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Local Church Plans Honorary Service in Memory of Those Who Died While Homeless

Published on Saturday, December 8, 2018 | 5:45 am
 

All Saints Church in Pasadena will be conducting a memorial service followed by a reception on Tuesday, December 11, in honor of those who have died homeless as an acknowledgment of their membership in the human family.

The event will be the eighth annual Homeless Memorial Service by All Saints Church. Last year, the names of 33 who died homeless in Pasadena were read during the service, and candles lit for each one of them.

“Each year, thousands of homeless men and women die on the streets of our nation due to illness, exposure or violence, many from our very own community of Pasadena,” All Saints Church said on its website. “These individuals die without the dignity and respect they deserve.”

All Saints Church Rector Mike Kinman and Deacon Antonio Gallardo will lead Tuesday’s memorial service which begins at 6 p.m. The reception follows afterwards at the Church’s Sweetland Hall.

All Saints Church members, leaders from other faith communities in Pasadena, homeless service providers and recipients are expected to come together during the event.

The 2018 Pasadena Homeless Count conducted in January revealed there were 677 people experiencing homelessness in the City, an 18 percent increase from the 2017 figure of 575, and 28 percent more than the 530 counted in 2016.

The City’s Department of Housing said the increase comes on the heels of Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s 23 percent increase seen in 2017. For Pasadena, this represents a reversal in the five-year downward trend in homelessness from 2011 through 2016.

The count showed the sharpest increases were seen among those living on the streets, in parks, encampments, vehicles, or other places not meant for human habitation. During the 2018 Homeless Count, 462 people were living on the streets, or 68 percent of the total homeless population. The number is a 33 percent increase over the 347 unsheltered persons recorded in 2017.

“Two-thirds of the homeless population are unsheltered, meaning they’re not living in one of our shelters or transitional housing facilities, but they are living out on the streets under the bridges and in vehicles,” Pasadena Housing Director Bill Huang said.

The homeless count also showed a 65 percent increase in the number of older homeless persons – from 2016 to 2018, the number of persons who were homeless over age 50 grew from 153 to 253.

All over San Gabriel Valley, the number of older persons grew from 188 to 406 over the past year, according to the homeless count in Los Angeles County.

Huang said Pasadena continues to provide opportunities for permanent housing for the homeless, and was able to house 167 in 2017.

“This is important because permanent housing is the only thing that ends homelessness,” Huang said. “It’s not a cot, it’s not a sandwich. Those are important and those are helpful, but if you want to end homelessness, you need to permanently house them.”

Tuesday’s Homeless Memorial Service and Reception will be at All Saints Church at 132 N. Euclid Avenue, just east of City Hall.

For more information, visit www.allsaints-pas.org/calendarevent/homeless-memorial-service.

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