foods Market stores. Divine Chocoalte will be supporting the Foundation’s microcredit programs by making a $0.05 donation for each Divine Chocolate Advent Calendar sold in Whole Foods Market locations nationwide. More info here.
15.No Dinner “Dinner” Fundraiser Organization: Reading Open Minds Date: December 2015
A dinner with zero calories guaranteed to make you feel good! Help build a culture of literacy and community by providing books and book clubs to local jails, prisons, low-income schools and senior centers. One of the organization’s favorite independent bookstores, Chevalier’s Books, is graciously offering a 15% discount on in-store or call-in orders to all who donate in the fundraiser! Check out the dinner menu and book pairings.
Look no further for your stack of holiday cards! The Pablove Foundation is selling an exclusive holiday cards collection, perfect to send to your loved ones and colleagues. Purchase holiday art here.
Presented by the Get Together Foundation, Rock Cellar Magazine & KCSN… 2 sets of Rock ‘n’ Roll and soulful Christmas & holiday tunes with an AllStar cast hosted by KCSN’s on air personality, Jim Nelson. This special holiday show will feature an incredibly talented musical cast & several well-known musical stars to sing, celebrate & raise money for a great cause: MusiCares®, founded by The Recording Academy (GRAMMY’s), helps music people in need. Get your tickets here.
Caring for a family member with special needs can create significant financial and emotional strain, especially in families where parents already struggle to meet basic needs. They can’t afford “extras” like holiday gifts and special meals. Help provide some relief to families in three easy ways: conduct a toy or food drive at your office, school or other organization, adopt a family or make a personal donation to allow ECF to purchase holiday gifts! Click here for gift ideas, information on online giving and more.
19. Holiday Gift Cards and Program
Organization: Voice LA Date: December 2015
Help package and provide Christmas food baskets, toys and books to 2,500 families (12,500 people) living in poverty in the Los Angeles area. Each child receives books and toys given personally by Santa and every family takes home a basket overflowing with all the makings of a wonderful holiday meal: a turkey, rolls, carrots, squash, potatoes, yams, onions, rice, beans, bags of apples and oranges, candy, a fresh apple pie and canned goods. Gift cards are also available. In the name of the gifted, each card provides one low-income family within our community with a basket of food for Christmas. Scholarship gift cards available that help low income high school students realize their dreams of attending first-rate colleges. Purchase a gift card or sign up to volunteer here.
Vons and Pavilions stores will run the Help Us End Hunger Holiday Food Drive. Store customers can purchase $7 pre-packed food bags filled with essential items that will then be given to an individual in need. This year’s items will be: Tuna, Pasta, Canned Tomatoes, Canned Vegetables, Peanut Butter and Soup. Search for your nearest Vons and Pavillions location.
Join a broad-based grass-roots organization to plan and prepare an elaborate sitdown meal to the homeless and hungry at CBS on Christmas Day-a nice change from the sidewalk. Register to volunteer here.
22. 4-Day Holiday Sale
Organization: Project Angel Food
Date: December 2015
Get your shopping on while doing good at a special holiday 4-day sale at Jgerard Peace Gallery. There will be cocktails, music and premier merchandise sold at HUGE discounts. Holiday greeting cards are also available at Project Angel Food. More info here.
Shop from a selection of perfectly curated holiday sets for your loved ones! Ranging from the soap lover, the artist, the nurturer and more, you’ll be sure to find an ideal gift to give this season. Shop holiday gift sets here.
24. Holiday Shopping
Organization: Food Forward
Date: December 2015
Alverno High School stopped by Union Station Homeless Services (USHS) in Pasadena on Tuesday, Nov. 24 to donate fruit, vegetable and cheese platters for the USHS Thanksgiving Feast. Additionally, Isabel Diaz, representing Alverno’s campus ministry, dropped off the more than 90 boxes of macaroni and cheese collected during the school’s Macaroni Knockdown event.
Thanksgiving meals are served to those in need during the Union Station Homeless Services’ Annual Dinners-in-the-Park at Central Park in Pasadena on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/ Pasadena Star-News)
Photos: Thanksgiving meals served to those in need during the Pasadena Annual Dinners-in-the-Park
POSTED BY WATCHARA PHOMICINDA ON 11/26/2015 5:40PM TAGS: PHOTOS
Thanksgiving meals are served to those in need during the Union Station Homeless Services’ Annual Dinners-in-the-Park at Central Park in Pasadena on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) – Thanksgiving will be marked in Los Angeles County today by large gatherings on Skid Row and in Pasadena and Canoga Park to feed homeless and poor residents, and distance races that include charitable aspects.
