Salvation Army’s “Homeless Connect Day Pasadena” Provides Respite, Care and Hope

The Salvation Army Pasadena Tabernacle resumed its yearly “Homeless Connect Day” on Tuesday providing medical, vision, legal and other personal services to the City’s unhoused residents and low-income families in a “one-stop shop.”

This event has been taking place annually since 2008 in collaboration with Azusa Pacific’s Bachelor of Social Work program.

Representatives from 20 different agencies, including Pasadena Public Health, California Department of Motor Vehicles, as well as veterans’ services groups, and agencies assisting with housing navigation, were on hand for four hours to assist as well as feed those in need.

Homeless Connect was not held last year due to the pandemic, but, said Jhoana Hirasuna, director of social services at Salvation Army Pasadena, “We thought it would be great to bring it back again this year.”

Hirasuna acknowledged that the event was smaller this year with fewer service providers, but the representatives from the various agencies which participated were kept busy with the steady stream of clients.

“This is so we can connect people, people experiencing homelessness, low-income, and get service, which can sometimes be rather challenging. There are so many barriers sometimes preventing people from connecting with these services, but we have them all in one place here today, to help out,” Hirasuna said.

She took particular note of the services of the DMV, which provided identification services.

“The DMV is here, ready to process them free of charge, put them in the system, take their picture. They don’t have to set foot in an office,” she said.

At one table, clients tried on reading glasses and frames and received vouchers for eye exams, as well as prescription glasses. At another station, nurses washed hands and feet, and treated minor wounds that may have been neglected during the course of life on the street.

One client, who asked that his name not be used, said he only happened on the event in his daily walk and that he had “never noticed” the Salvation Army building.

“I just thought it was an office,” he laughed, his hands full of lunch and a bag filled with donated products and information over his shoulder.

Representatives from the PORT Program as well as the Pasadena Health Department GEM ( Geriatric Empowerment Model) Link program were also on hand to assist with housing services.

According to Rod Hutchinson, a Pasadena firefighter, PORT is a joint collaboration between Pasadena Public Health and Fire Departments, as well as Union Station Homeless Services. It assists people 60 and over experiencing homelessness, with outreach, housing, medical care, mental health, and substance abuse services.

GEM Link also has a mobile unit at Pasadena Parks and Rec – Jackie Robinson Community Center, which provides showers and laundry service.

More information on PORT and GEM Link is available at (626) 744-6339 or solivas@cityofpasadena.net.

In past years, 80 social service providers delivered 3,000 services to more than 300 homeless individuals during the Homeless Connect event.