PASADENA, CA - This week, Union Station Homeless Services announced their endorsement of Measure H, the rent control measure on the ballot in Pasadena, which will create vital, life-saving tenant protections for the over 60% of Pasadena households who rent their homes.
On May 16, Pasadena Partnership to End Homelessness released the report of the 2022 Homeless Count, conducted over two days in February, which found that "housing affordability and availability is the root cause of homelessness." "In order to affect increased and lasting change," the report continues, "serious efforts must be made to confront and mitigate the systemic underlying root causes of homelessness. While our community has invested more heavily than ever in the homelessness response system, it continues to bear the challenges and failures of other existing systems. Structural forces such as high housing costs and low wages, market conditions, and housing availability are compounded by institutional racism, creating significant racial disparities among people who experience homelessness. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these structural failures and highlights the need for safe and stable homes for our community's most vulnerable neighbors." The LA County Homeless Count results were released last week and underline the same point. The data reveals that seven in ten unsheltered people experiencing homelessness are experiencing homelessness for the first time and the majority of those unsheltered homeless individuals cite economic reasons and eviction as the primary causes of their homelessness. "Rent control and just cause eviction protections are just common sense policies to address the crisis that we're in," said Shawn Morrissey, Senior Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement at Union Station Homeless Services. "We understand Measure H as homelessness prevention." Experts in Pasadena and the County have long pointed to the fact that more people fall into homeless for the first time than can be permanently housed each year. While it's true that non-profit agencies like Union Station are housing more people than they ever have before, the inflow of new people experiencing homeless makes it impossible to get ahead of the crisis. Measure H isn't a miracle cure," said Anne Miskey, Union Station's Executive Director, "but it is a vital tool to keep our community housed, especially during times of market volatility and public health crises." Measure H will: Provide for Just Cause Evictions
Establish Rent Control
Establish a Rental Housing Board with powers to
The measure will also establish an online Rental Registry, listing all rental properties in the city with relevant data including any violations of building codes or Registry regulations. More information at the campaign website: http://www.pasadena4rentcontrol.org Union Station Homeless Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to providing permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives. Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, Union Station has been in existence for almost 50 years. Union Station is the San Gabriel Valley's largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families. Recently expanding into El Sereno and Eagle Rock, we are the lead county agency for Service Planning Area 3 (SPA 3), coordinating homeless services in 36 communities, with a combined population of over 1.5 million across the San Gabriel Valley. Our mission is guided by the belief that everyone deserves a life of dignity and a place to call home. For more information, visit www.unionstationhs.org. |
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