Homeless People

BURBANK — The city’s winter homeless shelter opened Monday, providing cots, showers and hot meals to 31 people on its first night of operation at the Burbank National Guard Armory. Last year, the shelter drew only about 15 people on its first night and almost 150 on its most crowded evening before it closed in mid-March, said Andy Bales, director of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, which runs the program. “Once the word gets out and the weather gets a little worse, we’ll have more people coming in,” Burbank Vice Mayor Gary Bric said.

GLENDALE — Community organizers are looking for more volunteers to help homeless people use services to be offered by the 25 groups participating in Thursday’s Homeless Connect Day 2008. The event, which will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Glendale armory, will give homeless people access to services related to housing, personal health and hygiene, veterans, mental health, employment assistance, child care, legal counseling and more, organizers said. “We’re trying to connect them to programs so that they’re able to get services so that they’re able to work towards becoming self-sufficient and work towards getting help,” said Ivet Samvelyan, the city’s homeless coordinator.

BURBANK — With winter fast approaching, the Burbank City Council on Tuesday night finalized a plan to provide a shelter for the region’s homeless population, similar to the details worked out in 2007. The plan, approved by a 4-1 vote, calls for the shelter to open Dec. 1 and close March 15 and will provide shelter in the city’s National Guard Armory at 3800 W. Valhalla Drive for up to 150 homeless people from around Southern California. “I’m glad to be able to help people out,” Vice Mayor Gary Bric said.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Three days a week, Renee Kaster breaks out a large pot and boils pasta, lots of it. The pasta is a staple menu item for her 20 to 40 guests, all of them chronically homeless people from central Glendale. Kaster does the cooking pretty much on her own, knowing that without her meals, the homeless would have even fewer eating options in a city that, since March, has lacked a free daily meals program. “I think a lot of people would find this to be time consuming and a lot of effort, but I still feel they deserve a meal,” she said.

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE — Dozens of homeless people from Glendale and surrounding cities got the full treatment Thursday in the basement of St. Mary’s Apostolic Church, from essential medical testing to manicures and haircuts. The event was organized to connect the chronically homeless, who are typically visible on sidewalks and loitering in public spaces, to a wide range of services offered through about 30 local and county nonprofit and government agencies. For Rickey Butler, who has been homeless for about 18 months, access to job assistance and referrals to other services in an all-inclusive environment was invaluable.

GLENDALE ? Organizers of a convention on Thursday meant to connect the city?s chronically homeless population to myriad health and social services say they need an additional 30 volunteers to pull the event off. While Glendale is one of only four cities in Los Angeles County to have such comprehensive homeless services, it still has difficulty trying to reduce the number of chronically homeless people ? those who are often seen on the streets suffering from mental illness, health problems and substance abuse issues.

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE ? It?s back to the drawing board for community development officials and PATH Achieve Glendale after a Los Angeles County independent review panel?s decision to uphold the rejection of a $1.85-million application for a 24-hour homeless shelter. The First Step Housing Program would have provided 25 beds for the city?s chronically homeless at PATH Achieve?s current site on San Fernando Way in an industrial alcove in South Glendale. Without funding from the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission, the city?

Several weeks ago, the Glendale News-Press’ sister paper, the Burbank Leader, posed this thoughtful question: “What would you like to see done, if anything, to help the homeless?” Unlike many cities in California, Burbank is in the enviable position of not being so overwhelmed by homelessness that its residents have taken opposite sides over what should be done. Instead, the city has pursued a more thoughtful and measured process, which will certainly promote generally accepted and welcomed solutions.

It?s difficult to answer March 15?s question: ?What would you like to see done, if anything, to help the homeless in the community?? The reality is, good intentions exceed the actual action that can be taken. But first, Burbank residents need to ask themselves if they really want homeless people in their community, as that has seemed to be the real issue in the past based on some misplaced fears. It is apparent that this is an overwhelming problem that cannot be solved, by this city, or any city, as it is no longer limited to the mentally ill, uneducated, or forgotten heroes; and will increase, as all the tools and programs that aid in diverting people to this road are the first to take the back seat in financial planning.