Glendora reports fewer homeless encounters, outlines use of recent grants and plans for A Line station outreach

Glendora city staff told the City Council on Tuesday that homelessness encounters in the city have declined in recent months and described how two years of local grant funding was used to prevent evictions, place people into interim housing and move some households into permanent housing.

The report, delivered by Eric Dermeier, human services supervisor, said the city received $50,000 in each of fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for homelessness prevention and housing stabilization, a total of $100,000, and that roughly $91,000 of those grant funds were used during the grant performance period that ended Aug. 31. “At the end of both grant periods, over $91,000 was used to support households facing eviction or to help individuals obtain interim housing,” Dermeier said.

Dermeier said the city and partners achieved a series of small-scale outcomes using the funds and case-management services: nine households received rental-assistance plus case management to prevent eviction; two individuals were connected to host families; one unsheltered pregnant woman received a motel voucher while staff confirmed a maternity-home vacancy; and 12 individuals obtained permanent housing with the assistance of the funds. Since April, the city reported 46 new client encounters and 637 total outreach encounters.

Why it matters: Glendora faces constituent concerns about whether the newly opened Metro A Line (the “A Line”) will increase local homelessness. City staff described proactive outreach and coordinated responses between human services, the Lakota outreach team and the Glendora Police Department’s Community Impact Team to monitor the station and provide services before problems escalate.

The human services presentation said the city has conducted earlier local censuses (2021 and 2023) and participated in the countywide homeless point-in-time count in February; Glendora will run a third local census this week with partner City Net, Lakota and Glendora PD to update local observations. “We are changing how we outreach by having our outreach team go by,” Dermeier said, noting the team runs daily routes that include the new Metro stop and other hot spots and that the outreach vehicle is unmarked.

Police and city staff described how responsibilities divide between agencies: the sheriff’s contract covers incidents on Metro property; the Glendora Police Department handles incidents off Metro property, and the agencies plan to coordinate. “Anything that happens on Metro property will be handled by the sheriff’s department through Metro’s contract,” the chief said, while adding that in practice agencies coordinate and may respond jointly when needed.

The presentation also outlined changes at the county level that affect funding and system operations. Los Angeles County has created a new department of homeless services and housing and moved roughly $300 million from LAHSA’s budget into that new department, the staff presentation said. Dermeier said staff are pursuing Measure A local solutions funds through the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (COG); the report noted that 60% of Measure A funds will be available through the COG’s local solutions fund and that the city will apply to expand local services.

Council members praised the local outreach work while expressing frustration with countywide funding formulas. “We are doing incredible work with a paltry sum of funds,” Councilmember Mendel said, referencing the small local return the city receives from county collections. Councilmember Thompson and others urged residents to attend a public forum on the station vision plan scheduled for next Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m.

The council voted unanimously, 5-0, to receive and file the updated homeless-services report. The motion was listed on the agenda as an informational update and did not create any new programmatic commitments at the time of the vote.

Clarifying details from the report: the city used about $91,000 of the two-year grant to support households; nine households received rental assistance; 12 people obtained permanent housing; 14 people received motel vouchers between April and August for 323 total motel nights (306 of which were funded by the Housing Solutions Fund); two Glendora PD officers (Dylan Paulson and Alan Escarpet) were added to the Community Impact Team; two clients were matched to Section 8 vouchers, one of whom completed the process.

The human services team recommended continued monitoring at the Metro stop and coordination with Metro’s security personnel and regional partners; staff said they would pursue Measure A and other county and state funding opportunities to expand local prevention and interim services.

Ending: City staff asked residents to direct questions or service referrals through the human services office. Councilmembers asked staff to continue reporting regular updates and to provide details on Measure A applications and any resulting awards when available.