On Oct. 15, 2015, Union Station Homeless Services will host its 16th annual event entitled An Evening for the Station at the Arclight Pasadena in California. Throughout this incredible night supporters of the organization, whose mission is “to help men, women and children rebuild their lives, and end homelessness,” will enjoy performances from some of the top names in stand-up comedy including Ron Funches, Matt Braunger and “The Meltdown” co-hosts Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani.
Along with the main show, Homelessness Is No Laughing Matter, VIPs and event sponsors will also enjoy a special hors d’oeuvres and cocktail reception. All proceeds from the event will benefit Union Station Homeless Services and its great programs. Along with the above mentioned acts, “Orange is the New Black” co-star Matt Peters will also be performing.
Funches has been keeping busy lately with his hit NBC series, “Undateable,” the second season of which premieres on Oct. 9. Straying from last season’s pre-recorded methods, “Undateable” season two will feature all live episodes, a technique that will surely lead to lots of laughs from the series’ talented cast which includes Chris D’Elia, Brent Morin and Bridgit Mendler. Funches also regularly performs live stand-up across the country.
Along with co-hosting “The Meltdown,” Ray and Nanjiani are both popular podcast hosts. Ray co-hosts “The Nerdist Podcast” with Chris Hardwick and Nanjiani hosts the “X-Files Files.” He also co-stars on the hilarious HBO comedy, “Silicon Valley.” Braunger is a “MADtv” alum and his latest comedy special “Matt Braunger: Big Dumb Animal” premiered on Comedy Central earlier this year.
Union Station Homeless Services was formed in 1973 and it is now associated with a premier group of human services agencies in Los Angeles County that are collectively working to end homelessness. It is the largest social service agency assisting homeless and low-income families in San Gabriel Valley. Some of the programs offered by Union Station Homeless Services include housing dormitories, family solutions and employment services.
Head over to unionstationhs.org to learn more about this great non-profit organization and click here to pick-up tickets to the Homelessness Is No Laughing Matter event on Oct. 15. Keep reading AXS for more comedy news, reviews and tour announcements.
Ron Funches Tour Dates
Oct. 8-10 Improv Comedy Club – Atlanta, GA
Oct. 17 Improv – Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 29 Zanies Comedy Club – Chicago, IL
Dec. 30 Zanies Comedy Club – St. Charles, IL
Dec. 31 Zanies Comedy Club – Rosemont, IL
Rabbi Marvin Gross. Photo courtesy of Union Station Homeless Services website
Rabbi Marvin Gross’ congregants include Los Angeles County’s poorest, most neglected and most scorned — the homeless.
As chief executive officer of Union Station Homeless Services, Gross and his staff find housing, medical and psychological care, and help locate training programs and jobs for homeless women, men and children in the San Gabriel Valley. These suburbs are not usually associated with the tents and tarpaulins of the street encampments on Los Angeles’ Skid Row or those under the Hollywood, 405 and other freeways. It shows how far homelessness has extended and how deep it reaches into society.
“I look at the people at Union Station, in a way, as my congregation,” said Gross, 68, who was rabbi of Temple Sinai of Glendale for 7 1/2 years.
I met him while doing columns on the homeless for the website Truthdig. Union Station is one of the nonprofit organizations on the streets every day fighting a fast-growing onslaught of homelessness that has not been given much attention from any level of government. Volunteers from All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena started Union Station in 1973.
“It was founded on Union Street in Old Pasadena, which was then a slum,” Gross said. The volunteers named their project after the street. “They decided to put up a little a storefront to provide kindness and a haven to the men who lived in the flophouses in Old Pasadena.”
The situation has gotten a lot worse since then. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty estimates that, in the United States, 2.5 million to 3.5 million sleep in shelters, temporary transitional housing and on sidewalks, in parks, underneath freeways, and on buses and trains. The center estimates that an additional 7.4 million live with relatives or friends after losing their own homes. These figures, the center said, “are far from exact,” coming from several sources, each with their own way of counting the homeless. But they reflect the depth of the problem.
