ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Affordable housing advocates and officials celebrated Tuesday outside an Allentown shelter after Mayor Matt Tuerk declared June 6 “Sixth Street Shelter Day.”
The Sixth Street Shelter, run by Community Action Lehigh Valley, has offered housing since 1984 and helped thousands of people get back on their feet over the past four decades, Community Action Executive Director Dawn Godshall said.
- Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk declared June 6, 2023, as “Sixth Street Shelter Day,” honoring the organization’s work to reduce homelessness
- The Sixth Street Shelter opened in 1984
- It served about 80 families last year, officials said
Tuerk read a proclamation that lauded the Sixth Street Shelter for its “mission to assist families experiencing homelessness with secure and safe housing while advocating that affordable housing is a human right.”
The shelter is working “to end generational poverty and decrease the number of families experiencing homelessness by increasing independence through self-sufficiency,” Tuerk said.
“It's organizations like this, like Community Action, that step in and make sure that people have a roof over their heads, to make sure that people have a meal on the table, and that people have a way to escape generational poverty."Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk
The mayor then dedicated the day as “Sixth Street Shelter Day” to loud applause and many cheers from dozens standing in the blocked-off roadway.
‘Tremendous demand’ for housing
Tuerk said his family was “very familiar with living on the edge … [and] not being certain about where your next meal is going to come from” when he was growing up.
He credited housing-services providers for being there “to help my family out.”
“It's organizations like this, like Community Action, that step in and make sure that people have a roof over their heads, to make sure that people have a meal on the table, and that people have a way to escape generational poverty,” Tuerk said.
The official proclamation is meant to help residents “understand that organizations like this are absolutely awesome and they deserve your support,” he said.
“Today, let us remember that behind every statistic, every number, there's a family, there's a child, there's a human being longing for stability and hope."Robbie Matthews, director of the Sixth Street Shelter
Tuerk called for officials in Allentown and other Lehigh Valley municipalities to continue investing in affordable housing projects to create “an escape valve” that relieves some of the “tremendous demand” for housing in the region.
“It's absolutely awesome here," Tuerk said. "It's a great place to live; it's a great place to work; it's a great place to raise a family. But all of that demand to be here is creating incredible price pressure for many of our residents to continue to live here.”
He also urged residents to “keep pushing” officials “to continue to make those investments in housing to support our residents.”
‘Beacon of light’
Sixth Street Shelter Director Robbie Matthews thanked the mayor for his “unwavering support and recognition of the invaluable work being done at the Sixth Street Shelter.”
Tuerk’s proclamation was “not merely a symbolic gesture” but “a resounding statement” of his commitment to addressing Allentown’s housing issues “head on,” Matthews said.
“They come here to get the supports that they need to get them back out there so that they have the strength to keep going."Dawn Godshall, executive director of Community Action Lehigh Valley
“Mayor Tuerk's acknowledgement of our work today encourages us to persevere in our fight against the systemic issues that perpetuate homelessness,” she said.
The proclamation also “is a celebration of the entire Allentown community coming together to uplift and support one another,” she said.
“Today, let us remember that behind every statistic, every number, there's a family, there's a child, there's a human being longing for stability and hope,” Matthews said.
“Let us continue to be a beacon of light that guides them through these hard times.”
She said it was “an honor to stand before you today and celebrate this momentous occasion, as we mark June 6 as the Sixth Street Shelter Day.”
She paid tribute to the shelter’s employees and volunteers and highlighted the “transformative power of compassion [and] community.”
Short- and long-term housing help
The Sixth Street Shelter has 25 private apartments, with each family getting a furnished unit with a complete kitchen, according to the shelter’s website. Families can stay in those apartments for up to 90 days.
Staying at the shelter for a few months gives people who recently fell into homeless time “to figure it out,” Godshall said. The shelter also runs a variety of programs for residents, including resume help and financial planning workshops.
“They come here to get the supports that they need to get them back out there so that they have the strength to keep going."Community Action Executive Director Dawn Godshall
“They come here to get the supports that they need to get them back out there so that they have the strength to keep going,” Godshall said.
The Sixth Street Shelter helped about 80 families — more than 350 people — last year, she said. That number was lower than recent years because families have had to stay longer at the shelter because of a lack of affordable housing in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, Godshall said.
Community Action of Lehigh Valley also operates two off-site facilities, where 22 families can live for up to two years.
Many families are moving from the short-term Sixth Street Shelter to long-term accommodations at Community Action properties in Allentown and Easton while the organization looks for available housing, she said.
Those accepted to live at the longer-term apartments must work and be enrolled in school because the organization wants “people who are serious about improving their future,” Godshall said.
The longer-term programs have a 97% success rate “because they are getting an education or getting a trade that gives them a career to move forward,” she said.
