Attendees are pictured listening to Pennsylvania Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh speak during a Montgomery County housing affordability summit on April 29, 2024 in Blue Bell. (Credit: Montgomery County PA)
Amid crises of housing and homelessness and sweeping public opposition to related development projects, Montgomery County officials convened to try and find solutions.
An affordable housing summit brought nearly 150 advocates, developers and municipal leaders together on April 29 at Normandy Farms in Blue Bell. Emceed by Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Jamila Winder, the event aimed to brainstorm ways to find solutions to a “complex” issue.
She stressed the trio of new county commissioners — herself, Vice Chairman Neil Makhija and Commissioner Tom DiBello — are dedicated to picking up where the previous administration left off working on issues surrounding homelessness and housing. Winder credited her predecessor, former Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr., who launched a homelessness task force last year.
“I commend our previous commissioners (who have) always been focused on this issue,” Winder said in a phone interview. “We’re just looking to take a slightly different approach and trying to really leverage our convening power to hold various stakeholder groups accountable for helping us solve the problem.”
Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Jamila Winder speaks during an affordable housing summit on April 29, 2024 in Blue Bell. (Photo courtesy Montgomery County PA)
Winder stressed the need to follow the examples of other cities across the nation who’ve successfully tackled the complexities surrounding affordable housing and homelessness.
Hundreds are experiencing homelessness and struggle with securing affordable housing in the state’s third most populous county. Advocates have long attributed increased cost of living and rising rents to the issue.
On the housing affordability issue, figures from a February conference hosted by the HealthSpark Foundation revealed that 20 percent of Montgomery County homeowners are considered “cost burdened,” while 47 percent of renters pay more than 30 percent of their income to rent.
Around 74,000 households “live above the poverty line but below what it actually costs to live in Montgomery County,” HealthSpark CEO Emma Hertz said during the Feb. 12 conference, noting those making between $45,000 and $75,000 are considered the “largest growing cohort of housing unstable families.” All while evictions remain on the rise, with 22 per day reported in Montgomery County — the third highest eviction rate in Pennsylvania.
Some of Winder’s key priorities were exploring ways to alleviate the burdens Montgomery County residents face by infusing federal COVID-19 relief dollars “to establish a land bank.” Around $6 million would be dedicated to that initiative, Winder said, along with investigating “master leasing opportunities” and pledging support to the “construction of at least 400 new affordable housing units by 2030.”
Winder added that around $10 million was “already awarded” to aid “in bringing these homes online at seven different sites across the county.”
Local commitment
Her biggest takeaway was commitment among those present at the recent summit.
“Number one is there’s will, and that’s important here,” she said. “Because this exercise is about municipalities, having the will, the right attitude about our friends and neighbors that are living on the streets or those that are struggling to find an affordable home.”
“And so it just made me feel really good because the people that spent their day at our housing summit clearly have the will, and they have the right attitude towards how do we go about solving it?” Winder continued. “That’s a big step … changing hearts and minds is quite challenging because we as a county cannot achieve our goals (without) our partnership, especially from our municipal and elected leaders.”
Kim Krauter, Pennsylvania director of development for The Walters Group, is pictured on April 29, 2024, speaking while on a panel during an affordable housing summit in Montgomery County. (Photo courtesy Montgomery County PA)
More than 1,000 single adult county residents reportedly experienced homelessness last year, according to figures from the Philadelphia-based Resources for Human Development. Another 435 people were found sleeping outside or in temporary shelters on a night in January, according to a Montgomery County spokesperson.
“What we saw in the discussion in the conference is how do we do more? Because we still don’t have a year round homeless shelter here in Montgomery County …,” Winder said.
The Coordinated Homeless Outreach Services center, which was operated by RHD on the grounds of the Norristown State Hospital as Montgomery County’s largest and only homeless shelter for single adults, closed in 2022.
CHOC was on a portion of state land conveyed to the Municipality of Norristown, and RHD was one of several social service agencies in need of a new place when leases lapsed on June 30, 2022. The nonprofit still provides services to those in need, but no new facility has been built as the closing approaches its two-year anniversary.
Residents opposed project
A separate site for a supportive short-term housing facility had been proposed by RHD on Eagleville Hospital grounds in Eagleville, but Lower Providence Township halted proceedings last week. The proposal had been met with sweeping opposition from area residents who crafted an online petition and organized an April 20 protest.
In a statement issued last week, the latest development effectively “suspend(ed) consideration of the supportive short-term housing zoning text amendment” that if approved would have allowed the project to move forward.
“We’re making slow progress in areas like Lower Providence, but that’s been met with resistance. So we have work to do,” Winder said.
Winder stressed more has to be done to sway public opinion about the issues of homelessness happening within the community. When asked about her reaction to what she’s heard of local government meetings in places like Lower Providence and Upper Gwynedd townships, she was candid in her response.
“I think the best way to describe it is it’s really sad,” Winder said. “Because if … people (took) the time to know the stories about people that end up on the streets … but, you know, the narrative is the criminal criminals, they’re drug addicts. They have mental health issues, right?
“And I visited a homeless encampment in Pottstown and talked to a gentleman who just fell on hard times, his mother died, he lost his job, and there are so many stories like that,” she continued.
Change the perception
Winder noted that sharing the stories of those who’ve found themselves homeless could “help change community perception” of the issue. She also underscored the importance of finding ways to assist people in need.
“…We have a responsibility when we lead in a community, and we talk about the word community, we don’t just throw our most vulnerable by the wayside,” Winder said. “We have a responsibility to our friends and neighbors.”
“So I will stand alongside my colleagues who want solutions to support friends and neighbors in their communities,” she continued. “I will stand alongside them to help them bring these solutions to reality too, because we’re never going to get anywhere if others don’t share their fair share.”
A participant of an affordable housing summit is pictured asking a question during a panel on April 29, 2024 in Montgomery County, (Photo courtesy Montgomery County PA)
Bearing the burden
While homelessness is evident countywide, it’s often more visible in places such as Norristown and Pottstown. With a concentration of social services agencies in the two boroughs, they often bear the weight of the burden.
“But whether it’s Norristown, Pottstown, or any other community, when you have people living on the streets in your community, we can’t use terms like, ‘oh well, they’re not from here.’ They’re in your community now,” Winder said. “So what can we do together to work to help them? The responsibility needs to be shared.”
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