Hello friends for Affordable Housing in Arcadia,
There is just a lot going on in regards to Housing. CHOA is working to send you out information on what is going on in and around Arcadia.
Here’s a quick summary:
- Housing Element working group
- Short-term Service working group
- Upcoming
- Next general meeting: Tuesday, October 25th
- Large community gathering: Saturday, November 5th, 9:30am – 11:30am
- Spotlight: The Hills Church’s Food Pantry
Our name – CHOA – Creative Housing Options in Arcadia:
Just in case you missed it last month, our effort’s name is CHOA – Creative Housing Options in Arcadia. We are getting used to our new name. It is easy to remember, kind of catchy, and we hope that it will quickly mean people of faith, working for housing solutions, in a loving and productive fashion. We are learning. Come and learn with us.
Housing Element working group:
The State’s deadline for cities to adopt their Housing Element is October 15th. The City is in its 4th iteration with the state, to review and reise the Housing Element. We continue to talk with the City’s Planning Services Department, and see where the city is. Many cities are also in the same situation, and we move into a grey area, passing the deadline. We talk with the city, to see if there are areas where we can assist. Below is a quick summary.
- Can CHOA assist in communication around Arcadia? Topics can be sharing where folks can find Affordable Housing, and information on building ADUs (converting your garage into residential units).
- The city has rezoned areas around Arcadia (like near the Gold Line Station, down 1st Avenue and Live Oak) for higher density, to allow for several mixed-use (commerical on the bottom, residential on the top) development, which will include Affordable Housing.
- We are keeping an eye on the determination on the inclusionary ordinance, the percentage of how many Affordable Housing units will be built in each development. The city is initially thinking 20% (which is what Pasadena uses right now), but after some study, for Arcadia, we may determine it will be 15% or 18%.
- We briefly discussed Transitional Housing in Arcadia.
If you like to read a bit more about the Housing Element, or even watch a few videos about it, go to the below link on the City of Arcadia website.
https://www.arcadiaca.gov/housing/
Short-term Assitance working group:
The City has started a Homeless Stakeholder group. We have joined in. We will learn if are accepted in the group, and if this group will be an advisory council, a brainstorming group, or just mentioned to share and communicate better between the city and the residents. We find this a fascinating development, and look to share with you want we learn. Review the link below.
Upcoming gatherings:
We learn a lot by listening to each other, and engaging together. We have more gatherings coming up. Join us.
- Our next monthly is Tuesday, October 25th. It is an on-line meeting. Join us if you can. We meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month, and try to stay away from the City Council meetings on Tuesdays (1st and 3rd Tuesdays), so we can attend if needed.
- Large gathering: Saturday, November 5th. This will be a morning event (around 9:30am to 11:30am), at the Santa Anita Church. This will be a great time to gather again, bring more folks, get updates from the working groups and others doing good work in Arcadia, and get a guest speaker as well. More information will come. Find the flier on our website, see the link below. We will try to have these large gatherings every 6 months or so.
Spotlight – The Hill Church:
God is good…all the time. To see this tangibly, please meet Stephen and Eileen Casey. They have spearheaded for the last 6 months, a food pantry distribution from Hills Church (…adddress…). Mind you, this is in Arcadia. Arcadia! Here’s what their pastor – Pastor Walter – says about their program.
We are seeing over 100 individuals each 2nd & 4th Saturday with probably around 10-12 children. When they list their family number about 320+ benefit from this outreach! Many ask for prayer and we are building some great community relationships.
Pastor Walter invited Stephen and Eileen to start the food pantry at the church. They have done a similar effort in Monrovia for 6 years, so they know what they are doing. They have a warehouse to store the food from the Food Bank downtown. When they asked where they can store the food at the church, Pastor Walter said they could use his office, and they even torn out the window and put in double doors so they can bring in the palettes. They have an eager team of volunteers, almost fighting who gets to go pick up the food downtown, and filter out the rotten food from the good. These volunteers also help at the food distribution, every 2nd and 4th Saturday..
They have story after story of how God has timed their efforts, with the needs of others. Folks tell about their choices of paying for either food or gas, and this food pantry allows them to have both. They had several palettes of power milk, even the special kind for sensitive stomachs. They even gave a pastor from the Congo (Africa) many cans of powder milk, which they brought to the Congo…packing the powdered milk in many 50 lbs suitcases…and feed many babies in a village there.
They do have challenges. Stephen and Eileen are organizing to make their efforts be under a non-profit, and get a business license with the city. They need financial assistance, mostly to pay for the gas for the truck to pick up the food. They drive 50 miles for each pickup, and that gas goes fast. They also need more storage space for the food palettes.
I could talk and listen to Stephen and Eileen for hours. May the Lord continue to bless their efforts.
