Pasadena gets $105k to fight coronavirus in homeless community

By  | bbermont@scng.com | Pasadena Star-News

Pasadena will soon step up its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus among the homeless after receiving $105,625 in emergency state funding from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The money will bolster ongoing efforts from the city to move “individuals who are highly vulnerable off the streets, out of the shelters — wherever they happen to be — and into housing where they can be isolated,” Pasadena’s Director of Housing Bill Huang told the City Council on Monday.

That means moving anyone who’s contracted the virus or been exposed to it into hotels, motels and other housing options. The city has also prioritized the most vulnerable homeless individuals, such as those are 65 years and older or have underlying health conditions, and sought to put them in similar housing.

Thus far, the city has moved 75 people off the streets and out of shelters, Huang said.

“We’re paying their hotel stay everyday,” Huang said in an interview Tuesday. This includes the cost of food, so it costs’s about $100 to $140 per person, per night.

While it’s unclear how much this program will cost in the end — that depends on how long the crisis lasts and how many people officials ultimately house — right now, the city is planning for it to run two to three months. The new state funding covers “only a small part” of the overall price tag, Huang said.

While the most recent homeless count numbers won’t be available for another couple of months, Pasadena counted 542 individuals living on the streets in 2019.

“We continue to move a handful in everyday,” Huang told the council. “We have space for probably a few dozen more.”

It’s a collaboration among Pasadena’s Housing Department, Public Health Department and the nearby Union Station Homeless Services, alongside several other partners, Huang said, but it’s not the only effort the city has taken to curb the virus’ spread among the homeless population.

To those still on the streets, the city has started distributing hygiene kits with large alcohol wipes to help them keep their hands clean. They’ve also setup hand-washing stations at strategic locations, Huang said in an interview.

Pasadena has also partnered with the Shower of Hope, a nonprofit organization, to setup a mobile shower site at the Hill Avenue Branch Library. It’s open every Wednesday and Sunday and typically services about 70 people per week, Huang said.

The city has also committed to help homeless facilities with extra cleaning and “even round-the-clock janitorial service,” Huang said.The city is also filling in the gaps where needed.

For instance, when one permanent supportive housing site had only a two-day supply of toilet paper left, unable to secure anything after weeks of trying, Huang’s department managed to track down a stockpile at the Pasadena Convention Center and got it to the facility.

“It’s toilet paper, but it’s a very, very important thing we’ve been able to facilitate,” he said.

Currently, Pasadena is home to three permanent supportive housing sites with “two more in the pipeline,” Huang said.

“Those aren’t happening because of COVID-19. That’s our normal course of business. We’ve been focused on providing permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless.”

While there’s still work to be done, he believes the results speak for themselves. In 2011, the city had about 1,200 individuals living on the streets. That number had been more than halved by 2019.

Source: https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2020/04/07/pasadena-gets-105k-to-fight-coronavirus-in-homeless-community/

Union Station delivers 5K meals to San Gabriel Valley’s neediest amid coronavirus

By  | bbermont@scng.com | Pasadena Star-News

The kitchen at Pasadena’s Union Station Homeless Services has never been a quiet place, even before the coronavirus outbreak kicked it into high gear.

The eight-burner stove in the nonprofit’s sole commercial kitchen was already putting out 2,000 meals every week, feeding residents of its bridge housing program.

Now, in the age of coronavirus, the number of meals has more than doubled to 5,000. And they’re getting delivered straight to their client’s doorsteps with refrigerated trucks provided by their partner, the Patina Restaurant Group.

That’s according to Amanda Green, director of operations for the organization, who said deliveries began in earnest on Friday, April 3, when they brought 3,000 meals to 250 people living in permanent supportive housing at Pasadena’s Centennial Place.

That’s four days of three square meals for each client, delivered in two bags filled with to-go boxes of breakfast burritos, turkey wraps and roast beef sandwiches, to name a few.

“The look on peoples’ faces,” Green said, trailing off for a moment. They’re only expecting to get one box of food, she continued, but they open the bag and see three boxes in there. Then she hands the second bag.

“It’s almost a look of disbelief,” she said, recalling some of the people at Centennial Place during Friday’s delivery. “There was such a look of relief and, really, excitement. … It’s incredibly gratifying, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team.”

In the past, many of these people would go to Union Station Homeless Services’ headquarters in Pasadena to get food, but that’s just not possible for them these days, even though the nonprofit is still serving meals there — albeit, in dining space severely reduced by social distancing requirements.

