Covid Response

Our Work Continues

City of Glendale Partnership

Meal Donations

Project Room Key

Our Work Continues

During the pandemic we continue to provide services.

  • Our Outreach Teams continue to comb the streets of Glendale, Burbank, West Hollywood, and Northeast Los Angeles looking for individuals who need our help. However, in light of the situation, we are not bringing them into the Access Center. Instead, we are working closely with the City of Glendale and County of Los Angeles to place people in temporary shelters and identify those displaying any symptoms for further care. We now manage 15 temporary units as part of the State, County, and LAHSA’s collaborative program, Project Room Key.
  • Our Case Managers continue to work with clients remotely. However, with limited access to many government resources, our case managers are using our “whatever it takes” approach to help clients weather this storm.
  • Our Hospital Liaison continues to work with hospitals to identify high cost frequent hospital users. During this time, this role is an especially critical service.
  • Because homeless individuals and families still need permanent housing during this crisis, our Housing Location Navigator continues to develop relationships with property owners and place more people in permanent housing faster.
  • Ascencia’s Emergency Shelter continues to provide a safe place for 45 men, women, and children who, with the indefinite crisis of the pandemic, need 3 meals a day 7 days a week. We continue to rely on community support to provide warm, nutritional meals.
  • Mental Health has become the forefront of our efforts. In times like these, the mental well being of the best of us is challenged. Our clients need even more support. Ensuring that our clients can weather this storm and not disrupt their progress to rebuild their lives is our focus.

City of Glendale Partnership

In collaboration with the City of Glendale, Ascencia has secured rooms at various hotels in the city to temporarily house individuals at risk of contracting COVID-19.

Michele White

Michele White is grateful to be receiving emergency housing thanks to Ascencia and the City of Glendale. She lost her hotel construction job in 2018 and immediately called Ascencia for assistance. After being a resident of Ascencia’s Emergency Housing Program from November 2018 through August of 2019, she feels lucky to have Ascencia’s continued support during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently working with Ascencia to find her forever home so that she can start her new job at the end of the global pandemic. Grateful to Ascencia, she had these kind words to say “Kiara is so great. Armando and Alfred are the absolute best.”

Thelma Bailey

Thelma Bailey fell into homelessness last year after being evicted when she couldn’t afford her raised rent. After receiving help from Ascencia once before as a victim of domestic violence, she turned to them again. With a history of chronic health conditions, Thelma is of high risk to contract the virus. For her safety, she was placed in the City of Glendale’s COVID-19 Motel Project. Ascencia continues to work with her to obtain permanent supportive housing. She is grateful for the assistance and has reported reduced stress after being placed in the COVID-19 Motel. Feeling safe and secure, she can now focus on finding a permanent home.

 

Candice Rusk

Candice Rusk is still recuperating from the financial, mental, and emotional hardship of her mother’s passing in 2016. After losing her Palmdale home, she was living in her car at the Metrolink for almost a year when she met a current Ascencia client who encouraged her to connect with the agency. Reluctant at first, when she witnessed her friend find housing and employment with Ascencia’s support, Candice finally committed to change and called Ascencia in early 2020. Focusing on finding employment, she was hired as security guard with a local security agency. With the help of emergency housing placement during COVID-19, Candice is able to rest peacefully, save money, and work towards her housing goals. Though hopeless at the beginning, she is now seeing light at the end of the tunnel and is excited to work with Ascencia and the City of Glendale towards permanent housing.

 

It is times like these that highlight our strength, resilience, and ability to come together as a community.

As Ascencia strives to care for the 45 men, women, and children in its emergency shelter, the 226 at-risk families in housing, and our very own staff who come to work every day because our services are essential, we are grateful that our community showed up with donations of meals, cleaning supplies and funds.

But as the pandemic stretches on we continue to need your support so that we can effectively care for our families in housing and those in need of housing. 
Donate

Meal Donations

With the shelter-in-place order, our residents will need to be fed 3 meals a day. Sign up to drop off a meal for 45 shelter residents. Click here to sign up.

Breakfast – Order for delivery or drop off breakfast items. While our RAs are not equipped to cook up anything fancy, they can handle cooking bacon, sausages, eggs, oven-friendly pancakes and waffles, fruits, instant oatmeal, ground coffee, cereal.

Lunch and Dinner – Cook and deliver or support your local restaurants and place a delivery order. Click on EZ Cater to see a list of restaurants that deliver.

Groceries – nonperishable canned goods, packaged foods, toilet paper, paper towels, household hygiene items.

 Email us at volunteer@ascenciaca.org for any questions or to coordinate drop off.

 

Donate Meals

Project Room Key

To limit the spread of COVID-19 and address the needs of homeless individuals in our community, we have partnered with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to provide temporary housing for clients experiencing homelessness at risk of contracting COVID-19. In coordination with local leaders from the City of Glendale, Glendale Fire Department, Glendale Police Department, and LAHSA, Ascencia’s Outreach Team moved vulnerable individuals into their new temporary homes at the Vagabond Inn in Glendale.

Jerome

Jerome fell into homelessness in 2018 when losing his decade-long job as a House Manager for a religious home. Since then, his living arrangements have been a mix of his car, motel rooms, and the streets. He has relied on faith to keep him safe during this pandemic, when Ascencia met him at Glendale’s Adult Recreation Center and placed him in one of LAHSA’s COVID-19 response motel rooms. He is grateful to Ascencia and, with a smile under his mask, looking forward to staying safe, healthy, and better days.

David

David is a victim of domestic abuse and suffering from PTSD when in 2018 he lost his job. Soon after, David was evicted from his home and found himself couch surfing different friends' homes. After receiving help from the LGBTQ Center for domestic abuse, David was connected to Ascencia. Through Project Roomkey, Ascencia was able to organize shelter for David instantly. Grateful, he can now focus on staying safe and receiving critical mental health support and housing services to restart his life.

Frances

Frances is thrilled to be receiving temporary housing after days of living in her car. She couldn’t sustain her lifestyle when she suffered a work-related injury last year and was forced to leave her decade-long career as a Home Care Specialist. Soon after, she connected with Ascencia through the Sparr Heights Community Center in Glendale. Feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, she is grateful that Ascencia was able to place in LAHSA’s COVID-19 housing program, Project Roomkey. Frances is excited to be safely housed and now can begin the work to be permanently housed.