Bad Weather Shelter for the Homeless Will Not Open This Winter

Homeless people struggling to stay warm and dry will face another obstacle this winter.

The city’s Bad Weather Shelter will not open due to ongoing challenges caused by the current pandemic.

According to Rabbi Joshua Grater, there is no way to provide a bad weather shelter this year due to the ongoing pandemic. 

Grater said the nonprofit organization Friends in Deed, which runs the shelter, has been working with the city’s housing department to come up with a safe way to provide an overnight shelter. 

But after discussing and researching what other cities are doing, it became clear that there is no safe way to open a shelter while providing safety to staff and people staying there. 

“The main challenge is that we don’t have a way to quarantine anyone if someone comes in and is sick, Grater said.  

Because people come and go in the shelter, “there would be no way to track where people have been,” Grater said.

Shelters in nearby cities are also not opening. Remaining shelters that will open will do so with restrictions that limit when people can come in and out. 

Local residents called on the city to use money from the annual $18 million transfer from the city’s water and power utility to allow the homeless to sleep in city-owned properties or in tents.

“Our city has a moral obligation to protect our most vulnerable residents,” said Sonja K. Berndt. “Other alternatives, such as shelter in city-owned properties and tents, are available to the city. Housing advocates and the faith community are ready to help.”

According to the latest homeless count conducted by the city, 527 people experience homelessness in Pasadena on any given night. 

Vice Mayor Andy Wilson said he hopes the issue would come before the City Council soon.

“Obviously the lack of this critical service during the winter season and with the pandemic is extremely concerning,” said Wilson. “I understand the challenge has primarily been securing the third-party organizations and the appropriate staffing to operate these important facilities. The funding is there and ready to be deployed. I understand the city’s housing department has tried multiple strategies but has yet to be successful. This topic needs to find its way on our agenda as soon as possible.”

Typically, the bad weather shelter is weather activated and opens in the winter at Pasadena Covenant Church when temperatures fall below 40 degrees, or when there is a 40 percent or greater chance of rain.

The shelter was last opened from Dec. 4, 2019, until March 8. The shelter was also open every Wednesday when Azusa Pacific University volunteers were on hand to provide basic medical checkups and referrals.

When open, guests of the shelter receive a cot, a sheet, a blanket, and a hot meal, prepared in the church kitchen. Guests leave the shelter by 7 a.m. each day. 

“These shelters provide a life-saving reprieve from freezing temperatures and rain,” said Raquel Calderon in correspondence to the City Council. “Those who live exposed to the elements also struggle with age, illness and pain that makes their ordeal all the more dire.”

The virus has surged over the last month leaving many experts fearing that intensive care units will be overwhelmed and unable to provide critical care to patients.

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom implemented a new health order and requested people stay home as much as possible.

“We’ve heard from some of our clients out there that they do feel it’s safer to be on the street COVID wise than to come into a congregant shelter,” Grater said.