The group’s clients were already living on extremely tight budgets and varying levels of food insecurity. But now, they can’t leave their homes as many are also immuno-compromised or they’re in segments of the population that’s required to self-isolate.

There’s a problem on the horizon, however.

Like everyone else, Green doesn’t know how long this crisis is going to last. And with every passing day, she said the demand for the meal service increases. 

The meal deliveries will continue twice a week to residents in Centennial Place, as well as area motels and other permanent supportive housing residences, but Green suspects the demand could grow significantly in the coming weeks.

“The biggest challenge is really trying to figure out how to scale this up to meet this growing need,” she said. “We know it’s growing, but we don’t know to what extent it’s growing to.”

Union Station Homeless Center is at 412 S. Raymond Ave. in Pasadena. To make a donation, whether it’s a fiscal or food, call 626-240-4550.

If you are suffering from food insecurity or need other assistance, call 211 to connect to the appropriate service. 

 

Source: https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2020/04/06/union-station-delivers-5k-meals-to-san-gabriel-valleys-neediest-amid-coronavirus/

Pasadena’s Union Station Scales Up Food Services for Homeless to 5,000 Meals a Week, Starting Today

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a homeless services organization serving the San Gabriel Valley will scale up its meal preparation and deliveries to serve about 5,000 meals a week beginning Friday.

“Our vulnerable and at-risk clients, living in our bridge housing and supportive housing sites as well as hundreds of our clients staying in motels and apartments, now depend on us for food,” said Anne Miskey, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services.

“With the help of our partners and amazing staff, we have swiftly responded and are delivering meals to their residences across the San Gabriel Valley,” Miskey said. “In this time of crisis, we are showing how we live our core philosophy of meeting our clients `where they are at’ — physically and emotionally.”

On Mondays and Thursdays, staff and volunteers receive, sort and label prepackaged meals into individual grocery bags for each resident, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, two refrigerator delivery trucks, provided by the Patina Restaurant Group, are loaded for deliveries.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the organization served 2,200 meals a week at its facilities with the help of hundreds of volunteers, many who had served dinners or made sack lunches at the facilities for years.

Anyone wishing to donate services or money can find more information at  https://unionstationhs.org/c19urgentneeds.

 

Source: https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/pasadenas-union-station-scales-up-food-services-for-homeless-to-5000-meals-a-week-starting-today/

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VEGAN PIZZERIA FEEDS 100 HOMELESS CHILDREN AMID COVID-19 CRISIS

by NICOLE AXWORTHY

The Pizza Plant aims to “Pay it Forward” with its new donation program, which allows customers to purchase a pizza that the company will deliver to Pasadena, CA’s Union Station Homeless Services. 

Los Angeles-based vegan pizzeria The Pizza Plant recently donated 48 frozen vegan pizzas to the Union Station Homeless Services (USHS) in Pasadena, CA, feeding nearly 100 children during the COVID-19 crisis. The donation—which is part of the pizzeria’s Pay It Forward program—was made after The Pizza Plant discovered that the USHS was in desperate need of food due to the city’s shutdown, with many children unable to attend school and be fed lunch. 

The Pay It Forward program allows customers anywhere in the United States to purchase one of The Pizza Plant’s pre-made vegan pizzas online to be delivered by The Pizza Plant to USHS. Each pizza can be cut into six slices and feed up to three children. “As I grow older and ponder the meaning of life, I find myself returning to the same answer,” The Pizza Plant founder Marvin V. Acuna told VegNews. “It’s family, friends, and community. And as we considered how best to support the children of the Pasadena community during this historic and unprecedented time, Union Station Homeless Services emerged as the clear and absolute choice.” 

Earlier this year, The Pizza Plant debuted four organic take-and-bake vegan pizzas at 11 Whole Foods Market locations in California. “Aside from the impact this call to action will have, paying it forward also has several health and social benefits, including that giving makes us feel happy, giving promotes cooperation and social connection, giving evokes gratitude, and giving is contagious,” Acuna said.

 

San Gabriel Valley Homeless Organization to Serve 5,000 Meals a Week

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Union Station Homeless Services served 2,200 meals a week at its facilities with the help of hundreds of volunteers.

A homeless services organization serving the San Gabriel Valley will scale up its meal preparation and deliveries to serve about 5,000 meals a week, beginning Friday.

“Our vulnerable and at-risk clients, living in our bridge housing and supportive housing sites as well as hundreds of our clients staying in motels and apartments, now depend on us for food,” said Anne Miskey, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services.

