Nineteen year-old Joey Licata, Jr. is taking the racing world by storm. The rookie recently out-drove some of the nation’s best racers and placed 6th in the “Slick Mist 200” at Daytona International Speedway in February,
Now, Joey’s applying the same passion he has for racing to help his community. He recently announced that he has selected Union Station Homeless Services as his charity of choice.
“As a Los Angeles native, it really feels good to serve the community and to be the voice in auto racing that helps spread the word about the great things that are going on at Union Station.”
Joey will donate a portion of his racing winnings to the non-profit, which helps homeless men, women and children rebuild their lives and end their cycle of homelessness. Joey will also proudly display the Union Station logo on his car.
Look out for Joey sporting the Union Station logo at the upcoming Talladega Superspeedway on April 15.
During a holiday season that is busy with preparation, shopping, food and celebration, one of the most meaningful ways of acknowledging gratitude can come through helping those who have less. There are many ways to give back to our communities, but sometimes there are so many options that we find ourselves not making any plans at all. So before it’s too late, here are 9 places you can volunteer this Thanksgiving season in Los Angeles. We’ll cheers to that!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011, 10am-6pm
Adult Center, 412 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA
Thursday, November 24, 2011, 8am-3pm
Central Park, 219 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena (near the Del Mar Station, Metro Gold Line)
Friday, November 25, 2011, 8am-noon
Adult Center, 412 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA
Every year, Union Station Homeless Services provides Thanksgiving meals to the homeless in Pasadena’s Central Park and Adult Center. Online volunteer registration is currently open for the three events above.
Founded in 1973, Union Station is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest and most comprehensive social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income people.
More than 200 formerly homeless men, women, and children will celebrate their success in breaking their cycle of homelessness at the Union Station Homeless Services 23rd Annual Alumni Picnic. The event will include a soft ball game, cakewalk, balloon toss, crafts, face painting and more!
Since 1973, Union Station Homeless Services has been helping people rebuild their lives. The Alumni Picnic is a reunion event for clients to come together and celebrate their achievement of overcoming their obstacles, including poverty, unemployment substance abuse, and physical and mental health problems. Alumni will include those who have recently rebuilt their lives, and clients from more than 20 years ago who are now integral members of the community.
Who
Meet and interview people like Sharon, who struggled with addiction for more than 20 years. She turned to Union Station for help in 1995, and with ongoing support from the caring Adult Center staff, Sharon found sobriety, secured employment and created a happy and stable life for herself.
Over the years Sharon has turned to Union Station several times for support. Today she provides support and inspiration for others as a coordinator of the Alumni Picnic.
“Today my life is a totally different picture,” says Sharon. “Recovery is about change and my change began at Union Station. My life is good. My life is the best it’s ever been.”
When
Saturday, September 3, 2011
11:00am to 4:00pm
Where
Charles Farnsworth Park
568 E Mount Curve Ave
Altadena, CA 91001
Pasadena-based Union Station Homeless Services is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families. Our mission is to help men, women, and children rebuild their lives and end homelessness. Union Station provides comprehensive, community-based programs to help homeless people achieve self-sufficiency, including intake and assessment, emergency shelter, case management, career counseling, transitional housing, medical and mental health services, women’s and family services, and housing resources.
By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Pasadena Star News
PASADENA – Financial help is out there for Pasadena residents made homeless by the economic downturn, but so far only two families have qualified for the city’s $400,000 Rapid Re-Housing Program.
“It doesn’t seem a lot,” said Sandra Peterson of Union Station Homeless Services, which runs the program for the city.
But, she said, very specific rules on how the funding can be used have restricted it to a very narrow group.
“We’ve screened 22 (households) and been able to assist these people in other ways” since the rehousing program began in January, she said. “But the key to this program is that people must be homeless – not on the verge, not having just got an eviction notice. Those were the guidelines the federal government sent: the household must be homeless at the time we serve them. And that’s the challenge for us.”
Rapid Re-Housing funds can’t be used for people behind on their rent, for utility arrears, or those living with family, Peterson said: that’s the role of the city’s $452,000 Homeless Prevention Program, funded by the second part of a $908,000 federal grant.
