St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lancaster’s Cabbage Hill has decided to become a regular part of the network that provides homeless individuals temporary shelter when the weather turns dangerously hot or cold.
Going forward, the church, located at 440 St. Joseph St., will offer respite in its St. Francis multipurpose room any time the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition declares a “Code Red” or “Code Blue” emergency, parish council member Carole Kirchner said.
It also plans to open the room as a day center one Saturday a month. It will be called the “Caring Center,” Kirchner said. The goal is to provide a comfortable setting where unhoused individuals can relax.
The first session is tentatively scheduled for the last Saturday in October.
“We might show a movie,” she said. “We might play bingo or cards with them. Just let them sleep, if they want to sleep.”
The room is large and there is easy access to men’s and women’s bathrooms just down the hall. The church is recruiting volunteers to staff the room and is planning to provide water and snacks.
The church tried out the idea on the fly earlier this summer, quickly organizing a cooling center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, June 21. The Homelessness Coalition had declared a Code Red the day before; it ultimately stretched through Sunday.
The St. Joseph team was able to pull things together quickly, Kirchner said. The volunteers, mostly retired parish members, were happy to help out.
“It was great,” Kirchner said.
About two dozen homeless individuals showed up over the course of four hours, just through word of mouth from street outreach workers. Many of them came up the hill from Culliton Park, where as many as a dozen people had been sleeping under the trees overnight. It’s about a five minute walk to the church.
Helping the unhoused
Kirchner discussed the Caring Center plans this week during a meeting at St. Joseph on “Helping the Unhoused,” which she co-hosted with Sean Domenic. Participants learned about local homelessness services and were encouraged to get involved as volunteers.
Besides her parish council role, Kirchner is board secretary of SoWe, a neighborhood community group supported by the nonprofit Tenfold. Domencic, a parishioner and member of the Catholic Worker Movement, has been a frequent speaker at City Council meetings, advocating during public comment for the “right to rest.”
Like communities across the United States, Lancaster city and county have seen a surge in homelessness since the pandemic. The county’s annual “point in time count,” conducted in January, documented 597 unhoused people, up 13.5% over 2023. The number included 122 people found outside.
Five months later, at the end of June, the shelter on North Prince Street, which had provided up to 80 beds over the winter, closed for good. It was operated by the Lancaster County Food Hub under contract with the county redevelopment authority, which houses the Homeless Coalition’s administrative office. The coalition is planning to open an 80-bed low-barrier shelter in December at Otterbein United Methodist Church, operated by YMCA of the Roses; in the interim, it is trying to manage homelessness by putting more outreach workers on the streets.
They are overseen by Josiah Huyard, the coalition’s outreach and emergency shelter coordinator. At the meeting, he and they discussed what they’re seeing on the streets and in shelters and what they do to help.
“The needs are so varied,” said Connor Doyle, a caseworker at Anchor Lancaster. Individuals may have medical needs, mental health or substance abuse issues, or may be fleeing domestic violence. “Underlying it all, there’s usually a lot of trauma,” he said.
Based at First United Methodist Church, Anchor started as a breakfast program and now offers showers and a day center. Anchor served 35,000 breakfasts in 2023 and is on track to serve more than 40,000 this year, Executive Director Patty Estep said. As for the day center, it started as a seasonal measure, but Anchor is now committed to keeping it open year-round, she said.
Regina Cooper’s street outreach role is funded by the Lancaster City Alliance. Her job is to meet people “where they are” and connect them with resources, she said.
“It’s a hard job, but it’s a privilege,” said Milan Koneff, of Tenfold. A colleague, he said, describes the outreach role as akin to being a “loving uncle or aunt”: You offer human connection and support, but you also call out inappropriate behavior, whether directed at self or others.
Dave Costarella, a roofer by trade, started Hand Up Partners last year. It recruits homeless individuals to clean up local streets and parks and pays them a modest stipend. Costarella has eight regular cleaners on board and is now working to incorporate Hand Up Partners as a formal nonprofit.
He showed the audience his music video, “Just Let Me Lay Down.” That’s what Lancaster’s homeless need, he said, and what they don’t have: A place where they’re allowed to rest.
All the outreach workers emphasized the importance of kindness and respect. Costarella said people on the streets are hungry for community and the opportunity to contribute. They don’t ask him for more money, he said, but for more work.
When the church’s Care Center plans came up, the speakers offered some advice. Volunteers should have some de-escalation training, Pelsinski said. Have Narcan available, Eastep said, and handouts on social services.
Narcan is used to reverse opioid overdoses; it was recently approved to be sold over the counter. You need to have it on hand, said Lenny Pelsinski, an outreach worker for the Food Hub, but actually, the trend on the streets is shifting: Meth use is up and opioid use is down.
It’s helpful to know basic first aid and CPR; for anything serious, though, don’t hesitate to call 911, the outreach workers said.
It takes a while to build trust, but be consistent, and it will come, Costarella said. He endorsed the idea of showing a movie or playing bingo.
“Do something that lets people not be homeless for two hours,” he said. “That’s what’s needed.”
(Editor’s Note: This article was updated to add background on the North Prince Street shelter.)
