Special Council Meeting Wednesday Will Take Up Funding for Supplemental Emergency Shelter Services

According to an amended agenda for Wednesday’s special City Council meeting, the City Council will deliberate on a budget amendment that would allow $75,000 to be transferred from the General Fund to the City’s health department to provide supplemental emergency shelter services.

Last week, Friends In Deed Executive Director Rabbi Joshua Grater told Pasadena Now he could not house all those who asked for shelter because he needed to ration his funds to last the entire cold weather season.

After the story ran, Mayor Victor Gordo said the City Council would add the item to the special agenda.

“…The City Manager has assured me that Friends In Deed has been informed that they do not need to ration their funding so it is available later in the season, since additional funding will be available in light of the severe weather we have already experienced this season,” Gordo said.

A series of storms have slammed the area since early December. The storms have dumped much of California with 400% to 600% above-average rainfall since early last month.

“On behalf of my City Council colleagues,” Gordo said, “I want to express my appreciation for the ongoing commitment of our dedicated staff and our community partners for the care they provide to unhoused residents during severe weather events.”

According to a City staff report, approval of the recommended action has the potential to provide temporary emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Pasadena so that they can stabilize and prepare for permanent housing.

“Approval of the proposed budget transfer is in accordance with the Pasadena Continuum of Care system, General Plan Housing Element, Five-Year Consolidated Plan, and Five-Year Public Housing Authority Plan.”

The City has relied upon its motel voucher program as a readily available option for homeless residents to be sheltered during very cold weather since it lost the cold weather shelter in 2020. 

According to the most recent homeless count more than 500 residents of Pasadena are experiencing homelessness as of January 2022.

Friends in Deed gives out motel vouchers for the homeless using the weather-activated program – or during nights when the temperature is forecast to be less than 40 degrees, or when there is more than a 40 percent chance of rain. 

Funding for motel vouchers is based on the number of clients who sought vouchers in prior years from one of the City’s three partners: Friends In Deed, Union Station and the Pasadena Public Health Department. 

The City Council will also vote to amend the department of housing’s fiscal year 2023 Adopted Operating Budget by transferring $100,000 from the unappropriated fund balance in the General Fund to the Housing Department’s Other Housing Fund (238) for expenses associated with the provision of weather-activated motel vouchers to people experiencing homelessness as detailed in the background section of this report. 

The City Council will also vote to increase two contracts by $50,000 for services to assist the homeless. 

Wednesday’s meeting begins at 3:30 p.m.