Year-Round Homeless Shelter Plans Head to Committee for Early Direction

The Housing, Homelessness and Planning Committee is scheduled to hold a kick-off discussion on July 1 with a focus on establishing Pasadena’s new year-round homeless shelter, with city staff seeking early direction on how soon a shelter could open and whom it would serve.

According to a memorandum from Acting Assistant City Manager Jennifer Paige, the City Council identified a year-round shelter as one of its top five priorities in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, and an interdepartmental team led by the City Manager’s Office has since been formed to carry the work forward.

The team, whose work plan was presented to the City Council during budget discussions on June 8, draws together staff from Housing, Planning and Community Development, Public Works and Public Health, as well as the Parks, Recreation and Community Services department and the City Manager’s Office.

Because the committee is strictly advisory, any recommendation it makes would be just that — a recommendation; the City Council would retain final authority over whether a shelter is established, where it would be located and how it would be funded.

The memorandum outlines a work plan with four broad tasks: determining shelter details, establishing a timeline, completing site evaluations and conducting cost evaluations. For this meeting, staff are asking the committee to weigh in on two threshold questions — timing and shelter details — that would shape the rest of the effort. Staff have said they would study the Rose Palace as a potential location and would also evaluate other sites for comparison, with a fuller site discussion to come at a future meeting.

Staff have also put forward a set of recommendations for the committee’s consideration. They would direct the shelter to serve single adults, who made up 100 percent of the 322 people counted as unsheltered in the 2026 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, with men and women housed in separate sleeping quarters, bathrooms and showers. Staff recommend a non-congregate design of up to 100 beds, noting that larger shelters require more management and resources, and a target length of stay of 90 to 180 days.

Under the staff vision, the shelter would be low-barrier and service-enriched, offering on-site case management and housing navigation, with the potential to co-locate physical and behavioral health services and to function as an access center connecting people to care. Staff also recommend a commercial kitchen to prepare meals, which they say would reduce ongoing operating costs and create opportunities for community involvement.

As a model, staff point to Houston’s “Super Hub” — a low-barrier triage center at 419 Emancipation that connects people sleeping in public spaces to housing, health care and other services — suggesting the concept could be examined for Pasadena on a smaller scale. The memorandum includes an overview of that program as background.

The discussion is intended to set a foundation for future work, and staff have said regular progress updates would appear as a standing item on the committee’s agendas. If the committee offers direction and the City Council ultimately signs off, the recommendations would guide the type of shelter the city pursues and the timeline for opening it.

The Housing, Homelessness and Planning Committee is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1, in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S249, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-4141 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.