Resources for the Homeless Sorely Lacking in Our Area

BY REV. DENISE FRY

Today, January 24, the Bucks County PIT (Point in Time) Count is being held to determine how many people in the county are living unsheltered lives. The count will be taken by area shelters and people who are in the field, and the number counted will still probably be under-reported. Unfortunately, the Bucks County Emergency Shelter is the only full-time shelter in the county with about 75 residents, a third of whom are children. The waiting list for the shelter may have 150 people or more on the list. There is also a Code Blue Shelter in Quakertown that's open on nights when the temperature is predicted to be 26° F or lower. They provide a hot meal for supper, a bed in a men’s room or a women’s room, and a breakfast before closing at 7:00 AM the next morning. There are no children allowed in this shelter. They can house up to 25 people at night.

The problem is that as of the 2022 PIT count, there were 427 people documented as sleeping in emergency shelters, residing in transitional housing, or living outdoors. The figure was a 48% increase from the 2021 count-- and that number has surely risen significantly since then. When Pr. Dave Heckler, Chair of Advocates for the Homeless of Upper Bucks, recently asked how many students in the Quakertown School District were homeless, he was informed that there are currently 44 unsheltered children in the school district, with several more children expected to lose their housing shortly. When the Upper Perkiomen Ministerium met with the Upper Perkiomen School District in November, the school reported that they currently have 24 families struggling without shelter, and there are no local services for these families. The closest shelters for these families are in Allentown, Bethlehem, and in lower Bucks County at the Emergency Shelter.

Sometimes, people who are unsheltered may have friends or relatives that can house them for a time, and this is often referred to as

Representatives Staats, Labs Announce Grant for PFAS Removal

State Representative Craig Staats joined his colleague Rep. Shelby Labs (R-Plumstead), in announcing that the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) has approved a grant to extend public drinking water to homes that currently use wells contaminated by PFAS, a fire suppressant linked to cancer.The $3.6 million grant will help fund the cost of connecting 53 homes to water supplied by Perkasie Regional Authority.

The people of our community have not been forgotten. The cost of cleaning PFAS from drinking water is prohibitively expensive. It is a burden that should be carried by the governments that allowed its use. Staats is pleased the administration agreed and funded this corrective measure.

The grant will address groundwater contamination issues caused during local fire extinguishing efforts and will improve fire protection with the installation of 10 new fire hydrants.

The funding originates from a combination of state funds approved by voters, Growing Greener, Marcellus Legacy funds, the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, federal grants to PENNVEST from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and recycled loan repayments from previous PENNVEST funding awards. Funds for these projects are disbursed after expenses for work are paid and receipts are submitted to PENNVEST for review.

Pennridge Christian Fellowship

720 Blooming Glen Rd, Blooming Glen 18911 215-257-7309 pastor@pennridgecf.org www.pennridgecf.org

Pastor: Thomas Vargis

Multicultural Charismatic church worshipping God in a casual, friendly atmosphere. Our service consists of song service, testimonies, and teaching of the word. Live Spanish translation & children’s service at 10:30 Sunday worship. Livestream: fb.com/pennridgechristianfellowship

Quakertown United Methodist Church

1875 Freier Road

Quakertown, PA 18951

215-536-4992 barb@qumc.com www.qumc.com

Pastor: Rev. Richard K. Brown II

Sunday schedule: Worship 8:30 am, Sunday School 9:45 am, Worship 11 am Communion first Sunday of each month.

St. Isidore Roman Catholic Church 2545 West Pumping Station Rd Quakertown, PA 18951 (215) 536-4389

Pastor: Rev. Kenneth C. Brabazon izzyparoff@comcast.net www.stisidores.org

Sunday Masses - 5:00pm Saturday evenings; 7:00am, 9:00am, & 11:00am on Sunday mornings; 1:00pm in Spanish Sunday afternoons

St. John’s Lutheran Church 4 South Main Street • PO Box 458 Richlandtown, PA 18955 215-536-5027 Admin@stjohnsrpa.org www.stjohnsrpa.org

Pastor: Rev Dr. David A Genszler

In person worship service Sunday at 9:30 am, Watch our Worship Service anytime on stjohnsrpa.org/sermon or on Facebook. Activity Center Rentals Open, Capacity 125, call 215-536-5027 to book.

St. John’s Lutheran Church of Spinnerstown

1565 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Spinnerstown 18968 (GPS Quakertown 18951) 215-536-0734 stjohnsspinnerstown@gmail.com www.stjohnsofspinnerstown.org Worship Service: 9:30 a.m. Service also is live-streamed on Facebook (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Spinnerstown, PA) and video available on the church website.

“couch surfing”. This becomes a way of life until they find their own housing or are living outside. Other people live in their cars or in encampments hidden away in a wooded area or behind a store that's open 24 hours a day for access to bathroom and other services at night. Along with the rising number of families with children who are unsheltered, there is also a growing number of elderly people whose fixed income didn’t rise fast enough to keep up with increased rent and inflation on food. As a pastor and the President of the Quakertown Ministerium, I struggle with knowing that I live and minister in an area where so many are struggling with adequate housing and living on the streets because they lost their homes.

