Pasadena Motel Voucher Program In Lieu of Bad Weather Shelter Not Yet Operating as Storm Pounds Southland

[Updated] The Pasadena City Council approved funding for motel vouchers two weeks ago, but the program was not yet up and running when the first rainstorm of the winter arrived on Sunday evening and continued pouring down on Monday.

The city has entered into a partnership with local nonprofit Friends In Deed and approved funding on Dec. 14 for motel vouchers, after city officials previously announced Pasadena’s bad weather shelter would not be operating this season due to the ongoing pandemic. The shelter has traditionally been operated by Friends In Deed. (Friends In Deed in turn contracts with two local motels.)

But Friends In Deed is closed through this week, Pasadena Department of Housing Director Bill Huang said.

So while Friends In Deed has been handing out bad weather supplies in recent days, the voucher program wasn’t yet ready to begin when the rain moved in, he said.

It came down to “bad timing,” according to Huang.

“Motel vouchers sound like a piece of paper we can just handout, but it is a whole program,” he explained. “You have to outreach to people who need and are willing to accept a short-term room, contract with a motel, transport the person, have someone at the motel to meet them, make sure they get checked-in, get to their room, arrange for food, and periodically check-in with them to make sure they are well.”

The voucher distribution is expected to be ready to begin when Friends In Deed reopens on Jan. 4, Huang said.

The organization’s phone answering system confirmed it was closed through Jan. 3.

The nearest operational bad weather shelter was at Loma Alta Park in Altadena, officials said.

Once up and running, Pasadena’s motel voucher program will be activated when the temperature is predicted to drop to 40 degrees or below, or a 40 percent chance of precipitation is forecasted, Huang said.

Two additional community organizations are expected to be added to the voucher program in January, a city official said.

The community organization Pasadena for All launched a campaign last week urging the community to contact city leaders to make sure motel vouchers are distributed to everyone who needs one.

“We just want to make sure as many people as need those motel vouchers and want them can get those rooms,” PFA member Sonja Berndt said on Thursday.

She said the effort enjoyed strong support during the Dec. 14 City Council meeting, where more than 50 people spoke on behalf of the cause.

“We have to make sure that we have motel rooms for the people that need them, and we want to make sure there’s enough outreach done so that the people who need them can find out how to be connected with the motel voucher program,” Berndt said.

“It’s well-documented that our unhoused neighbors are much more likely to get COVID, but they’re also at much higher risk than the general population of developing [cold]-related conditions, such as frostbite and hypothermia. These can be immediately life-threatening or can have long-term effects,” she said. “This is for Pasadena residents. These are our residents who live here.”

See also:

City Increases Funds For Motel Vouchers to Aid the Homeless

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

Guest Opinion | Sonja Berndt: Will Our City Make Sure that Our Unsheltered Residents Are Sheltered from the Cold and Rain this Winter