Sharing Gathering on May 10, 2025
CHOA had our 6th Sharing Gathering on May 10th, 2025. That was Mother’s Day weekend, and still we have 24 folks coming to hear, learn and engage on topics of affordable housing, and homelessness in Arcadia.
We were hosted at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguraiton. This was the second time they hosted us, now in their newly refurbished Fellowship Hall.
For the first time, we had 2 City Councilmembers speak at a CHOA event.
We are grateful for Mayor Sharon Kwan for joining us for her first time at a Sharing Gathering. As you know by now, Mayor Kwan is the first female Asian Mayor in Arcadia, after 121 years of the city being incorporated. This is significant.
And one of her first visits since being mayor as of April 15th, was visiting with CHOA. She has given her time to CHOA, meeting with us 3 times in the last 5 months. Mayor Kwan encourages us, and I think CHOA inspires her to continue to work on solutions for affordable housing and reducing homelessness in Arcadia.
We are very grateful that Mayor Pro Tem Eileen Wang also came and spoke as well. She has a busy schedule, naturally, so she spoke first. This was the second time she joined in a CHOA Sharing Gathering, and the first time she shared her perspectives.
In another first, Matthew Brennan from L.A. CADA joined us to share and answer questions for 30 minutes. The City found ways to fund these case managers/housing navigators. L.A. CADA connects with the unhoused people in Arcadia.
The L.A. CADA case managers are trained. They also have experienced homelessness themselves. With both, they are able to connect with those currently homeless in Arcadia, and talk to them, be patient with them, and build the trust for the unhoused to seek services, and eventually housing.
There are three case managers from L.A. CADA, working 7 days a week. The only other city that does this is Alhambra. L.A. CADA have been working in Arcadia for a few years, and have housed 30-40 unhoused folks. They also have a check-in time at the Arcadia Library on Wednesdays.
Homelessness is complex and needs collaboration to solve. Each unhoused person is unique, and needs a custom approach to help them to get out of homelessness.
If you or your church encounter an unhoused person, just contact L.A.CADA, at 562-844-1484, or arcadia@lacada.com. The flier at the bottom of this web page, as well as the link. Matthew provided a few business cards for easy distribution, to church members, and those unhoused. If you need some, just let us at CHOA know.
L.A. CADA Homeless Case Management on the City of Arcadia’s website.
Kai from the CHOA team also reviewed the new Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, which was passed by City Council in April. (By the way, Kai just graduated from Arcadia High school, and we are very grateful for all the efffort in put in for 2 years to work on housing in Arcadia.). The key point is affordable housing units need to be included in residential projects with 30 units or more, starting July 1st.
The percentages of affordable housing with the entire development are shown below. Developers selected one of these options. There was a lot of effort on the city side for the last 2 years to get to this point, and a lot of effort on the CHOA and supporters side, to support this ordinance. It will allow for many more people with different incomes to be included in our city. We will all benefit.
Lastly, the CHOA team shared quickly about the Elara project, having 48 affordable housing units. The project also includes 45 permanent supportive housing, which is a new approach around Arcadia. Permanent supportive housing allows folks that are unhoused directly into housing, with case management and wrap-around services, so they remain housed. This is so new, there was a lot of opposition from Arcadia residents to this development. CHOA supports this development, as you know.