There are 25,686 homeless in the city of Los Angeles, the largest city in Los Angeles County, where the homeless number 44,359, according to the annual homeless census taken by Los Angeles County and nonprofit agencies.
As the homeless situation worsened, Gross got involved. He had been an activist while on the pulpit, active in the efforts to limit nuclear arms and and as an advocate for many social justice issues. “I got a little restless,” he said. He resigned from his rabbi’s post, “and I started to work for Sen. [Alan] Cranston when he ran for re-election in 1986. I believed in him and all his positions on Israel, Soviet Jewry, the nuclear arms race.” From there, Gross went to work for The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
He was encouraged to apply for the post of leading Union Station by the Rev. George Regas, rector of All Saints, whom he met while working with the interfaith center at the church on ways to limit the arms race.
“We have been able to serve many more people in many more ways since I took over,” he said. “We [then] had one facility, one program, 22 staff people, a budget of $930,000 a year and strong support from the community, which continues today. Today, we have 10 major programs. We have five sites in Pasadena. We have 90 employees; we continue to have a great board of directors, hundreds if not more community volunteers, and our budget is about $8 million in this current year.”
The complexity of the organization’s task is illustrated by Gross’ analysis of the homeless. A common view of the homeless is that they are hopeless addicts, mentally ill or both. Gross and others in homeless relief say the picture isn’t so simple.
“We have seen changes in the demography of who is homeless in this area,” he said. “When I came to Union Station, it was mostly men and a few women. They were white, Black and brown. Mostly white and Black. And now we have almost as many single women as we do men. We’ve had a huge increase in families over the years.
“Everyone has a different story, but basically the families are single mothers — single mothers with very limited job skills. Sometimes they have their own personal problems with drug abuse or other kinds of addiction or mental illness. Sometimes, it’s two-parent families, sometimes a father with kids, people who are low income, maybe because of the recession. They were unable to pay their rent and were evicted. Sometimes they have children with special needs who require extra support. Maybe they live with a sister or an aunt, and that gets old and then they’re living in a car. We’ve had families who lived in cars and [went] from church parking lot to church parking lot, then onto the street.”
I recently saw close up how Gross reaches his congregation of the homeless. I spent a morning with Logan Siler, 31, an outreach worker for Union Station Homeless Services. His job is to cruise the streets of Pasadena in a van, always on the lookout for someone who might be homeless. He knows the spots under freeway overpasses and parking lots where they gather. Or he sees one or two on the streets.
His task is to engage them in conversation, learn their stories and fill out a long questionnaire, probing their histories of homelessness, illness, family status and other personal details. At day’s end, Siler enters the information in a countywide database. On a 1-to-10 scale, the homeless are rated on the seriousness of their conditions. Those most in need of help are given a higher priority for scarce housing. Housing, usually in apartments, is found by Union Station and other nonprofits, which have stepped in as government has stepped out.
On this day, Siler spotted a man near the 210 Freeway, standing alone — slender, middle-aged, wearing shorts and a blue sweatshirt. The outreach worker, who previously worked with young people in San Francisco’s Haight, pulled over. He motioned me to stand aside so he could talk to the man privately. He gave him a bag lunch and began chatting in a friendly manner. They sat down on the sidewalk in the shade of the freeway overpass. They were there for a half hour while Siler filled out the questionnaire and told the man about the services available at Union Station. Hopefully, he went there.
That’s how Gross and his staff do their jobs, sometimes one homeless person at a time. It’s tough and frustrating work, but in a time when homelessness has become a neglected national tragedy, their efforts are as important as anything a rabbi can do.
Bill Boyarsky is a columnist for the Jewish Journal, Truthdig and L.A. Observed, and the author of “Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times” (Angel City Press).