When the city received Rapid Re-Housing funds in May, 2009, the federal guidelines were interpreted to mean that only those made homeless by the economic downturn were eligible, said Ann Lansing of Pasadena’s Housing Department.
Since then, federal government information “continues to trickle in on how to use it,” she said, and jurisdictions have more latitude.
“Some are being very strict, others are opening up a little more,” she said. “We’re choosing to open up a little more.”
The re-housing funds do not extend to the “chronic homeless,” Lansing said, since the program is designed to help people who will get back on their feet quickly, with no continuing need for subsidies or services.
Most jurisdictions, including Pasadena, have found homeless prevention funding easier to use because of its broader application, Lansing said.
Since January, 65 households have been helped by the homeless prevention program through Friends in Deed, said the Rev. Pat O’Reilly, executive director of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Pasadena.
“We’re helping 20 households a month … keeping people in their homes,” O’Reilly said. “It’s not a free ride, it’s for people really trying to get back on their feet and taking back the reins as soon as they can.”
William Huang, Pasadena’s housing director, said the entire federal grant must be used with three years, and both Union Station and Friends in Deed must spend 60 percent of their allocation by Nov. 30.
“We want to encourage (Union Station) to reach out to agencies that service people who may be at extreme risk of homelessness, because they may not be aware of the network of services available,” Huang said.
Peterson said Union Station is playing by the program’s rules, but is trying to get “more creative” on connecting applicants to the economic downturn.
Making a direct connection isn’t always easy, she said.
“We can’t say they are homeless because a company went out of business,” Peterson said, “but we can look at the background progressively.”
Reduced hours or layoffs that left families unable to pay rent can be used to show the effects of the downturn, she said, and many people may not even realize the connection themselves.
“I really believe we will be able to serve people, and I don’t expect we will have to return any money,” Peterson said. “In hindsight … we’re on a learning curve, all of us involved in these programs. The lessons we’ve learned, we’ll be able to give as feedback,” to the department of Housing and Urban Development, she said. “They may be able to do things differently the next time.”
Paterson said fewer restrictions, including not waiting until people are “absolutely homeless,” would make the program easier to administer.
“But I truly believe this is a great effort to help people as quickly as possible, people who fall between the cracks,” she said. “Finding them is our job.”
By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Pasadena Star News
PASADENA – A $1.1 million county grant will fund a “green” makeover of a historic mansion and a 1940s apartment building where a succession of homeless families has lived since 1999.
The project will provide the “best and most recent improvements” in energy-saving techniques at the Euclid Villa complex, said Rabbi Marvin Gross, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services.
“It will provide efficient heating and cooling and related service to all the families there,” Gross said. “It will help us contain our costs for operation, which are always of concern, and we feel grateful for what we’ve received.”
Union Station runs Euclid Villa Transitional Housing on an annual $190,000 budget.
The project is the first and, so far, only project to be funded under Los Angeles County’s City of Industry Moderate Rehab program, Pasadena’s Housing Manager William Huang said.
Cities without homeless services or affordable housing are required by the county to allocate redevelopment funds to other cities. Under a state agreement, Huang said, Industry’s contribution must be used within 15 miles of the city.
City of Industry Mayor Dave Perez said Monday that he was “elated” to hear how his city’s $1,118,361 was being used.
“I’m glad to see the money being spent, and the key is that it’s money being spent for the needy,” Perez said. “I’m glad the money is going to this project.”
The two buildings – the 8,800-square-foot mansion and a 10,400-square-foot 1940s residential building – provide apartments for 14 families, plus staff offices, a common kitchen, computer lab, community rooms and children’s area.
The families may stay up to two years, and graduate from the program to permanent housing, said Gil Nelson Euclid Villa’s site manager.
“We have a lot of needs – we always have,” he said. “The main building at 154 S. Euclid is over 100 years old and, when you have a place with a lot of children in particular, there’s a lot of wear and tear … But this is a big start, definitely.”
There are challenges to “greening” a mansion on the National Register of Historic Places, designed by Castle Green architect Fredrick Roehrig and built in 1898 as a dormitory for Miss Orton’s Classical School for Girls.
