As Temps Plummet, Pasadena’s Bad Weather Shelter Opens, Giving Warmth and Services to the Homeless

Local non-profit Friends In Deed opened its Bad Weather Shelter doors last week the day after Thanksgiving as nighttime temperatures plummeted and the local homeless faced damp, cold nights.

“I think this winter is going to be a lot colder than it has been in the last few years. We’re anticipating an influx of people. We’re usually at capacity every night it is open,” said said Friends In Deed Bad Weather Shelter Program Director William Shelby.

The Bad Weather Shelter is weather activated and will operate on nights when forecasts predict temperatures of 40 degrees or below and/or 40% chance of rain, from now through until March, 2017.

The Shelter is expected to provide warmth and food to approximately 2,000 homeless people over the next few months.

“It’s definitely a needed service. Every year there are individuals that die on the streets, particularly people with a variety of health concerns. The bad weather shelter’s core mission is anti-hypothermia to ensure that people will not die on the streets due to severe weather conditions,” said City of Pasadena Director of Housing William Huang.

The Bad Weather Shelter can house up to 140 people per night. Individual guests are admitted at 8 p.m. and are provided with a cot, sheet, blanket, and are given a hot meal.

Guests leave the shelter by 7 am each morning. There is no discrimination due to race, sexual orientation, gender, ancestry, national origin, legal status, or disabilities, according to the Friends In Deed website.

“It’s not a cure-all by any means because people voluntarily go into the bad weather shelter. It’s a simply a way to help and prevent serious complications that come with being exposed to the elements,” said Huang.

The shelter is staffed by professionals who are experienced with the homeless, mentally ill and drug addicted populations. Several work as professionals at Union Station, Lake Avenue Foundation and Passageways.

“Friends In Deed does try to reach out to those people while they have them when they are in a place where outreach is easier,” said Huang about the shelter’s utilizations of case managers that come in to talk about services, housing options and long term options.

A nurse from Passageways/Pacific Clinics provides flu shots, health evaluations and palliative care. Special programs include Twelve Step Programs, foot washing and periodic entertainment by the volunteer groups.

“We try and begin the process of referring them to the next indicated step, whatever that looks like for them,” said Shelby.

Friends In Deed also hand out warm socks, jackets and other clothing.

“We try and get them dressed and ready for the cold. Those things help in the long run,” said Shelby.

There is currently no shower program available for homeless guests, but emergency showers are available if necessary.

The Bad Weather Shelter was open a total of 33 nights during the 2015-2016 season and served a total of 1,941 Guests — 1,423 men and 518 women, according to Friends In Deed.

The Bad Weather Shelter first opened in 1986 in response to the emergency needs of homeless persons in Pasadena who lacked adequate refuge during the cold and wet winter months. The shelter was located at the Salvation Army gymnasium until 1989 and then moved to its present location in the gymnasium of the Pasadena Covenant Church.

Volunteers provided 845 hours of assistance in the 2015-2016 season alone setting up of cots, blanket distribution, meal preparation and more.

The Bad Weather Shelter is located in the gymnasium of the Pasadena Covenant Church, at 539 N. Lake Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101, next door to Department Station 33, and just north of the Gold line.

If you would like to volunteer to help with the Bad Weather Shelter, please email Marlene Martinez at twr@friendsindeedpas.org. Friends In Deed is also looking for people, or groups, that could volunteer on short notice.

During the Bad Weather Shelter season, if you have questions regarding Bad Weather Shelter policies, procedures, or changes to your volunteer dates, please contact William Shelby, Bad Weather Shelter Director, at Bad Weather Shelter@friendsindeedpas.org.

Friends In Deed requests that volunteer groups be comprised of no more than 15 people. Larger groups interfere with the functioning of the shelter. Volunteers are asked not to bring items to be donated to the shelter other than the food for the night.

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