The stats are grim. On a single night more than 550,000 are homeless throughout the United States, nearly 45,000 are homeless in Los Angeles, more than 3,000 are homeless in the San Gabriel Valley, and nearly 650 are homeless in Pasadena. With numbers like these, it’s easy to see why homelessness is no laughing matter. But Union Station Homeless Services, the San Gabriel Valley’s largest provider of homeless services, is tackling the serious issue with humor during a night of comedy to help those in need.For sixteen years the organization has held it’s “An Evening for the Station” event featuring celebrity actors and musicians like Hector Elizondo and Jeff Goldblum, the Yellow Jackets and many others. This year, the evening will also feature celebrities, but this time they’ll take the stage and perform stand-up comedy, as way of demonstrating that Homeless is No Laughing Matter.
The event takes place Thursday, October 15th at 6:30pm in Pasadena at ArcLight Cinemas in the Paseo Colorado Shopping Center at 300 E. Colorado Blvd. Organizers expect more than 400 community, business, and civic leaders. The night of comedy will feature a line-up of comedians seen on HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, and more. All funds raised will benefit Union Station to help homeless adults and families.
Here’s the list of featured comedians:
Jonah and Kumail (Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail): Based on the popular live show, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail features comedy icons and up-and-comers performing in the back of a comic book shop. Jonah Ray is an actor, writer and comedian also known for being one of the co-hosts of The Nerdist Podcast and television show. Kumail Nanjiani has guest-starred in various comedy shows like Portlandia, and more recently is a regular on HBO’s Silicon Valley.
Matt Braunger (MADtv, Live at Gotham): Matt was recently a series regular on MADtv, his television credits also include The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Live at Gotham. Matt has performed at a variety of prestigious comedy festivals and was recently featured in Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch.”
Matt Peters (Showtime’s WEEDS, Netflix’s Orange is the New Black): Matt has been seen on Showtime’s WEEDS, G4TV’s Attack of the Show, and most notably, he has a recurring role on the Primetime Emmy Award-nominated Netflix series, Orange is the New Black. Additionally, he hosts the popular bi-weekly comedy show, BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! that takes place at the infamous R Bar in Los Angeles.
Ron Funches (TBS’s Conan, NBC’s Undateable): Ron has a recurring role on Disney’s Crash and Bernstein, Comedy Central’s Kroll Show and a starring role in NBC’s Undateable. He performs stand up all over the United States impressing audiences everywhere. Most recently, Ron was named one of the “Best New Comedians” by Esquire Magazine.
Nikki Glaser (Comedy Central’s @Midnight, MTV’s Nikki & Sara LIVE): Nikki is a comedian, writer, and host whose television appearances have included The Tonight Show, CONAN, and Last Comic Standing. She was the co-host of the MTV late night talk show, Nikki & Sara LIVE. Nikki can currently be seen as a regular contestant on Comedy Central’s @Midnight and will guest star on the upcoming season of Inside Amy Schumer.
Cameron Esposito (Put Your Hands Together, Chelsea Lately): Cameron is a fast rising Los Angeles-based standup comic, actor and writer who has been called “the future of comedy” by none other than Jay Leno. Cameron hosts Put Your Hands Together, has a biweekly column on The AV Club, and has appeared on Late Late with Craig Ferguson, @Midnight, CONAN, and as a regular on Chelsea Lately and TakePartLive among others.
Baron Vaughn (NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Netflix’s Grace and Frankie): Baron is a comedian who has performed on Conan, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and has had numerous appearances on Comedy Central, most recently in the form of his own “Half Hour” comedy special. Baron has performed in comedy festivals nationwide, TV shows and films and was a series regular on USA’s Fairly Legal (2010-2012). Catch him on the upcoming Netflix Original Series Grace and Frankie starting in May 2015.
Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased at www.unionstationhs.org or (626) 250-4559. Event sponsorship begins at $500. To become an event or publicity sponsor, call (626) 240-4558.