“We sat down and talked about the pros and cons, and in the long run it will cut utility expenses,” said Union Station’s Dana Bean, who wrote the grant application in consultation with the city.
Pasdena’s Department of Water and Power chipped in more than $165,000 for photovoltaic solar power, dual flush toilets and water-conserving shower-heads. Besides new flooring and paint, the project will include wall insulation, drought-tolerant landscaping, energy-efficient appliances and lighting and window-replacement, except in the historic building.
One of the grant requirements was that none of the tenants be “displaced or inconvenienced” during the rehab project, Bean said.
Nelson will be there to see that the tenants’ lives aren’t disrupted.
“I’ve got to be honest, I haven’t a clue” how the tenants will be worked around, Nelson said. “I don’t think we’ve got to that step yet.”
The project will start in August and should be completed by March, 2011.
By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Pasadena Star News
PASADENA – Work has started on revamping 144 singleroom units at Centennial Place as part of a complex tradeoff that may finally let the city take possession of the Desiderio Army Reserve Center in 2011.
Centennial Place, the historic former YMCA building near City Hall, is key to the revised Desiderio Concept Plan that City Council members passed in late December, said William Huang, the city’s housing director.
Before any property transfer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must be satisfied there’s an on- or off-site “homeless benefit” in place, Huang said.
“The conversion of Centennial Place to permanent supportive housing has a good chance of meeting HUD’s requirement,” Huang said. “Early indications from HUD are that it nicely meets their requirements, but they need some further documentation to ensure Centennial Place will provide the required benefit for the long term.”
In June 2007, HUD turned down the city’s proposal to put a nine-unit Habitat for Humanity bungalow court, park space and possibly an arts/environment community building on the prime 5.1-acre site on the edge of the Arroyo Seco. HUD said the plan had to include more offsite homeless housing.
Mayor Bill Bogaard said he hopes a new partnership between the city, Union Station Homeless Services, and Abode Communities – owner and manager of Centennial Place since 1991 – will be “favorably considered” by HUD. The Department of Defense, which owns the site, has final project approval.
“Union Station has agreed to take on significant responsibility for services that support the residents of the YMCA,” Bogaard said.
In January, the county Homeless Services Authority awarded Union Station a three-year, $750,000 grant for what Bogaard said the city intends to be “a very effective and supportive residential environment” at Centnnial Place. Another $250,000 from the county’s Community Development Commission was awarded for improvements, and Pasadena provided $80,000 from state accessibility funds for a wheelchair lift.
After the first three years, the building’s cash flow from renters will pay for services, Huang said.
Larry Johnson, Union Station’s director of program services, said it was a “great trade-off” all around. “We’re getting 144 potential affordable apartments for single adults – it’s just great,” Johnson said.
Current Centennial Place tenants will gradually be replaced with graduates of Union Station’s shelter program, he said, but no one there now will be evicted.
Eventually 100 percent of residents will be subsidized under Section 8 housing vouchers, paying about 30 percent of their income in rent, he said.
All residents will be provided with on-site services, including case management, substance abuse recovery, mental health referrals, money management and other support, Johnson said.
The single units, which Johnson likened to small but comfortable hotel rooms complete with fridge and sink, are now being improved, along with common areas and the shared bathrooms and kitchens on each floor.
Richard Bradley, director of property management for Abode, said until the agreement with the city, it’s been “challenging” for the nonprofit to maintain the building and tenant services.
Most renters, some under Section 8, pay about $400 to $500 a month, he said.
“There’s been limited money to renovate and make sure all is in good condition,” Bradley said. “The building is 100 years old, but it’s solidly constructed.”
Johnson said Union Station sent a letter to neighboring apartment buildings and business owners about the changes, but said it’s unlikely anyone will see a difference as tenants gradually change over.
“These people are not homeless any more. They’re formerly homeless who have stabilized to the point of having an income – they can pay rent,” said Johnson. “We don’t include anyone actively using drugs or alcohol, or who has (extreme) mental health issues … These are people who could use support services for a bridge period, and then they will graduate. That’s what happens now.”