Actors Dick Van Dyke and Ed Begley Jr. are expected to be among more than 300 volunteers serving Thanksgiving brunch at The Midnight Mission to thousands of homeless or nearly homeless men, women and children. Food bags and donated clothing will also be distributed.
“Of the many services The Midnight Mission provides to our unique community, one of the most important is the sense of family we offer to those who often feel lost and forgotten during the holidays and other days of
celebration,” said Georgia Berkovich, the mission’s director of public affairs.
“Now, more than ever, we need to work together to restore hope and dignity to those in need.”
The Fred Jordan Mission on Skid Row will hold its annual Thanksgiving banquet, serving more than one ton of turkey, topped by 80 gallons of gravy, to homeless people and working families who can’t afford to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, organizers said.
The meal will also include 585 pounds of green beans, 560 pounds of candied yams, 500 pounds of mashed potatoes, hundreds of pounds of traditional cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, 400 pumpkin pies and 220 gallons of fruit punch.
Guests will also receive a family food gift bag.
About 5,000 Thanksgiving dinners are expected to be served to adults and families experiencing homelessness and poverty, senior citizens and those who are alone or unable to afford a holiday meal at Union Station Homeless Services’ Dinner-in-the-Park at Central Park in Pasadena, continuing a tradition that began in 1972.
Volunteer registration for Thanksgiving has closed. Registration to volunteer for the organization’s Christmas Dinner-in-the-Park will begin Dec. 1 on its website, unionstationhs.org.
More than 2,000 people will be served turkey dinners at the 28th annual free Community Thanksgiving Day dinner for the area’s homeless and low-income families at Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park.
The public is invited to the 16th annual Gentle Thanksgiving at The Gentle Barn in Santa Clarita, which will feature vegetarian food, a bonfire, Native American drum circle and the opportunity to feed turkeys “that have
been rescued from Thanksgiving,” according to organizers.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2015 annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress released last week, the one-night estimate of homelessness found that the Los Angeles Continuum of Care had the nation’s second-largest amount of homeless people, 41,174, and second-
largest percentage of unsheltered homeless people, 70.3 percent, among major cities’ continuums of care.
The estimate found there were 6,781 more homeless people in the Los Angeles Continuum of Care in 2015 than 2014, a 20 percent increase. A continuum of care is the local planning body responsible for coordinating the full range of homelessness services in a geographic area. The Los Angeles Continuum of Care consists of all of Los Angeles County except for Glendale, Pasadena and Long Beach.
Distance races have also become a growing Thanksgiving tradition.
The inaugural Drumstick Dash on the back lot of CBS Studios in Studio City will consist of a timed competitive 5K race, a timed community 5K run/walk and a Kids Fun Run.
Funds raised through registrations and sponsorships will be used toprovide hot meals, housing, health care and other basic needs to the homeless in the San Fernando Valley.
Organizers hope to make this an annual event.
The Turkey Trot Los Angeles 5K and 10K races will start and end at City Hall. The course will go through Bunker Hill and on Spring Street, passing The Broad contemporary art museum, Grand Park, Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Museum of Contemporary Art.
Some runners will be dressed as turkeys, Pilgrims and pies, according to organizers.
Participants are encouraged to donate time or money to The Midnight Mission.
The third annual 5-kilometer Tofurky Trot will be held outside the Rose Bowl, with prizes going to the top finishers in the men’s, women’s and kids divisions and for the best-costumed runner. Rescued turkeys from The Gentle Barn will be the guests of honor.
Profits from the race will be donated to The Gentle Barn and the National Museum of Animals and Society.
The sixth annual Burbank Community YMCA Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot will be run on a double-loop course in downtown Burbank, with 5- and 10-kilometer races, a 5-kilometer “fun run/walk” and a “kiddie run” for
children 9 years old and younger.
Proceeds from the race will benefit the Burbank Community YMCA’s membership assistance program, which makes its facilities and programs available to the children and families in the city, regardless of ability to
pay.
The first official Thanksgiving was held in the Virginia Colony on Dec. 4, 1619. The traditional meal stems from one held in 1621 by the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The Continental Congress issued the nation’s first official Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1777.
President George Washington issued a national Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789, his first year in office.
Washington declared a national Thanksgiving holiday for the newly ratified Constitution, so people may thank God for “affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness” and for having “been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, particularly the national one now lately instituted.”
The first four presidents combined to issue six Thanksgiving proclamations. However, the tradition ended in 1815. Abraham Lincoln reinstituted it in 1863 in an attempt to heal the divisions caused by the Civil War. Every president since has made an official Thanksgiving proclamation.
In his Thanksgiving proclamation, President Barack Obama asked the nation to “express our gratitude by welcoming others to our celebrations and recognize those who volunteer today to ensure a dinner is possible for those who might have gone without.”