“It’s a crazy idea” to put a homeless emergency shelter in the basement of an active building, one that’s in use and hosting other programs, the Rev. Chris Eden said.
But Otterbein United Methodist Church has agreed to do just that, and the congregation’s willingness to embrace that mission is one of the reasons Eden accepted the call to lead the church, becoming pastor in July.
“That is exactly the kind of thing I would want to be a part of,” he said.
Eden was the first speaker at a community forum at the church Tuesday evening. It was designed to share information about the plans for the shelter, which is under construction in the church’s basement; and to hear from neighbors and address their concerns. About 80 people attended; The Rev. Mandy Mastros of Lancaster Moravian Church served as moderator.
What is planned
In August, workers began renovating the basement at Otterbein, 26 E. Clay St., Lancaster, to create a low-barrier adult homeless shelter. The project is extensive, and is costing a little over $2 million. (More than $2 million more is needed for furnishings and operations.)
The work is being paid for by the Lancaster County Redevelopment Authority. This summer, the authority, through its affiliated nonprofit, the Lancaster Redevelopment Fund, signed a 10-year lease with Otterbein for the space, with the option to renew for another 5 years. The authority is paying $5,000 a month, or $60,000 a year, which will increase 3% per year.
The site will provide a warm, dry safe place to sleep for individuals who otherwise would be on the street and “give them hope,” said Deb Jones.
Jones is the director of the Office of the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition, which oversees more than 70 organizations providing various social services. The office is part of the authority’s Department of Human Services.
The shelter will have 80 beds, 60 for men and 20 for women, along with bathrooms and showers. It will be “low-barrier,” meaning there are minimal barriers to entry. Essentially, individuals must be able to care for themselves unassisted and not pose a danger to themselves or others, said Paige McFarling, executive of the Lancaster County Food Hub.
The Food Hub operated the shelter’s predecessor, also a low-barrier facility. Ebenezer Baptist Church hosted it for 3 1/2 years before a boiler malfunction necessitated a move to temporary space on North Prince Street. Ebenezer is just a few blocks away, in the same neighborhood, the panelists noted.
That shelter closed at the end of June, leaving the city without a low-barrier shelter until the Otterbein location opens.
The Food Hub is one of several nearby social service providers and it plans to coordinate with the shelter on outreach and referrals.
Open daily
The Otterbein shelter will be open daily from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. It will start at half capacity, 40 beds, then ramp up gradually to its full 80-bed size, said Josiah Huyard, the coalition’s outreach and emergency shelter coordinator. It will have capacity to expand to 105 beds during “Code Red” and “Code Blue” emergencies — that is, summer heat waves and winter storms and cold snaps.
The authority announced earlier this year that YMCA of the Roses, which serves York and Lancaster counties, would run the shelter. This week, the authority’s board approved an initial contract with the YMCA, running from Nov. 15 through the end of June 2025. The YMCA will be paid $263,200.
The YMCA has run housing and shelter programs in York County for many years. While this will be its first low-barrier shelter, “This work is not new to us,” York branch Director Jose Santiago said.
Almost all of the funding is coming from federal grant funds that the authority receives for homelessness services. There is $19,646 that comes from United Way of Lancaster County, part of $250,000 in joint funding the nonprofit provides annually to the coalition as a local match to leverage the federal allocation.
Broadly speaking, the site will be first come, first served. There is no waiting list, nor is there a waiting period before someone can be admitted, Huyard said.
Maximum length of stay hasn’t been decided, but Huyard guessed it will probably be around six months. Given how hard it is to find housing affordable to someone exiting a shelter, it would be unrealistic to set it lower, he said.
The team developing the shelter had hoped to open it Dec. 1, but that has had to be pushed back, authority Executive Director Justin Eby said at the authority’s board meeting this week. The target now is “substantial completion” by mid-December and an opening before the end of the year, with an accompanying “open house” event. Eden said he’s hoping for an opening in time for the church’s Christmas Eve service.
The handicap-accessible elevator that is part of the project won’t be ready on opening day. It will be finished and operational early next year, Eby said.
Community impact
During the meeting, audience members were asked to write their questions on index cards to be answered. Most had to do with how safety and security would be addressed and who should be contacted in the event there’s a problem.
