On South Lake Ave (Photo – Marc Talle for ColoradoBlvd.net)
The Pasadena Homeless Count, organized and led by the Department of Housing, will start on Wednesday, January 25.
By News Desk
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, City Manager Miguel Marquez, and Pasadena Public Health and Department of Housing representatives will meet at 5:30 am at the Department of Housing, 649 N. Fair Oaks Ave. (in between Blaze Pizza and Vallarta market), Community Room 203.
The homeless count will begin promptly at 6:00 am. At this time, housing staff will focus on dispatching volunteers throughout the city for the count.
As a part of a new Public Health pilot, the Pasadena Outreach Response Team (PORT) will have naloxone available for unhoused neighbors upon request. Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids—including heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioid medications—when given in time. Drug overdoses accounted for 16 deaths in Pasadena in 2021, and 181 deaths since 2006 (CHNA- 2022). “This is an exemplary program, and Pasadena is setting an example that other jurisdictions should follow. We are taking advantage of an important touchpoint with community members and are leveraging this resource to protect the unhoused population,” said Public Health Officer Dr. Eric Handler.
The Pasadena Outreach Response Team (PORT) and Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) Public Health Nurses will join efforts in the city’s 2023 Homeless Count by offering COVID-19 and flu vaccines to people experiencing homelessness. The Pasadena Homeless Count, organized and led by the Department of Housing, takes place annually during the last ten days in January and provides a one-night “snapshot in time” of people experiencing homelessness in the city.
Additionally, two mobile strike teams consisting of PORT, PPHD and Huntington Hospital Nursing staff will be dispatched in real-time to offer vaccines to our unsheltered residents. “We want to make sure that everyone in our community has the opportunity to get vaccinated and receive support, including those who experience homelessness” said Nathan Press, PORT social worker.
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