Commissioners Hear Appeal For Support Of Homeless

The executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley appealed to South Whitehall commissioners last week for the township's continuing support of the CACLV's homeless programs.

Alan Jennings addressed the commissioners at their meeting, outlining the plight of the area's homeless.

“For many years, the township has led the way in supporting the homeless shelters in the Lehigh Valley,”  Jennings said.

“Annually, about 2,500 people are housed in shelters. They move from higher-rent areas into housing in boroughs with lower costs, then to the city and finally to a shelter."

There are five area shelters: the Sixth Street Shelter for families with kids; Turning Point, for victims of domestic violence; Allentown Rescue Mission, for homeless men; Valley Youth House for homeless and "throw-away" teens, and the Salvation Army, for women and children.

"The demand right now is pretty much as bad as we’ve ever seen," Jennings said, adding that people have lost homes to foreclosures.

The Sixth Street Shelter, which is a two-month program and provides transitional housing, alone has 90 families on a waiting list, he said. And, he said, 30 percent of those entering shelters have jobs. 

"The overwhelming issue is affordability," Jennings said. "The fair market value for rents in the Lehigh Valley is in excess of $800 a month, which would require an income of at least $35,000 a year.

"So people with low-incomes often move in with other low-income families, putting them all at risk of eviction because they’re breaking the lease.” 

The commissioners agreed to consider Jennings’ request for continued support.