Advocates For Homeless & Those In Need "Code Blue" Program Begins Thursday

Advocates For Homeless & Those In Need is starting its eighth season of Code Blue Thursday morning by moving all of its Code Blue supplies into the Emmaus Road Lutheran Church in Levittown.

Volunteers loading the AHTN bus with supplies and bringing them into the church basement for set-up which includes more than moving 55 cots, sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, bins of clothing for men and women, first aid supplies, County resource information, boxes of paperwork, printer, phone system, and much more, according to an AHTN press release.

Code Blue starts Thursday and goes through March 31.

Code Blue is called if the temperature plummets to 26 degrees or below, including wind chill. Eighteen AHTN volunteers are needed to sign up each and every night from December through March. If the temperature drops to the 26 degree threshold, then these 18 volunteers will be called into work the Code Blue mission.

Last Code Blue season, AHTN opened Code Blue on 44 nights for 166 homeless guests, with a high of 54 homeless individuals on one night, according to an AHTN press release. There were a total of 1,710 homeless guests throughout the season and AHTN buses traveled 3,549 miles picking up the homeless and transporting them to the church shelter.

AHTN provides transportation to and from a Code Blue church shelter, a cot, bedding, and the volunteers. The host church provides the space, a Coordinator, a light dinner and breakfast.

The following churches are hosting Code Blue this winter:

• December, Emmaus Road Lutheran Church in Levittown
• January, Woodside Church in Yardley
• February, Calvary Baptist Church in Bristol
• March, Emilie United Methodist Church in Levittown

Visit AHTN's website for more information about Code Blue. AHTN will be announcing if Code Blue is open on its website beginning Dec. 1. Those looking to see if Code Blue is open can also call (215) 550-3868, extension 100, for Code Blue announcements.

Image via davitydave, Flickr