Lunchtime at Pasadena’s Union Station. (Staff Photo by Walt Mancini)
By Marvin Gross
POSTED: |
Andrew Harvey’s thoughts about the homeless in Pasadena (“What will Pasadena do about homeless problem?,” Sept. 6) are seriously ill-informed, malicious and mean-spirited. Among other things, he demonizes all homeless people with exaggerated, unfounded generalizations and is wholly unaware of the many positive services currently offered to homeless people in this city by public agencies and nonprofits.
The fact of the matter is that the number of homeless persons in Pasadena is lower today than at any time since the first homeless count was done here in 1992. While over the last four years homelessness in Los Angeles County has increased 30 percent, it has declined 48 percent over the same period in Pasadena, with 632 men, women and children identified as homeless in the city in January 2015.
While the only acceptable number of homeless persons in our community should be zero, the progress in Pasadena toward reducing the number of its homeless can be attributed to various factors. Among them are the following examples, despite assertions by Mr. Harvey that these conditions don’t exist:
• Pasadena is one of the few cities in the San Gabriel Valley whose police department deploys a Homeless Outreach Psychiatric Evaluation (HOPE) team consisting of a sworn police officer and a social worker from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Pasadena Police Department’s two HOPE Teams engage with homeless persons with the goal of connecting them to services and treatment when appropriate. This enlightened approach to working with homeless people will be reinforced by Chief Philip Sanchez’ plans to deploy a third Pasadena police HOPE Team in the near future.
• A Homeless Task Force convened by the director of the Pasadena Housing and Community Development Department and meeting monthly includes representatives from the city manager’s office, Police Department, city attorney’s office, Human Services and Recreation, the public library, the Public Health Department and nonprofit homeless services providers. Its goal is to coordinate services and long-term efforts geared to assisting local homeless residents improve their lives while ensuring the quality of life of all Pasadena’s citizens.
Union Station Homeless Services, created 42 years ago by seven Pasadena women in what is now Old Pasadena, today is the largest and most comprehensive nonprofit social service agency aiding homeless individuals and families in the San Gabriel Valley. We are proud to have been chosen last year as the lead agency to coordinate both the new Coordinated Entry System and Homeless Families Solutions System programs throughout this region, from Pasadena through Pomona.
Construction is currently under way in Pasadena on the Mar Vista Apartments, a 20-unit building of one and two-bedroom apartments for formerly homeless families. With very significant construction funding and rental subsidies provided by the city of Pasadena, development services provided by National Community Renaissance and on-site social services to be provided by Union Station Homeless Services, this facility will be the first permanent supportive housing facility of its kind to be built in the city. It is expected to go into service in twelve months.
Reducing homelessness and aiding those living on the streets to attain stability, decent housing, medical and psychological care, other services, community support and, in some cases, employment and self-sufficiency is an extremely difficult and complex task. It requires intense and effective collaboration between elected officials, local, state and national governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, community volunteers, business leaders, congregations, and funders at all levels. In short, people of determination, vision and compassion.
We should be thankful such a collaborative framework exists in Pasadena. While there is without question a great deal more to do while hundreds live on our streets, we have created the basic foundation to eliminate the scourge of homelessness in our city. We must continue our efforts together, undeterred by those who do not share our vision.
Rabbi Marvin Gross is CEO of Union Station Homeless Services.
Carrie Mehdi Foundation (CMF), a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, announces $3,000 in donations to three non-profit organizations that provide support services to the homeless population in Southern California.
The donations were made to the following organizations:
The Midnight Mission, Los Angeles — $1,000
Union Station Homeless Services, Pasadena — $1,000
Homeless Health Care, Los Angeles – – $1,000
This is the second consecutive year of these donations. CMF began making these donations in 2014 at the direction of Greg Mehdi, a founding member of the Board of Directors of CMF. Sadly, Greg passed away in a car accident in Los Angeles in July 2014 at an early age of thirty. Speaking of the significance of these donations, Greg’s father and CMF Board Member, Zafar Mehdi said, “Greg lived and worked in Los Angeles. He was very passionate about helping the homeless population and had specifically recommended that CMF support these organizations. We are pleased to make these donations in Greg’s memory. In keeping with Greg’s wishes, we will continue to support these organizations for the wonderful work that they do in helping the homeless population”.
