County Supervisors Approve Funding For Salvation Army’s Pasadena Hope Center

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Kathryn Barger to provide $378,000 to the Pasadena Hope Center, a new permanent supportive housing project that will be developed by the Salvation Army.

The Pasadena Hope Center will feature a four-story building that will provide 65 studio apartments for highly vulnerable single adults who are experiencing homelessness in the region. The first floor will provide space for supportive services on-site, including the Salvation Army’s social services offices, which serves low-income individuals and families with a large client choice food pantry and supportive service referrals. 

The Salvation Army, according to City News Service (CNS), was previously awarded $4.4 million in county Affordable Housing Trust Funds for development of the housing units.

“We know that housing alone does not solve the complex issue of homelessness,” said  Barger. “It is essential to include robust supportive programs on-site, such as mental health services and employment support, to provide highly acute individuals with the tools needed to retain their housing long-term.”

In the 2020 Homeless Count, there were a total of 527 people experiencing homelessness in Pasadena, a significant decline from the peak count in 2011 which identified 1,216 individuals. This nearly 50 percent reduction in the population of people experiencing homelessness in Pasadena follows a systemwide implementation of Housing First best practices and a strong focus on targeted strategies to increase the availability of permanent housing.

“In partnership with the city of Pasadena, we have made tremendous progress through enhanced prevention, diversion, housing navigation services, street outreach, interim and permanent housing thanks, in large part, to Measure H-funded strategies,” Barger continued. “As individuals and families continue to fall newly into homelessness, we must continue to support interventions focused on permanent housing and supportive services to reduce homelessness locally and regionally.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the Supervisors voted to approve funding for a range of new housing projects, including the acquisition and conversion of eight motel properties to apartments for formerly homeless residents under the state’s Project Homekey.

Project Homekey is the next phase in the Project Roomkey effort to find temporary housing for individuals living on the street and especially at risk for complications from COVID-19. That includes many seniors and chronically homeless people in need of medical care.

The county, CNS reported, was able to house as many as 4,000 homeless individuals under Project Roomkey, according to the motion by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Barger. However, that progress was beginning to unravel as a result of motels and hotels being forced to close due to the pandemic, leading the county to step up as a buyer and seek more permanent solutions.

The board approved spending more than $75 million for the properties, according to CNS. The state’s allocation of federal coronavirus relief dollars will fund roughly $60 million of the acquisition, with the county putting up a required match estimated at roughly $14 million.