“Lifting people out of homelessness one person, one family at a time”
Ascencia has provided housing and services to homeless individuals and families across Los Angeles County since 2006. Our mission is to lift people out of homelessness, one person, one family at a time. We provide a community where people in need can find services, resources, and safe, affordable housing to rebuild their lives.
Ascencia has provided housing, services, and resources to over 14,000 homeless individuals and families since 2006. Our Access Center located at 1851 Tyburn Street in Glendale, California is the heart of our organization. Our soul is the thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors that enable our work.
We offer a variety of comprehensive services and programs, all with the end-goal of placing unhoused community members in permanent supportive housing, and keeping them housed. Everyday, our trained case managers save lives.
From the guest chefs who prepare and serve hot meals, to the generous corporations, organizations, and individuals who give to keep our doors open, we thank you. Your efforts help us break down the barriers that contribute to homelessness, and rebuild the lives of hundreds of individuals and families every year. Join us in lifting up our community.
Our Mission and Vision
Ascencia’s Mission, “Lifting people out of homelessness one person, one family at a time,” speaks to how we place individualized care at the center of our work. Our vision, “a community where people in need can access services and find safe, affordable housing,” calls us to address systemic drivers of homelessness. Our core values – inclusion, respect, tenacity, and harmony – guide us in balancing our work, priorities, and approach, to achieve our vision for a healthier community.
As the only comprehensive homeless services provider in our area, we daily see the most devastating evidence of inequity in our county today. Homelessness reveals social, economic, and housing policy failures to remedy poverty and lack of opportunity among people of color, immigrants, and people isolated due to their gender identity and sexual orientation, health status, and mental illness.
Access Center
Our Access Center, located in south Glendale, California, provides services to approximately 1,200 individuals experiencing homelessness each year. We work to move clients from sleeping on the streets or in other unstable environments, to residing in a stable and safe housing. At our Access Center, clients work one-on-one with our case managers and are connected to the resources they need to end their experience of homelessness.
Our Glendale Facility
45 Bed Interim Housing Shelter
Our interim shelter of 45 beds is available for clients enrolled in our programs, depending on availability. We also have a designated room for families.
Commercial Kitchen & Dining Room
Includes a well stocked pantry, commercial, stoves, several sinks, and service area. Seating capacity for over 50 people.
Secure Lobby and Waiting Area
Open to all clients during day hours, and where our intake case manager enrolls those who are in need of our help.
Laundry and Shower Facility
We have laundry and bathrooms onsite, available to shelter residents and clients enrolled in our programs.
Main Office
Ascencia’s staff, including administration, development, and case management teams also work out of this location.
Street Outreach
Ascencia’s street outreach teams provide services directly or through collaboration with other community agencies. We have teams based in Glendale, West Hollywood, and East Hollywood that go out in vans scanning the areas we serve for anyone in need of services.
In 2022, we added a nighttime outreach team in WeHo to encounter hundreds more who need our help. So far this expansion has had great success and we are hoping to offer nighttime outreach in EaHo and Glendale soon as well. In 2023, Ascencia enrolled 364 individuals via Street Outreach.
While some unhoused individuals are resistant to help, our staff does not give up. We build relationships with people on the streets and meet them where they are, doing whatever we can to help better their lives.
Street outreach services include the following:
- Providing water, food, and blankets to homeless encampments or individuals on the streets
- Street-based education and outreach
- Access to our Emergency Housing Program
- Intake and Enrollment into our Access Center
- Trauma Informed Care Training
- Information and referrals
- And much more.
Ascencia’s street outreach teams provide services directly or through collaboration with other community agencies. We have teams based in Glendale, West Hollywood, and East Hollywood that go out in vans scanning the areas we serve for anyone in need of services.
In 2022, we added a nighttime outreach team in WeHo to encounter hundreds more who need our help. So far this expansion has had great success and we are hoping to offer nighttime outreach in EaHo and Glendale soon as well. In 2023, Ascencia enrolled 364 individuals via Street Outreach.
While some unhoused individuals are resistant to help, our staff does not give up. We build relationships with people on the streets and meet them where they are, doing whatever we can to help better their lives.
Street outreach services include the following:
- Providing water, food, and blankets to homeless encampments or individuals on the streets
- Street-based education and outreach
- Access to our Emergency Housing Program
- Intake and Enrollment into our Access Center
- Trauma Informed Care Training
- Information and referrals
- And much more.
Case Management
Our Case Managers work with clients to develop individualized plans that address short and long-term goals towards stability. This includes finding available housing, applying for identification documents and/or health benefits, receiving parent and prenatal care, crisis management, employment and education training, evictions prevention, life skills development, drug rehabilitation, mental health services, and family reunification.
Our Case Management staff have training in the following areas:
- Adult First Aid and CPR
- Mental Health First Aid
- Housing First Model
- Veteran Services
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Naloxone (NARCAN) Overdose Training
- Substance Abuse Counseling Certification
- Preparing SSI Disability Claims
- Domestic Violence Counseling Certification
- Intimate Partner violence and safety planning
- Care Transitions Intervention Coach Training
- Fair Housing/Housing Rights for People with Disabilities
- Compassionate Response to Cluttering and Hoarding
- Homeless Management Information System
Interim Housing
Ascencia provides a range of housing solutions for individuals and families in need of shelter. Ascencia’s interim housing site in Glendale provides emergency shelter for those working hard to move towards permanent housing.
Year-Round Emergency Shelter at our Access Center
We have 45 beds and a dedicated family room onsite. Beds are eligible to individuals and families experiencing homelessness once they enroll in our emergency shelter program. Shelter residents have a bed, a locker, 3 meals per day, and access to bathrooms, laundry, clothing, hygiene products, computers, books, and other resources.
To be considered for a bed in our shelter, clients must:
- Be actively working with a Case Manager in our Access Center
- Commit to saving and/or working to increase income
- Pass a TB test within 6 months of entrance
- Pass Megan’s Law Background Check
- Adhere to the client agreement signed during the intake process.
This program is not a drop-in shelter. If there is no beds available, clients will still be able to receive services, and will be added to the waitlist and contacted when a bed becomes available.
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