Security personnel will be on site during the shelter’s operation, Huyard said, and there will be indoor and outdoor security cameras. While detailed security protocols are still being developed, organizers will be drawing on the practices followed at the previous shelter. Its security staff routinely screened for weapons, drugs or other contraband, including “wanding” with hand-held metal detectors.
What about in the neighborhood, asked resident Anthony Hicks: What measures are being taken to prevent trespassing, public urination and similar issues?
“We want this to be a win-win situation,” he said, “and the only way that happens is that you work with the community.”
Shelter guests won’t be allowed to loiter on the property when the shelter isn’t open, but the YMCA doesn’t have authority to control where they go, Santiago said. Concerns can be directed to the shelter supervisor or the YMCA, he said.
City police can and will address trespassing and other issues, Capt. Kurt Miller said, and can be contacted via the bureau’s non-emergency number, (717) 664-1180, or 911 if the situation is urgent. There is a sector officer responsible for the neighborhood, he said, who can be expected to spend more time around the church once the shelter opens.
Regina Cooper, an outreach worker with the Lancaster City Alliance, said she’s eager to work with businesses and homeowners to resolve any issues.
“I’m opening myself to any calls,” she said. “… Let me be of assistance to you.”
Hicks and his wife, Alesia, said afterward they thought the discussion was “sanitized,” with the index-card format allowing for cherry-picked questions and limited give-and-take. Hicks said they fully supports helping the homeless, but didn’t think the community had much say in the decision to locate the shelter at the church. Neighbors deserve a voice and to be fully informed, he said.
Alecia Hicks objected to panelist comments implying that it would be un-Christian not to embrace the shelter. She said she believes the church accepted it out of financial need in a behind-the-scenes deal.
That’s not the case, Eden told One United Lancaster. Yes, the money will help with the budget, but “the church didn’t need it to survive,” he said. Moreover, hosting the shelter entails real costs for the church: For example, arrangements for evening programming will now have to take the shelter’s intake operations into consideration. His team and the congregation will adjust, but it has an impact, he said.
A resident asked about the impact on property values. That concern feeds into “stigma and fear,” Jones said. There is positive impact in communities that come together to provide social services, she said, advising: “Do some research.”
While investigations of shelters and property values appear to be limited, a 2019 study by New York City’s Independent Budget Office found a negative effect, with residences within 500 feet of a shelter selling for 7% less than those 500 feet to 1,000 feet away. An earlier study did not find a negative impact, but it examined supportive housing, not emergency shelters.
The panel was asked: How can the community help? The YMCA will welcome volunteers and is finalizing an online portal for those interested in working at the shelter, Santiago said.
Apart from that, be understanding, the panelists said. They urged the audience not to stereotype homeless individuals, to recognize the hardship they’re facing, to be compassionate and to realize how little separates the housed and the unhoused. Sometimes one minor mishap is all it takes for someone to end up on the street.
Imagine the most terrifying moment of your life and triple it: That’s what it’s like being homeless, said Angelina Hernandez. Formerly homeless herself, she is now a member of the Homeless Advocacy Board, an organization overseen by Mastros and designed to give people with “lived experience” a voice in community and policy discussions.
“Be respectful and kind,” she said, “at the bare minimum.”
‘Please reach out’
Lancaster County’s homeless population has been on the rise since before the pandemic. In January, the coalition’s annual point-in-time count documented 597 homeless individuals, up 13.5% over 2023.
Jones and Eby have pointed to the county’s tight housing market and acute shortage of housing at affordable price points as contributing to the crisis and have also said the county’s social services providers lack sufficient resources to help those in need. It’s entirely possible that there will be more demand than the Otterbein shelter can meet, Huyard said Tuesday.
Panel members assured the audience they would maintain communication and be sensitive to community concerns. Any questions submitted but not answered Tuesday evening would be followed up on, Mastros said, with responses sent out on an email list that attendees had been invited to sign up for when they entered.
“Please reach out,” Santiago said. “… We’re all working diligently to ensure that we open a good safe shelter, that’s safe for the individuals that are going to be there, and the community around.
“This is not something that we’re taking lightly.”
(Editor’s Note: This article was updated Oct. 28 to add information on the shelter’s budget.)
