An
amazing moral victory took place at City Hall last night: the Pasadena City
Council voted unanimously for
homeless housing (plus commercial development) at Heritage Square South! In
addition, the Mayor surprised everyone by announcing his support for using the
vacant YWCA near City Hall (designed by famed architect Julia Morgan) for
homeless housing. (This property has been considered for a boutique hotel, but
this deal fell through.) Other Councilmembers expressed strong support for
converting motels to homeless housing in every
district and urged every City
Councilmember to work with their constituents to make this happen. It was clear
that our City Council is seriously committed to addressing the homelessness
crisis in our city.
You can read more about this at Pasadena Now: Heritage Square South and Julia Morgan YWCA.
The
City Council received a lot of encouragement for its action. It received over
400 letters from constituents calling for homeless housing at Heritage Square
South. Over 30 advocates showed up at this meeting with signs, banners and
talking points. When the Council made its intention to support homeless housing
clear, we were thrilled. Instead of giving our talking points, we took turns
thanking the City Council members. We also gave each of them the Poverty and Justice Bible, which
highlights in bold orange passages relating to social justice. This Bible,
produced by World Vision, contains a prophetic foreword by Rev. James Lawson,
the colleague of Dr. King who teaches nonviolent resistance. We also gave the Mayor a copy of Rabbi
Waskow’s Freedom Journeys. We want
the Council to be clear that we are a faith-rooted effort, committed to the
moral imperative of housing our homeless neighbors.
I
want to thank all those who came to the City Council meeting, as well as those
who signed letters and took part in our vigils and other actions. Special
thanks to the religious leaders who were present and spoke: Mike Kinman, Connie
Milsop, Brita Pinkston, John Stewart, and Rabbi Joshua Grater. Thanks also to
homeless service providers: Annie Miskey, Barbara Bowman and Bert Newton.
We
were also grateful to two homeless residents who spoke: Max and Crayton. One
had been homeless for 20 years, and the other was recently housed in permanent
supportive housing. Their testimonies were powerful.
We
have worked for ten months on this campaign and it has produced many good
fruits. We have reached out to our elected officials and encouraged them to do
the right thing. We have created a beloved community of advocates committed to
the beautiful struggle for affordable and homeless housing in our city. We have
the support of religious leaders, homeless service providers, people of
conscience, and concerned citizens.
This
is just the beginning.
GPAHG’s
goal is to reduce the homeless population by at least 50% in the next five
years. This is not unrealistic. Between 2010-2015, the city reduced its
homeless count by over 50% by producing homeless housing. We can do this again,
with God’s help and the support of our beloved community!
Now
that the Council has authorized how it wants this property to be used, the
Housing Department can begin to make plans to find a developer willing to
undertake this project. The Housing Director responded to the following
important questions:
1)
How long will it take for this project
to “break ground”? Approx. 1 ½ to 2 years.
2)
How much will it cost? $30 million.
3)
Where will the funding come from? Approximately
$14 million will come from state and county sources, the rest from 4%
low-income tax credits (a federal program used by affordable housing
developers).
4)
How much will come from the City’s
general fund? Zero.
What next? GPAHG is committed to working with churches, community leaders and concerned citizens in East Pasadena (as well as other parts of the city) to address our homeless crisis through homeless housing. For the past month we have been meeting on a weekly basis in East Pasadena and will be organizing small group meetings over the next six months or so to hear the community’s concerns and to share information about best practices to address homelessness. We intend to partner with LA Voice, United Way, and Faith Partnership to End Homelessness in this educational effort.
Our special thanks to came to the City
Council meeting to speak or offer support: Tom Petersmeyer, Divine Johnson,
Faithanne Truong, Donna Sider, George Patton, Brita Pinkston, Aretta and Russ Crowell,
Michelle White, Bertha Downs, John Stewart, Una Jost, Lorynne Young, Bert
Newton, Debra Francis (who made a beautiful banner), Peter Hartgens, Anthony
Manousos, Barbara Bowman, Anne Miskey, Jill Shook, Mike Kinman, Allison Henry,
Connie Milsop, Rabbi Joshua Grater, Juliana Serrano, Georgia Daniels.
We
also want to thank those who wrote letters to the City Council.
Your
efforts made a huge difference!
Or send checks
made out to “Social Good Fund” with “Making Housing and Community Happen” in
memo line and send to:
| \ |
Making Housing and Community Happen
1628 N Garfield Ave
Pasadena CA 91104
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