To highlight the importance of making these donations, Zafar Mehdi personally delivered the donations to the leaders of the three organizations.
Background information on the Carrie Mehdi Foundation, Greg Mehdi, and our foundation events are listed: Website: www.CarrieMehdiFoundation.org
Facebook: Facebook.com/CarrieMehdiFoundation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarrieMehdiFoun
PHOTOS
DONATIONS MADE IN MEMORY OF GREG MEHDI
Donationto The Midnight Mission, Los Angeles
Zafar Mehdi of CMF presents a $1,000 donation check to Larry Adamson, President & CEO of the Midnight Mission. Photo with staff of the Midnight Mission, from L to R: Ryan Navales – Manager of Government & Public Affairs, Larry Adamson, Zafar Mehdi, and Georgia Berkovich – Director of Public Affairs
Donationto Union Station Homeless Services, Pasadena.
Zafar Mehdi of CMF (middle) presents a $1,000 donation check to Marvin Gross (left), President & CEO and Dana Bean (right), Director of Development, of Union Station Homeless Services, Pasadena. Donationto Homeless Health Care Los Angeles
Zafar Mehdi of CMF presents a $1,000 donation check to Mark Casanova, Executive Director of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles (HHCLA). Photo with staff of HHCLA, from L to R: Mark Casanova, Stephany Campos, Amber Roth, Dyhan Cardona, Jen Tougas, Maryanne Alderson, Zafar Mehdi and Chloe Blalock.
As far as congregations go, they don’t get much larger — or needier — than Rabbi Marvin Gross’ flock. But his people aren’t gathering inside a temple — or often inside anywhere, for that matter.
\For 20 years, Gross has served as the lead administrator for Union Station Homeless Services, which has grown to become one of the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agencies under his watch. Since 1995, the organization’s staff and operating budget has ballooned from 22 employees and less than $1 million to a 90-person operation with a budget that will approach $8 million in the next fiscal year.
But the number Gross is most concerned about is one he’s proud to report is shrinking today: Pasadena’s homeless population was tallied at 632 last year, the lowest total on record. While the number tends to fluctuate throughout the years, it’s way down from the estimated total of 1,200 in 1995, the year Gross arrived at Union Station.
“Marv has always said he considers Union Station to be his congregation,” said longtime board member Arnold Siegel. “I think it’s true and it’s rewarding, because we never lose sight of the people.”
Throughout a wide-ranging professional career spanning stints as a rabbi in San Francisco and Glendale, a deputy statewide field director for Sen. Alan Cranston’s 1986 re-election campaign and eight years as a senior executive with the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Gross said his focus has always been on the people he’s served — which is no different now that his current organization helps people who are in dire need of support.
“I’ve had some different lives,” said the Evanston, Ill., native. “But if I look at it uniformly, it’s working with people to accomplish things that we as a group, whichever group it was, believed in.”
Union Station clearly believes in Gross. Hired in 1995 as the executive director — a title that changed to CEO in 2008 — Gross’ background intrigued the Union Station board members who sat on the search committee, according to former board President Gloria Pitzer.
“He wasn’t just coming in as a [traditional] nonprofit CEO, and I think that was an attraction,” said Pitzer, a partner at local law firm Palermo, Barbaro, Chinen & Pitzer. “It’s personal for him and he brings his heart to it.”
Although his hiring could be viewed as unconventional, Gross came with plenty of experience leading a large organization from his time with the Jewish Federation. And Union Station’s roots are anchored in religion, having been started by All Saints Church.
Disney senior executives — including former Studios Chairman Richard Cook (left) and company CEO Michael Eisner (right) — joined Union Station CEO Marvin Gross (second from left) for a day of volunteering at the Adult Center’s kitchen a decade ago.