“With the help of our partners and amazing staff, we have swiftly responded and are delivering meals to their residences across the San Gabriel Valley,” Miskey said. “In this time of crisis, we are showing how we live our core philosophy of meeting our clients ‘where they are at’ — physically and emotionally.”

On Mondays and Thursdays, staff and volunteers receive, sort and label
prepackaged meals into individual grocery bags for each resident, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, two refrigerator delivery trucks, provided by the Patina
Restaurant Group, are loaded for deliveries.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the organization served 2,200 meals a week at its facilities with the help of hundreds of volunteers, many who had served dinners or made sack lunches at the facilities for years.

Anyone wishing to donate services or money can find more information here.

 
Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/san-gabriel-valley-homeless-organization-to-serve-5000-meals-a-week/2339106/

Affordable Housing Activists Line Up Behind One of Five YWCA Building Proposals

Housing and homeless activists praise The Ratkovich Company’s affordable housing component for Civic Center projects

In the latest chapter of Pasadena’s Civic Center YWCA Building saga, the City Council has approved further study on five proposed projects for the historic Julia Morgan-designed building in Centennial Plaza.

One project is already receiving kudos and raising the hopes of local affordable housing activists.

The five new projects were culled from a list of ten projects received following a Request for Proposals issued by the City in June for the YWCA property and a nearby plot of land.

The Council approved a staff recommendation to study projects by Carpenter & Company, Inc; Continental Assets Management; Edgewood Realty Partners, LLC; HRI Properties, LLC; and The Ratkovich Company/National Community Renaissance.

According to the City staff report, a specific use was not identified as part of the outreach; instead City staff sought proposals from groups experienced in historic renovation.

While each of the projects featured a hotel as some element of their plans, the The Ratkovich Company / National Community Renaissance project would prominently feature 94 units for low income families earning up to 60% of the area median income, with 46 units for permanent supportive housing for households who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.

The Ratkovich/Community Renaissance project proposes two alternatives for the YWCA site—a historic rehabilitation of the YWCA Building for creative office with surface parking; or a historic rehabilitation of the YWCA Building and the construction of a new 59,000 sq. ft. office building.

The other option is the rehabilitation of the YWCA Building and construction of a new 142-room hotel on-site with an 80 space subterranean garage.

The option for the Water and Power site proposes the same residential unit and income mix, but introduces up to 15,000 sq. ft. of leasable office space for use by a single governmental department tenant on a semi-subterranean level of the building with an 87-space, two-level subterranean garage.

Each of the developments would have a 45-foot setback from Garfield Avenue and a height limit of 60 feet.

Councilmember Victor Gordo set the stage for the discussion asking the Council, “Which project is true to the Civic Center’s vision? Which will activate the Civic Center? And where is the deference to City Hall?”

“All of these issues are extremely important,” responded City Manager Steve Mermell, who noted that the City may “mix and match” various elements of the proposals.

The Ratkovich/Community Renaissance project was the only project commented on by members of the community in attendance.

United Way West San Gabriel Valley field representative Teresa Eilers told the Council during public comment to select the Ratkovitch project and said, “Create more affordable housing in Civic Center. Send a brave message to other cities.”

A number of housing and homeless activists also spoke on behalf of the Ratkovich/Renaissance project, including representatives from Union Station Homeless Services, and All Saints Church.

“Please take advantage of this historic opportunity,” said All Saints Church’s Julianna Serrano, while longtime housing activist Anthony Manousos said, “This is a historic moment for our city. This is a win-win.”

Manousos also noted the planned 94 low-income apartments, saying, “These are families,” he said. “These are children who will go to Pasadena schools.”

Longtime preservationist Ann Scheid pointed out to the Council that both the YWCA and YMCA buildings were both originally built as “affordable housing.”

The Council’s approval of the City staff recommendation means that each of the five projects will now be examined more closely, though Councilmember John Kennedy emphasized the need for more public meetings and more “transparency” in any decision-making.

But Councilmember Steve Madison, who noted that the Civic Center project has gone on for more than seven years, said, “We don’t need a more bloated process. We need to pick a great project, move it forward, and get our $5 to $10 million back [that we paid for it].”

The site has been the subject of numerous development ideas since the City purchased it in 2012 for $8.3 million to preserve and restore it.

Mayor Terry Tornek responded that he agreed with Madison, but said the City needs to take a “reasonable approach” to the final selection

Tornek also added, “Let’s get on with it.”

Following the unanimous vote, City staff will report back to the Council, on a date to be determined, with a closer look at the five selections, in terms of feasibility and further recommendations.

Author: Eddie Rivera, Community Editor

Source: Pasadena Now