Housing the homeless is the theme of the interfaith gathering at the Pasadena Jewish Temple

Jill Shook with Dana Bean and Joel, a resident
of Marv's Place, permanent supportive housing
for families. Both strongly support using
the South Heritage Square property for homeless
seniors

“Housing is a key solution to end homelessness,” said Dana Bean,  Director of Development and Communications for Union Station Homeless Services, when she spoke to over 100 people who gathered  for an interfaith event at the Jewish Temple in Pasadena on Sunday, April 8. Dana Bean has been involved with Union Station for nearly 12 years because of Union Station's remarkable reputation and the positive impact it has on the community

Dana spoke of the crisis that Union Station faces trying to find housing for homeless people during Pasadena's growing affordable housing crisis. She explained that landlords aren't accepting Section 8 vouchers like they used to, and it is increasingly hard to place homeless residents in affordabale housing.

I have involved with this interfaith group for many year and was very pleased that housing the homeless has become a concern for people of all faiths--Muslims, Christians and Jews. 

During Q and A, I shared with the group that the City has land and can access funding to house 69 seniors at South Heritage Square. Ears perked up and people were very excited. Many came up to  me later to find out what they can do to make sure this land is used to house the homeless. Dana Bean was very supportive and so was Joel, a resident of Marv's Place who is featured in the video that Bill Huang produced.

I explained that the Greater Pasadena Housing Group wants mixed use of the land--commercial development plus permanent supportive housing. That's a win-win for everyone.  

To end homelessness, we need permanent supportive housing. That’s the consensus of experts: the best practice is “Housing First,” providing homeless people with stable, supportive housing with services that help them to find jobs and deal with their issues (not just place them in temporary shelters). The number of homeless residents in Pasadena has been rising recently in part because of skyrocketing housing costs. 

I explained to the group that we have a golden opportunity to provide 69 units of supportive housing for homeless seniors on city-owned property on the corner of Orange Grove and Fair Oaks. This will reduce our population of homeless seniors by over 80%. (There are 80 homeless seniors, according to a recent count). We also support having the first floor used for commercial development and the upper floors for residences. Mixed use of this property will house our seniors, make our community safer and provide local jobs.

The property on the corner of Orange Grove and Fair Oak is called Heritage Square South. It was purchased by the City 15 years ago with funds from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other sources to be used for affordable housing. The City Council has let it lie vacant, except for leasing part of it to Church’s Chicken. The City Council is finally considering how to utilize this property. Some Councilmembers want to see it sold and used exclusively for commercial development, even they this means forfeiting over a million dollars in HUD funding. If it is sold to commercial developers, the City cannot guarantee that a single job or a single dollar will be created for Pasadena residents. On the other hand, if the property is used for housing our homeless seniors, the City can access Measure H funding as well as state and federal funding and require that developers have local hires and contractors and use local materials. The City can also require that preferential access be given to Pasadena’s homeless residents. The city-funded North Heritage Square housing (see picture) provided over 6 million dollars in jobs and purchases for Pasadenans. None of these community benefits would be provided by exclusive commercial use.

Using this property for mixed use will not only house Pasadena seniors, it will also enhance the appearance of the neighborhood by getting seniors off the street and into a safe and beautiful setting, like Heritage Square North.

If you want to see homeless people off the street and housed in a safe, beautiful environment like Heritage Square North, please contact the Mayor and City Council members.  You can email them at  mjomsky@cityofpasadena.net.  If you want to volunteer to become a “champion” for homeless seniors and speak out at City Council, you can email me (Anthony) at interfaithquaker@aol.com or visit my blog at laquaer.blogspot.com.

This is not only good economic policy, it is also the moral and just thing to do. The city spent thousands of dollars to fence off the South Heritage Square property so homeless people wouldn’t sleep on it, but the prophet Isaiah says that it is our responsibility to house, not fence out, the homeless. That’s why we placed this reminder of God’s word on this fence. The words of the prophet speak to people of all faiths, and to all people of conscience, because it is a moral imperative.

 “Give shelter to the homeless” (Isaiah 58:7)