The first pop-up shelter was held last month at a Levittown church. It was such a success, and the church leader is eager to bring them back. Leaders at two Quaker meetinghouses have also expressed interest.

Since 2009, Bucks County nonprofits and volunteers have provided the unsheltered with a safe warm place to sleep during winter months during Code Blue nights when outdoor temperatures are forecasted to drop below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. But on nights when the temperatures don’t hit the freezing mark, the homeless who live outdoors are on their own to find protection, which was something that bothered Arney.

 “It’s still cold out,” she said. “People can still die.”

 

As the executive director of the Reach Out Foundation of Bucks County in Penndel, Arney works closely with the homeless in Lower Bucks County and oversees the county’s only drop-in day shelter program.

Arney is seeing more new faces at the day shelter and how the brutal cold has impacted them. She is aware of at least two frostbite-related injuries this year.

 

Bucks County homeless population is on the rise.  The unsheltered numbers are growing in Bucks County. Nearly half of the 421 people counted in the county during the annual homeless Point-in-Time survey last year were sleeping either in places not meant for humans or a Code Blue shelter.  Five years ago, they represented less than one-quarter of the homeless population counted in Bucks County. Over the last three years their numbers have more than doubled, according to county PIT survey data. 

 

The survey also found that roughly 18% of those counted last year were considered chronically homeless, the highest percentage in at least six years.  During last year’s brutal winter with long stretches of freezing temperatures, Arney worked with church leaders around the corner from her headquarters called Sozo Communities, whose ministry focuses on community outreach, recovery support and services for the homeless. 

The church hosted 21 overnight shelters in its sanctuary last year when Code Blue shelters weren't operating, and that experience is what inspired Arney. “This allows us to expand emergency cold-weather shelter capacity while partnering with more congregations across the county,” Arney said.  Jason Heim, Sozo founder and president, said his church had been looking for an opportunity to play a bigger role in the community.  One Sunday a year ago, Arney was looking for a place to host her homeless clients for a few hours between when the day shelter closed and the Code Blue shelter opened. Heim offered the church.

Two weeks later, Arney mentioned to Heim how it would be great if they could find a church that with doors open to the homeless when Code Blue shelters weren't operating. Heim immediately offered his church to host one that night.

"We just thought to ourselves, 'Our church is under-used and it's cold outside. We have empty space and it's an opportunity to save lives,'" Heim said. "'Why not?'"

While a few neighbors complained about the overnight shelters, which attracted 20 to 30 people, there were no problems reported inside or outside the church, Heim said.