Use Unoccupied County Property For Homeless Shelters, Montco Advocates Say

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County should use unoccupied county property to immediately address the homelessness crisis that continues to impact populations across the area, a group of advocates argues.

The new petition to county commissioners, pushed by the nonprofit Montco 30 Percent, had more than 200 signatures as of Wednesday morning.

"We ask that you seriously explore the provision of unoccupied county-owned property for the expressed use of year-round shelter operations," wrote Norristown resident and activist Jane Pekol. "We believe that during a time of urgent crisis, no structurally sound and safe county assets should remain vacant and empty while our neighbors suffer."

The notion was also brought up at the Montgomery County Commissioners Board Meeting last week during the public comment section. Commissioners did not immediately address that specific proposal, but spent a big chunk of the two hour meeting touching on how the homelessness crisis and proposed solutions impact the community.

“A lot of our friends and neighbors are just one paycheck away from not being able to pay the rent," Commissioner Jamila Winder said during the meeting.

The new push to better use existing county infrastructure comes after the Lower Providence Board of Supervisors nixed a proposal that would have brought "transitional" housing for homeless individuals to the Eagleville Hospital property.

Related: 'Not A Homeless Shelter': Nonprofit Pushes Back On Smear Of Eagleville Hospital Proposal

"The Board has outstanding questions and concerns that have not been answered to their satisfaction," the township said in a statement at the time.

It's not clear exactly which concerns the Philadelphia-based nonprofit behind the project, Resources for Human Development (RHD), did not address. That decision came after weeks of escalating pushback from certain local groups that had variously described the proposal as a "migrant complex" and "homeless shelter," labels which RHD said were patently false smears.

Pekol wrote that related "NIMBY-ism" — standing for "not in my backyard," a term for those who push solutions to community issues out of their neighborhood — as chiefly to blame.

"We are all, collectively, failing our people," Pekol wrote of the current "inhumane" conditions in camps in Pottstown, Norristown, and elsewhere. "My community is not a gated community and we welcome growth. We want to honor and protect the uniqueness and the accomplishments of our municipalities while we develop and revitalize."