Women's shelter has hosted over 200 overnights since opening
It’s been a busy winter for the volunteers that run Lansdale’s two Code Blue shelters, and the need shows no sign of slowing down.
Organizers reported this week on the numbers so far this winter at the town’s shelters for men and women and the continuing demand that they’re looking to the community to help meet.
“We are flying through ginger ale. We do not allow caffeinated drinks in the shelters at night, and ginger ale is caffeine free. And the guests love it!,” said shelter organizer Mark Lanan.
In early December, borough council’s parks committee approved the use of a parks and recreation building at Main Street and Lakeview Drive for use as a shelter for women, organized by the same volunteers associated with Trinity Lutheran Church that have operated a men’s shelter there since 2009. Later that month, county and borough officials announced an agreement to operate a county outreach facility, also on Main Street, and said that site would likely open sometime in 2025.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the local shelters had declared Code Blue nights running through Thursday with cold weather expected and further declarations possible through the weekend: “The forecasted temperatures through next Tuesday morning are extreme. The county has not made any Code Blue declarations for his period, but we need to expect it,” Lanan said in an emailed call for volunteers to staff the shelter.
In stats shared with The Reporter, the organizer showed the latest numbers about both shelters and how often they’ve been needed so far this season.
Women’s shelter
Since opening in early December and as of Jan. 21, the women’s shelter had been open for a total of 34 nights, all of those called by Montgomery County, and had a total of 26 unique guests sleep in a total of 203 cots overnight, with a minimum of two, a maximum of ten, and an average of six guests in one night.
At that shelter, 379 volunteer positions had been filled, with more than 954.5 volunteer hours including intake, overnight and breakfast shifts, with 51 meals served by a total of 108 volunteers.
A total of 508 sheets and blankets have been laundered by borough-based Clemens Uniforms, and 20 breakfasts provided by Chef Chipper of Lansdale. That shelter had also seen two incidents involving a police and/or EMT response, and one incident involving shelter staff. Lanan added thanks to Lansdale Tavern and the Cannoneers Club for their help.
Men’s shelter
Over at the men’s shelter at Trinity Lutheran, the numbers are even higher: a total of 53 Code Blue nights have been called by the county, with all but one staffed at the Lansdale men’s site, and in that time the men’s shelter has hosted a total of 73 unique guests for a total of 1,020 guest overnights. That shelter has had a minimum of 11 and maximum of 27 guests in one night, an average of 19.6 per night.
In that time, the men’s shelter has had a total of 625 volunteer positions filled, totaling 1,557 volunteer hours over the intake, overnight and breakfast shifts combined, and a total of 97 unique volunteers have served 95 meals to guests. At the men’s site, a total of 2,550 sheets and blankets have been laundered by Clemens, 40 breakfasts provided by Chef Chipper, and that site has seen four incidents involving police or EMTs and three involving only shelter staff, according to Lanan.
Since the Lansdale shelter opened in December 2009, it has hosted guests for a total of 688 Code Blue nights, for a total of 4,992 overnight stays in that time span. The average nights per season since 2009 has been 43, and 2023-24 was the biggest season so far, with 86 nights that had doors open and 1,371 total overnight stays that year.
The first year, 2009-10, the shelter was open for 43 nights and had a total of 113 cots slept in, and the total number of overnights for a season first topped 200 in 2014-15; that high wasn’t achieved again until the winter of 2021-22 when a total of 445 overnights were hosted, then 550 during the winter of 2022-23, and more than double that number for a total of 1,371 in 2023-24, according to Lanan.
Another item that organizers have found they need? Gift cards to Sudz Laundry, located at 124 East Main Street, preferably in $10 denominations, according to Lanan.
“(Tuesday) night we completed 21 days of uninterrupted Code Blue declarations for both shelters. Three weeks,” Lanan said Wednesday, thanking volunteers and co-organizer Leslie Johnson: “Leslie and I are very proud of the response we are receiving from our volunteers. They are making a difference in our housing insecure population.”
Volunteers can help with the intake shift from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., a first overnight shift from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., a second overnight shift from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., and/or the breakfast shift from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. Those who can’t put in the hours can help via donations: items sought for those in need include wool socks, fleece hats, long johns, gloves, hand warmers, wool blend scarves, coats, ponchos, umbrellas, and prepackaged food such as energy bars, packs of crackers, or juice boxes; a full list of items is available on the shelter’s Facebook page, and donations can be made via Amazon.com with shipping directly to the church.
Anyone interested in assisting can call Lanan at (215) 272-4979, contact codeblue@trinitylansdale.com or follow “Code Blue Shelter – Lansdale, PA” on Facebook for more information.
This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit https://www.thereporteronline.com
