FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Event: HOUSE PASADENA’S
HOMELESS SENIORS! Interfaith vigil during Ramadan and the Poor
Peoples Campaign calls on elected officials to take action.
When: Friday, June 8, from 7:00 pm until dawn.
Where: At Heritage Square South, on the corner of Orange Grove and Fair
Oaks (behind Church’s Chicken).
Pasadena, CA: On Friday, June 8, from 7:00 pm till dawn Muslims,
Christians, Jews and other people of faith and conscience will gather for an
intergenerational interfaith vigil and “sleep over” on the corner of Orange
Grove and Fair Oaks (behind Church’s Chicken) to call attention to the urgent
need for permanent supportive housing in Pasadena. They will worship together,
provide Church’s chicken for homeless residents, and urge elected
officials to use this site for which it was originally purchased fifteen years
ago, namely, affordable housing.
The need for action is urgent. The latest homeless count in Pasadena
shows that the number of unsheltered homeless residents living on the streets
increased 33% last year, with the number of those over 50 years old increasing
by 65% over the last three years. Last year the total count was 575; this year
it’s 677.[1]
“Elderly people are sleeping in bushes and dying on our streets,” says
vigil organizer Anthony Manousos, a Quaker peace and justice advocate. “That’s
why I and others are fasting and praying that our City Council will take action
as soon as possible to address this crisis. Even though permanent supportive
housing is the best evidence-based practice to end homelessness, the Pasadena City
Council does not currently have any plans to build permanent supportive housing
despite the urgent need. We know Pasadena can do better. We reduced
homelessness by 54% in the past, and we can and should do better in the
future.”
Tarek Shawky, a Muslim attorney, explained why he feels led to support
this vigil and spend the night at Heritage Square South:
"Ramadan is a
month of faith, reflection and service. Homelessness and housing is a major
challenge in Pasadena and LA County and as faith communities we stand together
to serve and raise awareness in the hope of alleviating this crisis. I want our city leaders to know we expect
them to follow through on plans to provide senior homeless housing at this
location for folks who would otherwise have nowhere to live."
He also had a personal reason
to take part in this vigil: "Whenever I walk around Old Pasadena with my 6-year-old son he
reminds me that we can't just walk by our homeless neighbors without doing our
part to help. I'm trying to do my part along with other faith leaders and
I hope that together our voices will be amplified and make a difference."
This event is also taking place during the 40 days of action of the Poor
People’s Campaign—a revival of a campaign started by Rev. Martin Luther King in
1968. During the final year of his life, Dr. King called for economic justice,
especially housing justice, to end poverty. Thousands of demonstrators are
protesting and getting arrested around the nation in order to call attention to
the urgent issue of poverty in our country.
Bert Newton, founder of the Palm Sunday Peace Parade (which helped launch
the Poor People’s Campaign in Pasadena this spring), explains why he will be
spending the night at Heritage Square South.
“We
are in a severe housing crisis,” says Newton, a homeless service provider. “Homelessness
is spiking in Pasadena again. As a person of conscience and faith, I cannot
simply stand by and watch people suffer and die on the streets. The problem of
homelessness is complicated and difficult to solve, but here we have an
opportunity to actually do something to save some people from the miserable
fate of spending their senior years in homelessness. If spending the night
outside will call attention to the problem and help get this project
underway, how can I not do it?”
This action is being organized by the Greater Pasadena Area Affordable
Housing Group (GPAHG), which formed a subcommittee to urge the Pasadena City
Council to use the South Heritage Square property to house homeless seniors. To
find out how you can take part, contact Anthony Manousos at interfaithquaker@aol.com or 626-375-1423.
Our goal is to bridge the divide between Housing for homeless peoples mis-placement & Provide a Temporary Housing.
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