*Doing together what we cannot do alone | | |
Dear Friend,
Every Thursday, Carla, one of The Women’s Room’s devoted volunteers, makes breakfast for the guests. TWR regularly serves a continental breakfast, with items like yogurt, pastries, cheese, and juice, but the staff noticed Carla’s morning breakfasts were bringing pure joy to everyone.
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Inspired by the happiness Carla created, TWR decided to make every breakfast special. Now, guests enjoy croissants filled with ham, cheese, and eggs, fluffy pancakes, refreshing aguas frescas, and layered yogurt parfaits. The volunteers have fully embraced the new tradition, and a friendly competition has even emerged; each hoping to outdo the others in creating the most delicious and heartfelt breakfast.
What started as one volunteer’s small act of care has grown into a daily celebration of nourishment, community, and love.
Tomorrow, I will be accepting an award on behalf of Friends In Deed at the annual Making Housing and Community Happen (MHCH) meeting. The award is called ‘The Affordable Housing Rockstar,’ which we are proud to receive! MHCH does such good work in our community on a variety of issues relating to affordable housing, homelessness, and engaging faith communities. We are proud that they have recognized our work in the past year, housing people, especially after the Eaton Fire, through our Time-Limited Subsidies program. This is the closest I will ever get to being a rockstar!
Finally, Sunday is our Operation Gobbler: we will be offering over 450 turkeys and fixings to our Food Pantry community, allowing them to sit down at their tables with a wonderful meal for their families. A huge thank you to the Pasadena Jaycees, who are donating the majority of the turkeys and will be there to help distribute. This is a partnership we have shared for decades. And we are grateful to all of the groups, individuals, businesses, local officials, and congregations that donated. Thank you!
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I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving–may it be a time of gratitude, appreciation, and enjoyment with family and friends. We feel like FID is an extended family, so please know how grateful we are for everyone’s dedication, each and every day, to providing compassion and dignity to our most vulnerable neighbors.
Since the FID offices will be closed for the holiday, there will not be a weekly email next Friday. You are welcome to read this one again if you would like!
Blessings and have a lovely weekend,
Rabbi Joshua
| | P.S. I recently wrote an article for Pasadena Now titled “Safe Parking Works: Pasadena Should Be Supportive.” I share real stories of people living in their vehicles and illustrate how safe-parking programs can serve as a meaningful stepping stone toward stable housing. I’d be honored if you’d take a moment to read it and reflect on how our collective support can make a difference. Read the full op-ed here. | | 2025 State of FID Address | | | | |
Thank you to our Circle of Friends donors ($1,000 and more) who joined us for our 5th annual State of FID Address.
Now available for all supporters to watch, here is the recording...Watch now.
| | We can only operate with your help! | | | | Last chance to donate a turkey | Drop off a frozen turkey this Saturday, November 22nd, between 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at 444 E. Washington Blvd...Read more. | | | | The ladies of The Women’s Room enjoyed a beautiful and long-awaited field trip | TWR went to The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. It was a truly profound experience for both staff and guests...Read more. | | | | |
We’re so grateful for our friend Sarah, who every year turns the day after Thanksgiving into a day of giving, connection, and fresh air.
It's a beautiful alternative to the Black Friday rush. Come enjoy nature, get some exercise, meet fellow hikers, and support our Food Pantry with a donation of non-perishable items...Learn more.
| | | | Meet Opie: TWR Guest Who Went from College to the Streets to Grad School | Rabbi Joshua speaks with Opie, a woman in her 20s, who has a more unusual story than most guests who come to The Women's Room. She opens up about her early life in Tennessee, attending college, and how personal challenges led her to California, where she found herself living in her car. | | Our Bonfire Shop is Open! | | |
We now have a print-on-demand shop where you can purchase Friends In Deed t-shirts, mugs, and tote bags.
A small portion of the proceeds will go back to Friends In Deed!
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At Friends In Deed, we honor the dignity and privacy of every person we serve. The stories we share are real, but sometimes, we change names or minor details or use stock photos to protect our clients’ identities. Thanks for your compassion, understanding, and support.
Friends In Deed is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. We embrace and celebrate the spectrum of our employees’, volunteers’, and clients’ ages, color, ability or disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, neurodiversity, and other characteristics that make our employees, volunteers, and clients unique.
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