Community
Pasadena outreach team connects unhoused residents with care and housing
A six-person street team of firefighters, a public-health nurse and outreach workers is helping Pasadena residents living outside reach medical care, mental-health services and housing.
CBS Los Angeles followed members of the Pasadena Outreach Response Team, known as PORT, as they met people in parks and encampments. The team checks basic health needs, builds relationships and connects residents with services that can be difficult to navigate from the street.
Program: Pasadena Outreach Response Team
Contacts: 6,200 since January 2023, according to the city's public-health director
Housing: Nearly 100 people helped into housing since 2023, CBS Los Angeles reported
A different response to recurring needs
Pasadena Public Health Director Manuel Carmona told CBS that slightly more than half of the team's 6,200 contacts since January 2023 involved 911 calls diverted to PORT. The approach sends a specialized team when housing instability, health or behavioral-health needs are central to the call.
The City of Pasadena describes PORT as a collaboration among its public-health and fire departments and Union Station Homeless Services. Its official program page says the field-based team links people experiencing homelessness to housing, medical care, mental-health treatment and substance-use services.
Long-term street outreach
PORT began in late 2018. CBS reported that the team has helped nearly 100 people enter housing since 2023, including residents who first met team members while sleeping outside. The reporting also notes that staff continue returning to people who are not yet ready to accept help.
Original report: CBS Los Angeles →
Official program information: City of Pasadena Public Health Department →