Campaign to help house homeless vets near Temple City

Urgent: Please join us to support housing for homeless Veterans!!

When: Friday, June 16^th

Time: 6:30-7:30pm

Where: 6343/6353 Rosemead Blvd, at the Golden Motel

Why? There are over 44,000 homeless individuals in Los Angeles County, including 2,700 homeless veterans. San Gabriel Valley has nearly 2,800 homeless individuals. The communities of Temple City, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Alhambra, and Arcadia do not currently have the needed resources to respond to persons who are experiencing homelessness and poverty.

We need your support for Mercy Housing’s to convert the Golden Motel into housing for 60 formerly homeless veterans and 107 individuals who have experienced homelessness.

Homes end homelessness!! We have a beautiful opportunity to turn a crime ridden motel into a beautiful symbol of how we care for those who have served our county and how we care for the vulnerable in society. Let us know if you plan to attend. Call or text Jill @ 626) 675-1316 or jill@makinghousinghappen.comThere has been an uproar in Temple City because a highly reputable affordable housing developer wants to tear down a crime-infected motel and build permanent supportive housing for vets and other. As this letter makes clear, Mercy Housing's project will be a much safer alternative to the current situation, yet hundreds of ill-informed residents are fearful and angry that their property values and their children will be threatened by the presence of formerly homeless vets and other homeless people in their neighborhood. The land is owned by the county, not Temple City, so this letter has been written to Kathryn Barger, a County Supervisor. On Friday, there will be an action at the Golden Motel led by Jill and various clergy from Temple City. We hope that vets will also show up. We need all the support we can muster for this important project to fly!

This is a letter that we've written to our County Supervisor with our talking points:

Kathryn Barger

5^th District Supervisor

500 W. Temple St. Room 869
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Kathryn Barger,

We urge you to support the Mercy Housing’s Golden Motel proposal to convert the 185 room motel at 6343/6353 Rosemead Blvd into permanent supportive housing for 60 formerly homeless veterans and 107 individuals who have experienced homelessness. Here’s why:

1.        Evidence-based best practices have shown that Permanent Supportive Housing is what ends homelessness. It is much better to have our homeless  residents off the streets in safe housing where they can regain gain hope and become productive citizens with meaningful work. http://www.csh.org/supportive-housing-facts/evidence/

2.        Mercy is one of most respected and largest affordable housing developers in the US with an impressive track record of transforming lives and communities. They currently manage 22,255 units at 325 properties throughout the country, serving those who earn as low as $ 12,931 a year. Their ability to house the “least of these” within a beautiful and safe environment almost seems too good to be true. See awards: https://www.mercyhousing.org/affordable-housing-development-awards?

3.        This project would be a welcome improvement from the current motel which has been identified as a problem by Temple City and the local law enforcement. Golden Motel has historically been used as a last resort for transients. There has been an average of 10 calls per month over the last five years to the County Sheriff’s Department for criminal activities which include narcotics sales, battery, public drunkenness, spousal/child/elder abuse, illegal possession of firearms and suicide attempts. The present owner does not screen those who say at the Golden Motel, but Mercy carefully screens each applicant. Some parents have been concerned about the safety of their children attending a school several blocks away. In reality there should be an outcry concerning of the present crime in this motel and a realization that Mercy’s proposal would create a much safer community.

4.        Presently only one person manages the motel. With Mercy housing, six case managers will live on site, assigned to help each resident with a specific plan to address their individual needs, and connect them with needed services such as mental health, literacy programs, job placement programs, addiction recovery, therapy, or other needed resources and programs.

5.        At this time, there are fewer than 300 units of permanent supportive housing planned in the San Gabriel Valley, less than 10% of the need. There are over 44,000 homeless individuals in Los Angeles County, including 2,700 homeless veterans. San Gabriel Valley has nearly 2,800 homeless individuals. The communities of Temple City, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Alhambra, and Arcadia do not currently have the needed resources to respond to persons who are experiencing homelessness and poverty.

6.        There has been an ill-informed opposition to this project saying that such a development would lower property value in the adjacent neighborhoods. Actually, research shows just the opposite. Please review these studies; http://www.csh.org/supportive-housing-facts/evidence/

7.        The community is also concerned about the cost to tax payers. Research shows that it cost on the average $20,000 a year to house a homeless person and $40,000 a year if they are left on the street. This seems very counterintuitive, but with the cost of police calls, hospital visits, courts and detox centers, the saving to society is quite impressive. http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/permanent-supportive-housing-cost-study-map