Methodists Donate $5,000 to Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness

The Community United Methodist Church on Via de la Paz donated $5,000 to the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness in November.

The Methodist donation will help support two Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) social workers, Glanda Sherman and Maureen Rivas, who have been interacting with the homeless in the Palisades since January.

Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness President Doug McCormick (left), Barbara Overland and Bruce Schwartz, accept a check from Methodist minister Wayne Walters (second from right).

As of the end of October, the OPCC outreach team had contacted 157 transients this year. Thirty-five interacted with the social workers and began receiving intensive street-based services (provided by physicians, psychiatrists, substance abuse experts and peers) in the Palisades. An additional 37 had consented to services, were assigned to a case manager (off the streets) and had completed a goal plan. There were 29 homeless that had come off the street, nine had housing vouchers and six had been housed.

Residents are sought to help with the annual homeless count in Pacific Palisades. Visit theycountwillyou.org for more information.