“It probably wasn’t anticipated [to hire a rabbi], but once I got hired, it was never an issue. It’s allowed me to have common cause with other people of faith,” said Gross. “Almost any faith group you can name has had volunteer commitment at USHS. We are a vehicle at Union Station — they act out their faith through serving here.”
The vehicle, as Gross called it, keeps on rolling along, with Union Station planning to open the 19-bed Mar Vista Apartments next summer. According to Gross, it will be the first purpose-built, permanent housing for families in Pasadena.
Union Station supporters gather with Marvin Gross (second from left) and then-board chair Arnold Siegel (third from right) at the 1998 opening of Euclid Villa Apartments.
It’s an ambitious project, but that’s become the norm under Gross. Between opening the Euclid Villa Apartments in 1998 and providing on-site services at a residential community called Centennial Place in 2010, Union Station launched a capital campaign in 2000. A consultant’s initial feasibility study suggested the organization might be able to secure $4.5 million, but in about two years, Union Station had raised $8 million. The results were improvements to the Adult Center, as well as acquisition of property and subsequent construction of the administration building and Family Center.
Gregg von Fempe, the chief program officer at Union Station, said community commitment to the organization is, in part, a result of a collective trust in the CEO.
“We’ve been fortunate to be in the right place in the right time, but I’d stress that more importantly, we’ve had years of Marv’s guidance, foundation-building and vision to do that,” said von Fempe. “He’s kept Union Station’s reputation in the highest regard, and he’s been the face of the organization.”
Siegel, who served as the board chair a few years back and is well-versed in Pasadena’s nonprofit scene, agreed with von Fempe’s assessment.
“He’s been around so long that everybody in Pasadena knows him, and it gives the organization great credibility,” said Siegel. “He’s got the best reputation of any CEO of any nonprofit around.”
Gross has made fans internally, as well. As a 19-year employee, Director of Family Services Gil Nelson is hot on Gross’ tenure trail. Nelson, who had worked at Union Station before Gross arrived, was working for Pacific Clinics when a friend and Union Station employee named Joyce Miles began singing the praises of her new boss.
“She kept telling me how wonderful he was, and how sweet, kind and caring he was,” Nelson remembered. “She said, ‘You’d love working for him,’ and so I had to meet him.”
Within half a year, Nelson was back at Union Station — because of Gross. Back then, as he does today, Gross personally meets with every new hire to welcome him or her to what von Fempe said is “the family.”
But Gross isn’t just smiling and shaking hands during these meetings, he’s processing everything that is said. “He can name every staff member’s children; that’s just the kind of guy he is,” said Nelson. “If you walk by his office, you have to be prepared to give him a report on what your family is up to. He’s not the kind of guy that just puts in his hours and says, ‘See ya!’ He wants to know what’s going on with people.”
His grace extends beyond remembering pets’ names and children’s schools, though. A few years ago, von Fempe said, a personnel issue came up and, in a closed-door meeting, Gross and von Fempe agreed that the employee must be let go. That’s when Gross said something von Fempe never expected to come out of a CEO’s mouth.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Are we making a merciful decision?’” von Fempe said. “It really pushed me back in the chair. I’d never heard that before. I’ve had very good employers [elsewhere] but this is the best organization I’ve worked for. And in some ways, it’s because of Marv’s style.”
Marvin Gross, pictured as Elvis from the 2013 “Rockin’ for the Homeless” fundraiser, has never been afraid to let his hair down for a good cause.
Gross’ desire to serve the people goes beyond the staff, of course. In 20 years of helping the homeless, Gross can fire off detailed stories about individuals he’s known.
“My mind is flooded with their stories,” said Gross. “We’ve seen some people be extraordinarily successful and seen people begin to be successful and slip backwards. Some people never made it, but lots of people’s lives are better off today.”
While Gross won’t take the credit for that, his co-workers and dedicated volunteers don’t hesitate to identify the person driving Union Station forward.
“We all see him as a guy always looking to improve things,” said Nelson. “I don’t want to call him a dreamer, but maybe he is. He really cares about things he does, and his thing is helping people.”