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Homeless to Housed, Bus Tour in Pasadena Showcases Solutions to Housing Crisis
Community Sep 04, 2019
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Homeless to Housed bus tour in Pasadena gives residents an educational overview about homelessness in our communities. – Photo by Alex Cordero / Beacon Media News
By Alex Cordero
Everyone In, United Way, Union Station Homeless Services, Greater Pasadena Affordable Housing Group (GPAHG) and Rosebud collaborated to host the Homeless to Housed bus tour in Pasadena to inform and educate the community about changing the narrative around homelessness.
The tour provided plenty of information and insight to some of the solutions that are working to improve the homeless crisis in Pasadena.
Per Union Station, homelessness is down 20% overall from last year, 58% of the people experiencing homelessness were Pasadena residents and the number one reason given by people that have lost their homes is job loss.
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The tour is an example of the type of formal outreach necessary in order to begin changing the outdated perspective people seem to have about our homeless neighbors. The tour also presents an up-close and personal guide to solutions to the homeless challenge happening in our communities.
In the tour you get to visit affordable housing communities in the city and, meet and engage with local neighbors that have successfully transitioned from homeless to safe housing.
The tour also brings limelight to developers that are helping by building affordable housing units designed for people in need of housing.
National Core, the name of the developer responsible for Marv’s Place in Pasadena, is featured on the bus tour. The building on Mar Vista and Union opened in 2016; it has 20 units and is home to 19 formerly homeless families, the majority with children. You get a tour of the place featuring the culture and community this place has provided to people that were once in need of safe housing.
Throughout the excursion local residents were given a historical overview of homelessness, a recap of what makes affordable housing possible through local government officials, how developers come to be involved in the process of building more affordable housing units in local areas and how to advocate for affordable housing.
June Williams, a local Pasadena resident, joined the tour “to get a better sense of the type of resources and solutions that are being provided in the local community, so that I can feel empowered to speak up.” She said this to me on the bus ride, as we made our way back to Rosebud.
She is involved with homeless and prison reform communities in her local area. Williams expressed that the bus tour was helpful and she was happy to see the types of housing that are being provided to formerly homeless people.
If you would like to get involved or join the next bus tour on Sept. 14—which will feature Marv’s Place in Pasadena, Teague Terrace in Eagle Rock and a lot more—visit everyoneinla.org/events.
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