PASADENA – The privileged and poor alike broke bread Thursday at Union Station’s Dinner in the Park.
Some 2,000 volunteers turned out at Central Park to help serve, eat and socialize amid more than 6,000 turkey dinners.
“People I know who have a home but live alone have come here to eat dinner for years,” said James Hart, a member of the Union Station Board of Directors. “I’m a big advocate of mixed-demographic living and people of different incomes enjoying the same benefits.”
For the first year in the event’s more than 30-year history, attendees didn’t have to wait in buffet-style lines. They were served their meals.
“We really want to make people feel like they’ve been invited into someone’s home,” said Lauren Arant, Union Station’s assistant director of development.
The dinner was better than a home-cooked meal for Pasadena resident and producer of HBO’s “Tales From The Crypt,” Ramon Sanchez.
“It didn’t occur to me until after I was sitting at the table with my second meal that I could I get a third,” Sanchez said. “I couldn’t get a third meal if I wanted to at home.”
While he enjoyed the pumpkin pie, Sanchez said he found more nourishment in his dinner companions.
“I’ve donated to Union Station and never really knew where the money went,” Sanchez said. “Now that I see all of these children and families out here I know where it went.”
Gabriel Vasquez brought his three kids to eat dinner in the park, after a lack of gas money prevented him from driving to his mother’s home in Arizona.
“I was hoping to get my unemployment in time to go to my mom’s house,” Vasquez said. “But this is great. It really helps out, and the kids like seeing all the people.”
There were plenty of people and plenty of volunteers to put to work. Although 2,000 volunteers registered in advance, hundreds more caught the Thanksgiving spirit without notice. Photo Gallery
“We’ve had to turn volunteers away,” Shirley Schumacher, event committee member, said. “It’s a tough economy, and people feel compelled to help out.”
Rudy Manning, 35, of Monrovia was one of the spontaneous volunteers event staff handed a trash bag to, instead of turning away.
“I’ve always wanted to come down for Thanksgiving and help out my community and people in need,” Manning said. “In the past couple of years, people have really struggled, so I thought it was more important now than ever.”
Organizers touted the dinner as “The Biggest Potluck in the Nation.” That description became a little too appropriate, perhaps, when a Wednesday night cancellation left organizers scrambling to cook 80 turkeys.
“We had a turkey-emergency bulletin go out,” Arant said. “Everyone had to pitch in and pull together.”
The turkeys were cooked in time, and the dinner left everyone full with food and a sense of community.
By Nathan McIntire, Staff Writer
Pasadena Star News
PASADENA – For an event where 350 turkeys need to be cleaned, cooked and served, preparation is naturally critical.
Volunteers and staff at Union Station Homeless Services began the grueling grunt work Wednesday in preparation for Dinner in the Park, the nonprofit shelter and services provider’s annual massive Thanksgiving feeding that drew 6,500 people last year.
“It’s craziness,” said Marisa Albanese, Dinner in the Park’s director. “Today we’re doing everything and anything we need to do to get ready for tomorrow.”
Cooking 350 birds is no small task. It’s also one that can’t be handled at Union Station alone.
Organizers said about 20 organizations volunteered their turkey basting abilities, including Southern California Edison, which cooked 50, and a local school that was cooking 32 of the birds at a time.
That doesn’t include the fixings, of which there are literally tons.
Charles Bedell, Union Station’s director of food services, said today’s event will require about 1,100 pounds of mashed potatoes, 1,100 pounds of stuffing, 700 pounds each of green beans, corn, carrots and sweet potatoes, and 550 pounds of macaroni and cheese.
And none of those would be complete, of course, unless they were slathered in 130 gallons of gravy.
Bedell said he expects roughly the same turnout as last year, but officials are preparing enough food for about 7,000 people – just in case.
In the past, the Thanksgiving bounty was served buffet style, but Union Station organizers chose a table service approach this year to better utilize its huge, 1,500-person volunteer base. Volunteers will serve plates, then sit and interact with the diners.
Serving people provides “more of a community feel” to the event, Bedell said.
