Pasadena’s Union Station Homeless Services Receives Community Impact Award

Headquartered in Pasadena, Union Station is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency, assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families. – Courtesy photo by Mario Galeano / Union Station Homeless Services

Award recognizes combined efforts of 23 nonprofits for their work in alleviating L.A. County’s housing crisis.

Union Station Homeless Services was honored with a Community Impact Award from the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) Friday for its efforts to address the escalating homelessness and housing crisis in Los Angeles County. The award was presented to Union Station as part of the LABC’s 49th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards.

Due to the region’s current housing crisis, the LABC’s Community Impact Award did not go to an individual organization, but rather a collective of 23 nonprofit groups leading the way in providing shelter to those most vulnerable in our community. Each year, the award honors a project or body of work that exemplifies transformative civic development within the City of Los Angeles. With this year’s award, recipients were recognized for their leadership in building and financing new housing, as well as providing related services, for low-income and homeless individuals in L.A. County.

Due, in part, to the tireless work of these nonprofit groups, 21,613 people were placed in homes last year.

“This year we wanted the Community Impact Award to reflect the depth and complexity of L.A.’s homelessness crisis,” said Mary Leslie, president of LABC. “No single organization will be able to fix this problem alone. It will take years of hard work by a wide range of committed groups to change the lives of the thousands of homeless or currently at risk Angelenos.”

Union Station received the award for its work in ending homelessness and helping adults and families experiencing homelessness to rebuild their lives. With over 45 years of experience, Union Station proudly offers a full continuum of programs throughout the San Gabriel Valley; services including street outreach, intake assessments, care coordination and navigation, meals, shelter, housing, and employment development.

“We are honored to receive this award alongside these partner organizations. It’s not possible for us to stand alone in this battle to end homelessness,” said Anne Miskey, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena. “Homelessness is an issue that impacts every community differently, which is why we’ve been focusing efforts on building capacity at the city level as well as partnering with housing developers, architects and community partners to support people experiencing homelessness in their city by ensuring services and resources are accessible, targeted to the community need, and coordinated with larger regional efforts. There’s still a lot of work to do, and thankfully we have amazing partners and community supporters who are with us every step of the way.”

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