Lansdale ‘really proud’ of work on homelessness

As the borough’s Code Blue shelters have had their doors open for weeks on end this winter, local officials are answering some of the criticism they’ve heard about how the town has worked to address housing shortages in Lansdale.

“I’m really proud of any role that I played, or we played as a council — certainly the small group of us who worked with the county to address some of the issues related to our unhoused population. We have made progress,” said council President Mary Fuller at a recent council meeting.

“We were able to open a Code Blue shelter for women. We also have coming online in Lansdale in a few months a short-term housing project for people in transition from being unhoused to housed,” she said.

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.

The Code Blue shelter organizers marked three straight weeks of open doors during cold nights in January. Organizers Mark Lanan and Leslie Johnson were spotlighted by North Penn Advocates group in their “Good Work and Good News” series. The future operator of the county site said they were heartened by the community’s support while previewing services that would be available there.

Response to criticism

During the council meeting on Feb. 19, Fuller kicked off her president’s comments by “clarifying some things I think maybe should be said publicly,” in response to emails she’s received in recent weeks asking when or if the town ever voted on any of their efforts.

“There seems to be some question about why this didn’t come publicly for a vote. First of all, we did have public discussion,” Fuller said, and heard repeatedly from residents asking the council to take action to help the town’s homeless population.

“The community seemed to be behind Lansdale and this initiative, yes they were. And I gathered that impression from the number of people who spent time coming to committee meetings, and public meetings, business meetings, to talk about this topic,” she said.

“Did we have a single meeting to talk about that topic, and what we would do moving forward? No. The actions that were taken were part of the whole piece, and work that a small group of us did with the county,” Fuller said.

There was also no formal approval needed, or granted, from the town to finalize an arrangement between the county and the owner of the Main Street building they intend to occupy.

“This was a property owner who had a vacant property, who worked with the county to come up with a lease that the county is funding, because they have some money in their coffers to help unhoused initiatives,” Fuller said.

“That’s why it didn’t come before council. We had nothing to vote on. The property was zoned properly, and it’s a deal between the building owner and the county. And that’s how that all got done,” she said.

As for the Code Blue shelters, the shelter for men has long been operated within a building owned and maintained by Trinity Lutheran Church, while the new shelter for women is being hosted within a borough-owned parks and recreation building at Wissahickon Park.

“This is a short-term, temporary use. There were no tax dollars expended there, because the Code Blue program and the county supplied all of the hardware needed: the cots and bedding, and things like that,” she said.

“Nothing happened behind the scenes. We weren’t trying to do things, or ‘put centers in the community,’ without people knowing about it. I think we were pretty upfront and transparent about it,” she said.

As for the shelter itself, Code Blue organizers put out another call last Sunday fFeb. 23 for volunteers to staff the shelter that Sunday night into Monday. The cold temps are continuing into March as Montgomery County on Friday declared a cold weather emergency for Saturday, March 1, through Tuesday, March 4. During this time, either the temperature or the wind chill is expected to be at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit for two or more hours.

“I know everyone is getting fatigued with the number of Code Blue declarations we are honoring. It is exhausting. Constant shoveling coal into a firebox is not a glamorous job, but it keeps the locomotive moving,” said Lanan and Johnson in an email to supporters.

“I know while many of you are sitting listening to a group of people snoring night after night — ‘am I making a difference?’ You are! You have sat for 1,450 shifts so far this season, and every one of those shifts is critical to keep this ministry going,” they said.

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 new or gently used sweat pants, size L, XL, XXL, and 34 or 36 inch waist jeans; 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.

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