Schuylkill County has come a long way in helping the homeless since its second annual point-in-time count in January.
Since the various human service agencies and organizations conducted the homeless count on Jan. 29, a few Pottsville churches established a temporary homeless shelter and a recently formed nonprofit organization continues negotiations for a permanent place downtown.
On Thursday, the participants came together during a Schuylkill County Local Housing Options Team meeting at the United Presbyterian Church to discuss the ongoing efforts to help the homeless and how to improve upon the count next year. LHOT is a board comprised of representatives from various housing agencies in the county.
"I had said last year how humbling it was to see this group of people coming together and I am even more so this year," Daniel McGrory, administrator for the county mental health, developmental services and drug and alcohol departments, said. " ... and now there is more of a straight line from counting the homeless to a homeless shelter. I think that's extraordinary."
The annual one-day count is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to estimate the number of homeless people in the county and identify any similar characteristics among the demographic. Participating counties are then eligible to receive federal funding for services assisting the homeless.
Forty volunteers counted 39 "unsheltered" individuals throughout Schuylkill County that night when temperatures dropped to single digits, Keith Semerod, deputy administrator for the county mental health and developmental services department, said. The unsheltered count included 26 individuals and six families consisting of 13 adults. They did not find any children under the age of 18.
The count found about twice as many unsheltered people from last year. An unsheltered individual does not include those staying with friends or family or similar situations at that particular moment, so the actual number of homeless people in Schuylkill County may be higher.
Twelve individuals who were homeless were provided temporary emergency housing at hotels and informed on available services. Three individuals enrolled in the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness and four were going to be followed for possible enrollment in the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. All individuals were provided with the Schuylkill County Homeless Resource Guide and encouraged to follow up with the local human service agencies.
Each of the teams participating in the count discussed Thursday their experience and made recommendations to improve the 2015 survey. The recommendations included starting the planning process earlier in the year, reaching out to local businesses and making more contacts before the count and using social media to spread awareness about the survey.
Rachel Arndt, a representative from Supportive Services for Veterans Families, said her group noticed the homeless they found were of different ages, genders and ethnicity.
"There wasn't a pattern," she said.
Alicia Smith, a representative from NHS Human Services, recommended a second count when the cold is not forcing everyone inside.
"We would like to see a second count when people are not sleeping on other people's couches because it is 7 degrees outside," she said.
Gerald Achenbach, Service Access and Management Inc. housing director and LHOT chairman, said one night may not be a good representation of the scope of the homeless problem in Schuylkill County, "but has allowed us to be better servants to those people."
"There's room for improvement and we know that," Achenbach said.
Pastor Jeff Colarossi, of the United Presbyterian Church, said the people that have been coming to the temporary shelter over the past few weeks are also important contacts that can provide them with better information as they prepare for the 2015 count.
The United Presbyterian Church, 214 Mahantongo St., will continue to house the temporary shelter from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. until March 10.
"I just think this whole thing is nothing short of miraculous," Colarossi said.
Albert Nastasi, executive director of Servants To All, said the nonprofit organization is still waiting to hear if the property it is looking to acquire in downtown Pottsville will be donated.
Called "My Father's House," the permanent shelter will involve its clients in community service and other activities by working with local businesses and agencies like CareerLink and SCORE as well as SAM, Schuylkill Community Action and the Pottsville Housing Authority.
"We think that a permanent location will be ideal because moving things each week can be difficult," Nastasi said.
Donations to the Servants To All temporary shelter can be forwarded to P.O. Box 1354, Pottsville, PA, 17901. Grocery store gift cards are preferred, Nastasi said.
Anyone looking to volunteer or help with the effort can call Nastasi at 570-573-0036. The temporary shelter can be reached at any time by calling 570-516-1891.