Two towns are keeping an eye on a local park they share, as rumors have swirled on social media over the past week about the future of an encampment of homeless persons at Stony Creek Park on the border of Lansdale and Upper Gwynedd.
“The work is continuing, but the main priority is doing this right and with the impacted people as the main focus, rather than just doing it fast,” said Lansdale council President Meg Currie Teoh, when asked about the rumors.
Homelessness in town has been a hot topic over the past two-plus years, as council and its committees have heard from residents worried about men sleeping in the gazebo at Memorial Park and in tents throughout Stony Creek, near walking trails that take visitors through that park. Those concerns followed roughly two years of talks on homelessness spurred by the closing of the only county homeless shelter in Norristown in 2022.
In summer 2024 interviews with some of those living in the parks revealed they had issues with documentation or identity theft, while others may have more serious mental health issues. Most were getting by via help from nonprofit food pantry Manna on Main Street and private help from neighbors and area residents like Linda Rowland, who helped establish a GoFundMe online fundraiser and a nonprofit to provide sleeping bags, food, and beverages.
In December 2024 the town began allowing use of a borough parks and recreation building as an overnight shelter for women during winter Code Blue nights, in addition to a shelter for men that operated for over 100 nights that winter. Summer 2025 brought a change in policy for police and borough officials to enforce park rules by removing those living in the parks.
At the same time, officials in Upper Gwynedd heard another round of talks on developing a parcel on Pennbrook Parkway into a complex of 60 apartments with a low-income component, just outside Stony Creek near several tent encampments, and final approvals were granted last November. A different developer has since proposed up to 74 townhouses on a parking lot between that Pennbrook Parkway parcel and the adjacent SEPTA station. County and borough officials also marked the opening of a 20-bed supportive housing facility dubbed Todi’s Place of Hope in February, and broke ground on a similar planned facility in Norristown earlier this week.
A tent belonging to a man known as T sits alongside a path running through Stony Creek Park in Lansdale, with the tent belonging to a man calling himself V just steps away at rear, as seen on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.Social buzz
Meanwhile, social media channels have caught fire over the past week, with a flurry of online posts about the future of those encampments and work that may or may not be imminent there.
The uproar began on March 19 when Rowland, a Lansdale resident whose volunteer “Linda and Friends Helping Hands” group has collected donations and helped shelter those living in local parks, posted on Facebook that she had heard from those living in the park that they were told by another agency that “they are coming out to the woods and throwing out 30 people with nowhere to go” the next day.
The next day, on Friday March 20, Rowland said she had subsequently spoken to an owner of the property who said “they have no problem with the homeless staying there” and several group members suggested a volunteer cleanup be organized to aid those living there.
Those posts and comments on them then prompted statements from both Upper Gwynedd and Lansdale Borough, with the township saying on March 21 that officials there “care deeply about all of our residents, including the unhoused.”
“We are aware that a number of rumors and inaccurate claims have been circulating within the community and on social media regarding the Stony Creek encampment. Several private and nonprofit community providers are actively working together with the residents of the Stony Creek encampment,” said both the township and borough in Facebook posts.
“Our collaborative efforts are focused on ensuring the well-being and safety of all individuals involved. We want to emphasize that the rumors circulating do not accurately reflect the reality of the situation at the site. The level of coordination and care being provided to residents is a top priority for all parties involved. We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to work together in addressing the needs of these individuals,” Upper Gwynedd said in an e-mail sent to residents and posted on Facebook.
Lansdale issued a similar statement the same day, saying officials in that town “called for a transition away from punitive enforcement toward compassionate, real-world solutions for homelessness in our community. We believed then, and we know now, that we can maintain the safety of our parks while treating our unhoused neighbors with dignity.”
“Thanks to a dedicated collaborative effort between community leaders, nonprofits, and private partners, that work is happening right now at Stony Creek,” said the borough in a Facebook post before repeating the same statement as Upper Gwynedd.
Focus on help
Since that initial uproar, Rowland said this week, she’s heard nothing else about any pending removal efforts and said her focus has been on helping the “40 to 50” who remain in the parks.
“The ones left out there: they’re not problems. They’re not addicts, they’re not drunks, they’re not mentally insane. There’s some that have mental health issues — being out there will give them to you,” she said.
“I have ones out there that have been working so hard to get a job. They had interviews, and they didn’t hire them. Then when they don’t have transportation, they don’t hire them. I can name a few that have been working hard, trying to get out of there, and people are calling them bums,” Rowland said.
Based on her recent visits, Rowland added, the new county facility has helped relocate a few of those who had been living in the park, but those remaining have questions about how the county and its agencies choose those who get the help. Her recent focus has been on mobilizing the roughly 1,100 followers of her Facebook group toward constructive projects, like collecting donations or making meals for those in need.
“When I say, ‘I need long underwear,’ within 48 hours I have 20 pairs. When I tell them I need anything, they do it. I have a meal train set up; every single Friday or Saturday night, rain, snow, it doesn’t matter, we go out and feed them,” she said.
“I know some who are looking for jobs. I have some who have a little money, and they’re looking for rooms, I help them apply. I’ve picked up people from the hospital, dropped them off at the hospital, I’ve bought medicine for people because they didn’t have the money for medicine. That’s the kind of stuff our nonprofit does,” she said.
Volunteers have also helped donate and collect clothing and personal care items, some kept in local storage units where those in need can go choose new clothes. Those donations make a difference.
“When they finally do get out of there — which, some have — they come back and tell me how much they appreciate it. It gave them hope,” she said.
A pair of tents could be seen in a clearing in Stony Creek Park in Lansdale on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.Cleanups and donations
Next on the to-do list is a toy cleanup and donation drive, where Helping Hands will offer a chance to win a stuffed animal in exchange for a nominal donation at the upcoming April 3 First Friday. Last year, the nonprofit helped fund and organized a Christmas toy drive for over 200 local children, and the need has only grown since the start of the year.
“I have people sleeping under porches, in sheds, in people’s garages, under bushes, people sleeping in cars all over the place. They need somewhere they can go, that they’re not disturbing other people, where they can work on getting jobs,” Rowland said.
“I know who are the drug addicts, I know who are the drunks, I know the ones that have the mental health problems. And then we have a bunch of people that are fine, that just fell through the cracks,” she said.
What do most residents not understand about homelessness in town?
“We get more new people every week. And they’re not coming from Philadelphia, they’re not coming from Norristown. The ones that are here, are from Lansdale,” said Rowland.
“I always tell people, everybody is one step away from being homeless. People say, ‘Well, I have a bank account.’ I say, how long would that bank account last, if you lost your job and couldn’t find another one?” she said.
And those affected by inflation or economic anxiety can be of all ages.
“What really breaks my heart are these women that call me, that are in their 60s, 70s, their 80s. The landlord says, we’re raising the rent, and they can’t afford it. And they call me and say, ‘Can you help me?'” Rowland said.
“I had two women in their 70s, living in their cars, for two winters, I fed them on Friday and Saturday nights. I just got a call yesterday about a 72-year-old woman that’s being put out — there’s nowhere for them to go,” she said.
Teoh said Thursday she doesn’t expect any formal action from council in the near future “as the borough is largely playing a secondary role here, in an effort to support all involved,” and said residents were welcome to share comments and ideas at the council and committee meetings slated for April 1.
“I can say with full confidence that the team has been laser focused from day one on the reality the encampment residents are facing, and on putting dignity and compassion first as they work with the residents to create plans to move forward,” Teoh said.
Lansdale’s public safety committee next meets at 6:30 p.m. on April 1 and full council meets at 8:30 p.m. that night, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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