“It’s not a handout, it’s a hand up,” said General Secretary Major Osei Stewart of the Salvation Army as he began his address to the Rotary Club of San Marino last Thursday afternoon.
His statement elicited a chorus of approval and nodding heads, setting the stage for an inspirational message about a new project underway in Pasadena.
It’s called the Hope Center, a 66-unit housing and program destination located at 1000 E. Walnut St.
“There is a saying that goes ‘where there is a will, there is a way,’ but we like to say ‘where there is a will, there is hope,’” Stewart said. “We like to think that we are creating hope for people who are down to their last straw, their last dime, their last leg. And we are hoping to see a transformation in their lives.”
Stewart said he has seen a lot of transformations during his 22 years with the Army and believes that when the Hope Center is built, there will be many more.
“We want to offer resources to people who have fallen into homelessness and poverty,” he said.
The Hope Center is expected to be completed in late 2022, and will provide permanent housing units and also include housing for staff.
“They will have a key to their own home,” Stewart said. “They are actual apartments that these men and women will be proud to own.”
He then told the poignant tale of a man who had received housing at a Salvation Army facility located in Bell.
“He was 66-years old,” Stewart said. “He told me that it was the first time he had a key to his own home. Imagine that. The first time he had a key to his own home. This is what we want to do when we talk about providing hope for people.”
Hope Center will also include a food pantry for the entire community, “not just those who will be living in the apartments,” he added. “Those services are for the entire community.”
The project, which is tabbed at $34 million, will also include housing for 16 homeless veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Section 8 funding will be accepted and residents will pay 30% of their adjusted gross income in rent. The facility will also include space for Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Mental Health Services and case management. L.A. County recently committed $4.48 million for the project.
“This is for individuals who have gone through this trajectory of homelessness to reach a point where they are now self-sustaining,” Stewart said.
