Friends In Deed Launches $10,000 Challenge to Support Pasadena’s Only Daytime Shelter for Women

Friends In Deed, the Pasadena nonprofit that has served homeless and at-risk residents since 1894, is asking the community to help raise $10,000 this month for The Women’s Room, its daytime program for women experiencing homelessness — the only facility of its kind in the San Gabriel Valley, according to the organization.

The crowdfunding challenge runs through March as part of Women’s History Month. It will culminate on March 30 with EmpowerHER: Flowers and Flourish, an evening fundraiser at the Shakespeare Club of Pasadena, 171 S. Grand Ave. The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m.

Founded in 2007, The Women’s Room operates Monday through Thursday out of the Friends In Deed House at 444 E. Washington Blvd. It serves 20 to 35 women each day, providing meals, showers, laundry, access to computers and telephones, case management, and a place to rest, according to the organization’s website.

“Every day at The Women’s Room, we’re inspired by the strength and resilience of the women who walk through our doors,” Lindsey Reed, director of The Women’s Room, said in a statement. “EmpowerHER is our community’s chance to come together and support them. Even $5 or $10 helps, and sends the message that they’re seen, they matter, and they don’t have to go through this alone.”

Donations to the crowdfunding campaign fund meals, hygiene supplies, case management, community programming, and the daily operations of The Women’s Room, according to the organization’s press release.

The March 30 event will feature a guided floral-arranging workshop, a service activity in which guests assemble birthday kits for Women’s Room visitors, and stories from the program’s community. The evening will also recognize Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Fifth District, which includes Pasadena. Barger is listed as the event’s Rose Sponsor, according to the Friends In Deed website.

Other sponsors include Pasadena Methodist Foundation/First United Methodist Church of Pasadena as Lily Sponsor and Pamela Marx and Mark Goldstein as Violet Sponsor, according to the organization.

Tickets are available at friendsindeedpas.org/empowerher. Donations to the crowdfunding challenge can be made at givebutter.com/empowerher2026. For more information, contact Dani Vinokurov, development manager of marketing and communications, at 626-797-2402, ext. 111.

Friends In Deed, which celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2024, operates five programs: the Food Pantry, The Women’s Room, Bad Weather Shelter, Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance, and Street Outreach and Housing. Reed, a Pasadena native, has led The Women’s Room since late 2022.