Friend of CHOA,
The elections were so engrossing. Whether your candidate or measure/proposition won or lost, we take steps into the new reality. Some of that makes us change; some are the same. We know God is in control – we faithfully see our role, and we act. That is true for housing in Arcadia.
This newsletter covers the following topics:
- CHOA had an effective Sharing Gathering on October 19th: We are so thankful to Arcadia Community Church for hosting us, in their welcoming Lounge. We recap the gathering and pictures of the time below.
- Hills Church food distribution: Hills Church distributes free food on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month, from 9am to 12pm. If you know of any that are struggling to make ends meet, send them to Hills Church on those Saturdays. They even distributed food on October 19th, at the Santa Anita Race Track, before coming to the CHOA Sharing Gathering.
- Arcadia Interfaith Action Group (AIAG): They are hosting a Thanksgiving Service on Monday, November 25th, starting at 7pm, at Holy Angels Catholic Church. We provide a bit more details below.
We are thankful for connecting with so many churches, and people of faith in Arcadia, on the topic of housing. Together, we move towards reducing homelessness and build affordable housing here in Arcadia. So grateful for you all.
Peace,
–Mike Veerman
CHOA Team Lead
Recap the Oct. 19th Sharing Gathering
First off, CHOA is so grateful for Arcadia Community Church hosting our October 19th gathering. Additionally, so many of their members joined us. (And they had a Harvest Festival later in the afternoon…one active church!).
A total of 29 people came (see the above picture), to share, to learn, and to prepare to act. For most of the people who came, this was their first time to a CHOA event. Unfortunately, we were not able to video record our session, so we just have pictures to share with you at this time, as well as slides and our handout, see the links below.
Handout: https://choaarcadia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CHOA-SharingSession-Handout-202Oct.ver3_.pdf
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TRjl4JsonHgBi5Vj3SeahNzwcvSCgdCx3uR7xYs5vAE/edit
We focused on affordable housing, and in particular, the Inclusionary Ordinance, which is coming before City Council for a vote in the next few months. We have mentioned this a few times now, as this has been taken many months for City Council to carefully review the proposed plan. The first half of the slides below show our key points. This deals with the percentage of affordable housing units in new developments coming to Arcadia. The proposed structure is to allow developers to choose one of the 3 options.
- 9%: Very Low
- 11%: Combo
- 5% – Very Low
- 6% – Low
- 14% Low
We will keep you informed when this matter comes before City Council for a vote. We need to all send emails and letters to City Council, urging them to vote for the proposed Inclusionary Ordinance. If you like CHOA to come to your church group or committee to learn more, just let us know.
We thanked City Councilmember April Verlato for 8 years of service. We presented to her an award, to recognize her sacrifice, leadership and persistence in working on topics of homelessness and affordable housing in Arcadia. She has just been outstanding. We all took a picture with her (see the picture on the top), showing how appreciative we are of her, and her efforts. Thank you April !!
Also, we had some flash updates. Sadly, we explained why our year long effort on Safe Parking in Arcadia had to cease, due to Foothill Unity Center needing to shift their priorities, under new leadership. We also explained the dynamics of the elections for City Council. (At the time of the gathering in October, the elections had not occurred. Now we know that David Fu won in District 1, and Paul Cheng won a second term in District 4.)
Lastly, we walked to the Lucile parcel at the end of our time together, as it was so close to the church. This parcel is in the process of moving from the County, back to the City of Arcadia. This land is deemed for affordable housing. We talked about what this could mean, and imagine many families living on this land, with stable housing. We prayed for this land having affordable housing. It was good to connect with the land, and know exactly where this is in Arcadia. We show people there at the parcel, as well as the size of the land…about one acre…see the 2 pictures below.
Hills Church Food Distribution:
CHOA is so touched by Hills Church’s free food distribution, on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month. From 9am to 12pm, they provide fresh produce and other food. About 200 families come to this distribution. The church address is 805 N. 1st Avenue, in Arcadia. In the picture below, at the Oct. 19th gathering, Stephen and Eileen Casey gave a summary of their efforts, and explained the impact they have and the challenges they face, see the picture above.
You can help in a few ways. If you know anyone that is struggling financially, point them to come to Hills Church on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month to get free food. They can get enough that will provide for a full week of food. That helps so much. If you like to help Hills Church, they can use prep and sort work on the Fridays afternoons before those Saturdays. Also, they need more trucks to help pick up the food during the week.
Even before they came to the October 19th CHOA gathering, they brought food to those at the Santa Anita Race Track, see the picture on the right. They are so warm, loving, and show the generosity of God. I just see smiles when folks come to Hills Church….and tangibly see God’s love.
AIAG’s Thanksgiving Service on Monday, Nov. 25th, 7pm:
Please join Arcadia Interfaith Action Group’s Thanksgiving Service on Monday, November 25th, at 7pm. It will be held like last year, at Holy Angels Catholic Church, at 370 Campus Drive. The theme is, “Giving Thanks to Those that Give”. They are also asking us all to bring some cans of food, and non-perishables to share with our local food banks.
Come and join, and meet new folks in the faith community in Arcadia. See you there!