About 50 volunteers spent much of Wednesday unloading trucks, opening canned goods and counting thousands of plastic forks and knives.
Union Station staff and the most
Union Station’s volunteers, staff are making preparations to feed 5,000 people at Central Park Thanksgiving Day Wednesday November 25, 2009. Two hundred and fifty turkeys have been cooked for the yearly event. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Walt Mancini)dedicated volunteers began final food preparation at 4 a.m. this morning.
Emily Adams, who was volunteering at Union Station for the first time Wednesday, spent much of her day huddled with other volunteers sorting plastic ware in a small room – a task she admitted was far from exciting.
But it didn’t deter her.
“It’s the mundane tasks that have to happen for the whole thing to come together,” Adams said.
Edward Castillo, who has been homeless since February, was helping volunteers with other menial tasks Wednesday.
Castillo said he is living on the street while trying to stay sober and find full-time employment. He usually eats at Union Station twice a day and showers there. He said the shelter has been instrumental in getting his life back together.
The folks behind Pasadena’s 18-foot-high, fork-in-the-road street sculpture are at it again.
This time, they plan to use the giant utensil for a food drive.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, volunteers will collect nonperishable food items at the site of the whimsical sculpture at the intersection of South St. John and Pasadena avenues.
The food drive will benefit Union Station Homeless Services, which holds a Thanksgiving dinner each year in Central Park at South Fair Oaks Avenue and East Del Mar Boulevard.
The fork sculpture started off as a prank to celebrate the 75th birthday of Bob Stane, who owns the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
Philip Coombes, a friend of artist Ken Marshall, came up with the idea for the food drive. People can remain in their cars because volunteers will be standing by with bags for the food, Coombes said.
The Pasadena real estate broker said he wanted to put another positive spin on the fork, which went from birthday present to guerrilla art.
“It makes you feel good to help other people,” Coombes said. “At least, it makes me feel good.”
The fork was erected on Halloween and since has become a piece of impromptu public art in Pasadena. Stane and his friends have now proclaimed the site as Fork Plaza.
“We’re trying to make it one of the biggest food volunteering projects ever in Pasadena,” Stane said.
Coobes is still looking for volunteers for the event. Anyone interested can contact him at phil@agentphil.com.
ALTADENA – Aveson Charter School student Corey Cain was busy mashing up sweet potatoes to pour into golden pie crusts to be baked for 20 minutes.
At the other end of the cafeteria, students Alexis Augmon and Carlin Faucett peeled russet potatoes for a potato and leek soup.
Overseeing his 13 culinary arts students at their work stations Thursday, Lowell Bernstein, director of Aveson’s culinary arts program, said he was confident the youngsters could whip up six dishes – from a main course to dessert – to feed about 80 people at Union Station Homeless Services on Thursday evening.
“Everything is going pretty well. We have three hours, but I think we can make it,” said Bernstein, who launched the Culinary Arts Academy at Aveson in September. Aveson is part of the Asia Society International Studies Schools Network.
On the menu were oven-baked fried chicken, potato and leek soup, garlic string beans, pasta salad, sweet potato pie and peanut butter blossom cookies.
With Thanksgiving Day a week away, Bernstein’s students said they wanted to serve a meal to the homeless people at Union Station and the center’s staff that was reminiscent of a traditional Thanksgiving feast – but without the turkey.
“I want them to be involved with their community and have a better understanding of their world,” Bernstein said. “After the students serve the meals, they grab a plate and sit down with others at the table and they talk. It breaks down some of the walls and stereotypes the kids might have had.” Photo Gallery
He said the students have made the meals for Union Station their project for the fourth Thursday of the month. Bernstein wants to expand the meals program to the Pasadena Senior Center and have his students prepare lunches for the center’s staff and seniors.
The experience inspired Alexis, a seventh-grader, to volunteer this holiday season, she said.
“I love helping people,” she said.
By having his students in the kitchen once a week and cooking for large groups, Bernstein said he hopes they’ll gain not only compassion but culinary competency.
“I want them to feel confident that in college they can cook a meal for themselves, or help their families out during meals,” said Bernstein. “Food appreciation is key.”
