ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown YMCA's Warming Station is set to open Monday, the same day police and city officials are scheduled to clear a homeless encampment of its last residents.
Allentown, Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation chipped in more than $75,000 to help the Y open its overnight shelter early to accommodate some from the camp, officials said.
The shelter’s doors are scheduled to open at 7 p.m. Monday, about seven weeks before its typical Nov. 15 opening.Allentown YMCA's Warming Station
The shelter’s doors are scheduled to open at 7 p.m. Monday, about seven weeks before its typical Nov. 15 opening.
Several dozen residents remain at the encampment along the Jordan Creek, which Mayor Matt Tuerk initially ordered be shut down by Aug. 25.
Last month, he extended that eviction through Sept. 29.
Crystal Messer, a vice president of operations for River Crossing YMCA, credited officials around the Lehigh Valley, local companies and advocates for their ”collective response” to help people being pushed out of the encampment.
More than 20 volunteers from Alvin H. Butz Construction and state Sen. Jarrett Coleman’s office last week helped build 20 new beds, allowing the shelter to serve 80 people nightly this year.
City Council members last month tasked Tuerk with finding a location for safe camping, where encampment residents could safely live in tents while local officials and advocates continue to search for more short-term and permanent solutions.
The mayor’s search came up empty; he said the city does not own a deforested, relatively flat property that’s close to services. But he said there are many privately owned lots that fit the bill.
And dozens met for a community conversation at the Y’s Warming Station, where Christina DiPierro, co-chairwoman of Allentown’s Commission on Homelessness, called for “a system where no one falls through the cracks.”
