“I feel fresh and rejuvenated,” says Marlana Torrez after lunch, a haircut and a shower, on Beacon Place in East Pasadena during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
For four years, Marlana Torrez has called East Pasadena home — staying in and around the side streets off of Rosemead Boulevard.
She was excited to find Wednesday that Beacon Place being was blocked off for a mobile shower program, but she ended up with much more than a shower — she got a haircut, a hot lunch and some clean clothing to take with her.
“I feel fresh and rejuvenated,” Torrez said. “These people are so great.”
Wednesday was the debut for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ mobile shower pilot program in East Pasadena. Mobile showers are also offered Thursdays in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area as part of the program.
Public agencies and volunteer organizations have taken the mobile showers as opportunities to offer resources to the homeless drawn by the showers.
Sascha Breuer, founder of The Kind Cut, gives Joseph Parks, who has been homeless for over two years, a haircut as barber Joseph Ramirez, who lives in the Rio Hondo River bed, watches during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 on Beacon Place in East Pasadena. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Phalan Henry volunteers with Operation Healthy Hearts helping homeless men find clothes during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. Operation Healthy Hearts serves over a 100 meals a week and hands out clothing in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area and is expanding to Pasadena. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Nadia Aceves, co-founder of Operation Healthy Hearts, helps a homeless man with his puppy during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. Operation Healthy Hearts serves over a 100 meals a week and hands out clothing in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area and is expanding to Pasadena. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
A LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) outreach worker does an intake interview of a homeless man during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 on Beacon Place in East Pasadena. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Sascha Breuer, founder of The Kind Cut, gives Ward Erlenmeyer, who lives under the 210 Freeway at Rosemead Boulevard, a hair cut during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 on Beacon Place in East Pasadena. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
“I feel fresh and rejuvenated,” says Marlana Torrez after lunch, a haircut and a shower, on Beacon Place in East Pasadena during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Paula Escoto helps Quinton Killian with cloth items from Operation Healthy Hearts during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. Operation Healthy Hearts serves over a 100 meals a week and hands out clothing in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area and is expanding to Pasadena. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
“I’ve been to 42 out of 50 states,” says Quinton Killian, who says he’s originally from Oaklahoma and is homeless in the Pasadena area during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Nadia Aceves, co-founder of Operation Healthy Hearts, helps a homeless man and his dog during a mobile shower pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. Operation Healthy Hearts serves over a 100 meals a week and hands out clothing in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area and is expanding to Pasadena. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Carol Ramirez cleans The Shower of Hope during the shower’s pilot program and homeless resource fair on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The outreach programs serving the homeless will continue on Wednesdays for six weeks. Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Among the public agencies present were the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homeless Outreach Services Team, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and the County Department of Mental Health, all offering to help connect the homeless with free services, benefits they can receive and, in some cases, potential housing opportunities.
“With Measure H, there are resources out there,” Deputy Rodney Gutierrez said. “Our goal is to get these people inspired and show them that there’s reason for them to have hope.”
In addition to providing a hot meal and clean clothes at both of the mobile shower locations, Operation Healthy Hearts, a nonprofit helping the homeless population in the San Gabriel Valley, also invites other organizations to participate in what it calls the homeless resource fair.
Wednesday’s fair included a the Mission City Community Network’s mobile health clinic, free hair cuts from The Kind Cut, free pet food, collars and leashes from the Pasadena Humane Society’s Helping Paws program and free cellphones from Unlimited Prepaid Inc. Next week, a representative from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office is expected to attend to offer help getting old crimes expunged from people’s records.
Jacqueline Herrera-Villalta, CEO and founder of Operation Healthy Hearts, said it’s not easy reaching out to so many different organizations, but it’s worthwhile to see so many people getting help that they may desperately need.
“Individually, all of these organizations do good work, but when we put everything together, I think it’s a lot more effective,” Herrera-Villalta said.
The pilot program, a joint effort between the offices of county Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Hilda Solis, is set to run for six more weeks with extension of the program a possibility.
Torrez said she hopes the program goes on for much longer.
“It’s really wonderful,” Torrez said as she combed through her freshly cut wet hair.