Both the Quakertown and Upper Perkiomen Ministeriums are working on finding places that can safely house and help restore our unsheltered neighbors back into affordable housing. That means providing a stable place to live while people find better employment and look for a place to live. This is also a challenge because the housing market lacks enough affordable housing for lower income people to live. There are many obstacles to finding a location. The first is a place that is preferably donated for this purpose and easily renovated into a shelter, and the second is getting the community and local municipality

St. John’s Lutheran Ridge Valley

910 Allentown Road, West Rockhill Twp 215-257-9643 stjohnsridgevalley910@gmail.com www.stjohnsridgevalley.com

Pastor: Rev. Lauren Bruno 8:30am Traditional - 10:15am w/praise band. Grape juice & gluten-free wafers available. Adult Forum 9:40, Handicapped accessible. All invited and welcome to Share the Joy!

St. John the Baptist Parish 4050 Durham Road, Ottsville 18942 610-847-5521 pastor@stjohnsottsville.org www.stjohnsottsville.org

Pastor: Selvaraj Lucas, MSC

St. John the Baptist, the first Catholic parish in Bucks County, has served the pastoral needs of Catholics since 1743.

St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Applebachsville 837 Old Bethlehem Road, Quakertown 215-536-5789 stpaulsqtown@gmail.com www.stpaulsqtown.org

Pastor: Rev. David Heckler

We believe in sharing God’s love in joyful service. Come and see. All are welcome. St. Paul’s United Church of Christ 104 Green Street Sellersville, PA 18960 215-257-7268

Pastor: Rev. Trudy Irving stacey@stpaulsucc.net www.stpaulsucc.net

Sunday Worship 10:15 in Sanctuary Springfield Mennonite Church 1905 Pleasant View Road Coopersburg PA 18036 267-999-1404

Pastor: Rev. Joseph Wames pastorjoe@springfieldmennonite.org www.springfieldmennonite.org

Join us at 10:15a Sunday Mornings for a Blended Worship Service, Multi-generational, loving congregation. Biblically and Doctrinally Sound.

Trinity Lutheran Church 102 N. Hellertown Avenue Quakertown, PA 18951 (215) 536.4345 www.trinityquakertown.org

Pastor: Dayle Malloy

9 a.m. Traditional service, 11 a.m. Contemporary Service, 10: 15 a.m. Sunday School, Handicap accessible, Family Friendly, Dynamic Music Ministry, Living God’s Love for All to agree to have them as their neighbors and on property zoned for another purpose. With the talk of a recession and the past year of inflation, chances are this problem will only increase in the coming years.

The church has just ended the season of Christmas. Often pastors and churches talk about Jesus housed with animals and being placed in a manger because no one in the inn or with local family was willing to house them. Jesus was born into homelessness. By the time the Magi visited, they found the child and his parents in a house, no longer homeless and living among the animals. Mary, Joseph and Jesus then fled to Egypt as refugees. Thanks to the gifts of strangers, they had the funds to afford housing once they got there. These gifts also allowed them the funds to support themselves while they were refugees in Egypt. As a snow and rain event are coming tomorrow and many will deal with this living in temporary/outdoor shelters, where is my part in this? Am I like the innkeeper or the family members who have no room for the unsheltered in my community? Or am I like the Magi, willing to sacrifice time and resources to give the gift of future shelter to others in need? rev deniSe fry iS PreSident of tHe QuaKertown miniSterium and Can be reaCHed at revfry@ComCaSt net

Advocates for the Homeless Needs Volunteers for Upcoming Season

Volunteers are needed to support the mission of the Advocates for the Homeless of Upper Bucks (AHUB). AHUB is a non-profit organization which serves the needs of the homeless of the Quakertown, Pennridge, and the Palisades areas. One program under AHUB is a volunteer staffed community ministry called Code Blue which provides shelter and a warm bed and meal to the homeless of Upper Bucks County on cold winter nights when the temperature is 26 degrees or below.

This homeless shelter is located at the Masonic Lodge in downtown Quakertown, PA. After a very successful nine years for the program, we hope to broaden our volunteer base for this upcoming winter. Opportunities include: Shelter Admissions staff, Overnight staff, Morning Aide, and more. Season runs from November 15, 2022 to April 15, 2023. Please consider volunteering with AHUB. Contact us at ahubpa@gmail.com to learn about opportunities. You can also reach us at 267-410-0366, but e-mail is preferred.

AHUB will ensure COVID-19 protocols are in place at the shelter in order to provide a level of safety for both volunteers and guests. This will include regular disinfection of the shelter. About Code Blue Ministry: Code Blue Sheltering Ministry, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, officially opened in Quakertown on December 1, 2013 after three years of development and provides warm shelter, food, and respectful overnight care for homeless people in Upper Bucks County during times of life-threatening cold weather.