BETHLEHEM, PA - On a cold winter night, Bethlehem’s most vulnerable need a warm, safe place to lay their heads.
"A lot of our street neighbors here in the city of Bethlehem are actually from the Bethlehem area; they’ve grown up here, they’ve gone to school, some of them have gone to college, have had jobs, have raised families here," explains Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering's Bob Rapp Jr., "These are truly our neighbors. So, it’s important when they have their hardships in life, which we all do, that somebody will be there to help them."
Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering opened their doors for the winter season this past Sunday, and as shelter manager, Bob Rapp Jr. tells PBS39 News, it hasn’t been easy.
"We inadvertently had some zoning issues which were addressed with the city who graciously allowed us to bypass those issues and correct them as we went along, to allow us to open the shelter early," Rapp explains, "We felt it was necessary to open earlier because of extremely cold temperatures that we suffered a few weeks ago."
The shelter, which has called Market Street’s Christ Church United Church of Christ home since 2017, typically opens December 1st. But amid an early regional freeze, managers hoped to open November 15th and give the 75 men and women they house a warm place to sleep ahead of the Thanksgiving Day Holiday. Nine days after that, the shelter is officially open for operation.
But Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering has faced an uphill battle for some time now; from that initial opening delay to complaints from neighbors made in previous years.
"Some neighbors were finding needles in their yards. We had the issue of a woman leaving a viewing of my funeral home who had a man expose himself to her," James Funeral Home's Louis James tells PBS39 News Tonight reporter, K.C. Lopez, "We also had another man who was caught on my video cameras exposing himself and urinating in front of two girls who were walking up the school street alley right behind the Funeral Home here and these were grave concerns. And initially, I thought these were all things that I was just witnessing but apparently, people in the neighborhood began talking."
That’s how the “Concerned Neighbors” group took shape; bringing their worries directly to the City Council and shelter management. Since then, members like Louis James of James Funeral Home says, Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering has done a great job addressing the incidents they’ve faced in the past.
"The difference between the first year, in 2017 and last year, for 2018 was like night and day," says James, "The shelter began meeting with us on a regular basis; we were meeting about once a month and we would bring our concerns to them and they basically addressed those concerns. We had an issue in the first year with people trespassing on other people’s property. We didn’t have any reports of that this past year. So these were all big changes."
Last year, the Bethlehem Police Department implemented a registration and screening process for shelter guests; similar to what’s used at the Allentown Rescue Mission. Those who utilize the shelter’s services are now required to pre-register at the police station, undergo a background check and be given a voucher before their stay.
"So they’ll run a background check to see if there are any active felony warrants. If that would come to light, then perhaps that person would have to find shelter elsewhere. Many of our folks that do have warrants, and it’s not that many, have summary warrants for small, minor violations, and they are allowed to come here to shelter and we will help them work through those warrant issues to help get those cleared," Rapp Jr. explains, "Some of our folks who do come here have some problems, some issues with substance use and so we have support organizations that come in and help them with that. We have a great security staff on board here that patrols around the area, inside and outside of our building, to make sure we’re nice neighbors, we keep the noise down."
And so while Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering managed to overcome a few hurdles this season, there’s a bigger one on the horizon…
"The homeless situation among families here in the Valley is great. So, if you check with any of your school districts, wherever you live, they all have liaisons for homeless children--homeless youth," says Rapp Jr., "You check with them and you’ll see the staggering numbers. And they are staggering; how many actual families present as homeless. We don’t quite see them because mom and dad will take care of making sure the children have a place to be with their friends and mom and dad will fiend for themselves; whether it be in their car or a motel. It’s a huge issue here in the Valley."
Rapp tells PBS39 News Tonight, the shelter has it’s eye on a new Bethlehem facility and is working to obtain the necessary funding. In light of those challenges the shelter faced last year and it's new mission, Rapp says he is "willing to present to any groups who wish to learn more of our mission, ministry, and vision." That being said, It’s current shelter can only host 75 men and women, but the goal is to open a permanent co-ed shelter that can accommodate families with children; "The greater vision is to have a home of our own. Not just a place where we can shelter the men and women we do now, but in order to set up satellite offices for the support agencies to be in the same house with us to help these folks get back on their feet again."
Got a news tip? Email K.C. at KCLopez@WLVT.org