Friends in Deed to Provide Motel Vouchers, Supplies to Homeless this Winter

Although the Bad Weather Shelter will not open this year due to challenges caused by the coronavirus, steps are still being taken to help those experiencing homelessness.  

The nonprofit group Friends in Deed, which runs the shelter, is teaming with Pasadena Presbyterian Church, which hosts dinner on Thursdays and Sunday. The dinner has been converted to a take-out dinner due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Friends in Deed Executive Director Rabbi Joshua Grater said a minimal staff from Friends in Deed will be there to pass out winter supplies, including ponchos, umbrellas, blankets, and socks.

“Sunday night, Azusa Pacific University nursing school students will come in and do check ups,” Grater said. “We are hoping to have flu shots and COVID tests, but that is not confirmed yet.”

Friends in Deed will increase its three-night motel vouchers and focus on getting extremely vulnerable people off the streets. 

“We are working on a plan to have as many motel rooms as possible available,” Grater said. “We are hoping that because there won’t be a Rose Parade, motels will be more amenable to a program. My staff will continue staff management.”

Unfortunately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers currently stationed at the Rose Bowl will not be made available.

As many as 50 FEMA trailers have been placed in the Rose Bowl parking lot.

In March, the state used $50 million of a $150 million coronavirus emergency funding package to buy 1,309 travel trailers and deliver them to cities across the state to be used during the pandemic.

Grater said he inquired about using the trailers, but so far he has been told they are not available. 

“We have been working on this since June on a weekly basis and I have asked about the FEMA trailers,” Grater said. “So far, we have been told they are not available. It’s a perfect setup for what we would want to do.”

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, according to William Huang, who leads the city’s housing department.

This year, however, Covenant Church, where the shelter has been located, is not available.

Friends in Deed found another location, but concerns arose over COVID-19 guidelines among volunteers, who were worried about contracting the virus, leaving just a handful of volunteers. 

Making matters worse, tracking people who came in and out of the walk-in shelter would be logistically impossible.

“One case of the coronavirus in a shelter could lead to dozens of people being quarantined,” Huang said. “It’s almost impossible to provide proper protection.”

The Pasadena shelter is not the only one being impacted by the virus. The East San Gabriel Valley shelter, which rotates locations between several churches, also won’t open this year.   

Twenty-four-hour shelters will open with strict guidelines.

“We care deeply about our folks and we know how hard it is to be on the street,” said Grater. “And we do know that our shelter for the last 30-plus years, in partnership with the Covenant Church and our partners with the city, provides a sense of safety on those nights and a warm bed and meal and a place to get services. We’re going to do our best this season to help.”

All Saints Episcopal Church and United Methodist Church will provide some assistance by allowing people to stay on their campuses with access to bathrooms. 

The City Council on Monday will discuss the possibility of providing a case worker at those sites.

“We want to show support by paying for the case manager,” Huang said.

“We are prepared to go out on cold and rainy nights and seek out people to offer gear and supplies and food and give them motel vouchers and work with a transportation system to get them to a motel,” Grater said. “During the day, street outreach teams will perform the task.”