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<\/p>\nALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 More than 100 people who have used the city’s only winter shelter in recent months must find a new place to lay their heads.<\/p>\n
And soon they’ll be joined by at least nine others who have been living outside a few blocks away, with city crews set to continue last year’s creekside-camp clearings next week.<\/p>\n
The Allentown YMCA closed its shelter for the season Thursday morning, though officials have said it will reopen Sunday through Tuesday under Code Blue protocols, with temperatures set to plummet below freezing.<\/p>\n
The Y’s expanded 80-bed shelter served 108 people this winter.<\/p>\n
Forty-six were homeless for the first time and 57 became homeless after the shelter’s early opening at the end of September, according to Danielle Mineo, who has served as Allentown’s unhoused services coordinator since June. <\/p>\n
They all must figure out a new place to go, with the YMCA’s shelter no longer an option. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just grateful for everything. You don\u2019t want to be wandering around the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edgardo Antonio Caraballo<\/p>\n
About a dozen people were gathered outside the shelter about 90 minutes before it opened for the final time Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Among them was Edgardo Antonio Caraballo, a 58-year-old man from Puerto Rico who had nothing but gratitude for the shelter and its staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just grateful for everything,\u201d Caraballo said, also thanking Allentown churches for helping him and other homeless people get through the winter.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to be wandering around the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good about myself,\u201d Caraballo said Wednesday, even though he said he did not have a plan for where he\u2019d go the next night.<\/p>\n
Revisiting safe camping?<\/p>\n
Several others said they\u2019d likely look to set up tents wherever they can find a decent spot, with few other options available.<\/p>\n
And Allentown’s Commission on Homelessness is pushing city and county leaders to quickly find that spot and revisit \u201csafe camping,\u201d an initiative that found success in Harrisburg last year.<\/p>\n
Allentown City Council last month gave Mayor Matt Tuerk 30 days to acquire a property for safe camping or temporary shelter for residents of an encampment due to close Sept. 29. Tuerk says he won’t meet that deadline.<\/p>\n
There, Marsha Curry-Nixon established the \u201cMiracle Community\u201d in August on a 3-acre gravel lot where tractor-trailers recently had parked.<\/p>\n
It offers tents and a safe space to stay for about 100 people.<\/p>\n
Many of those who moved to the Miracle Community were pushed out of a nearby encampment, known as Tent City, so the state Transportation Department can widen Interstate 83.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n
Marsha Curry-Nixon, founder and executive director of Amiracle4sure, shows how tents are set up at “A Miracle Community” in Harrisburg on Monday, Aug. 25.<\/p>\n
Residents at the space get a tent and an almost-200-square-foot plot, along with access to an array of services from nearby nonprofits, and a budding sense of community, Curry-Nixon told LehighValleyNews.com last year.<\/p>\n
They also can use the property for their mailing address, a major hurdle many homeless people face while trying to secure IDs and other important documents for employment, housing and more.<\/p>\n
Advocates pushed Allentown officials to find a similar site in the city where people could stay without fear of eviction. And several people living in camps last fall said they\u2019ve been \u201csafe camping\u201d for years.<\/p>\n
‘Literally no place for people’<\/p>\n
Council in September gave Tuerk 30 days to find a suitable location for safe camping.<\/p>\n
The mayor initially said he was \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d; later that month, he told council the city owns no property that could support safe camping. <\/p>\n
Allentown officials and advocates conducted a preliminary study of city-owned sites where people could securely live in tents or their vehicles but found none, Mayor Matt Tuerk said.<\/p>\n
Talks about safe camping \u201ckind of just got shelved\u201d after that, Allentown Commission on Homelessness Co-Chairwoman Christina DiPierro said during the group\u2019s meeting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoving people around from place to place is not right. Having no solution behind it is not right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christina DiPierro, co-chairwoman of Allentown’s Commission on Homelessness<\/p>\n
The commission this week sent a letter to Tuerk and Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, asking the city and county leaders to immediately identify \u201ca specific plot of land where individuals can reside legally without fear of being swept or ticketed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA designated, stable location is the only way to prevent the dangerous scattering of this population into hidden or unsafe areas,\u201d the commission said in its letter.<\/p>\n
And it would ensure continued medical care and connection to services for those who stay there, the commission said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoving people around from place to place is not right,\u201d Co-Chairwoman Christina DiPierro said during the commission\u2019s meeting Wednesday. \u201cHaving no solution behind it is not right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is literally no place for people to lay their heads down in the city of Allentown,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehigh1.jpg\n <\/p>\n
Allentown crews posted no trespassing signs Friday, April 9, at a homeless camp along the Little Lehigh Creek near Fountain Park. Residents must vacate the area by Monday, April 20.<\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehighKane.jpg\n <\/p>\n
Allentown Managing Director Frank Kane speaks Wednesday, April 15, with a man who lives in a homeless camp along the Little Lehigh Creek near Fountain Park. Residents must vacate the area by Monday, April 20. <\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
\n 3 of 7
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehighCouncil1.jpg\n <\/p>\n
Allentown City Council members Cristian Pungo (far left), Cynthia Mota (second left) and Ce-Ce Gerlach (far right) speak to Managing Director Frank Kane on Wednesday, April 15, that’s set to be shut down Monday, April 20.<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
\n 4 of 7
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehigh2.jpg\n <\/p>\n
City crews on Friday, April 9, posted signs at a homeless camp along the Little Lehigh Creek to warn residents they will be evicted from the area Monday, April 20. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 5 of 7
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehighCouncil2.jpg\n <\/p>\n
Allentown City Councilwomen Candida Affa and Cynthia Mota walk through a homeless camp along the Little Lehigh Creek on Wednesday, April 15. <\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
\n 6 of 7
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehigh3.jpg\n <\/p>\n
This is the view Jack, 23, has from his grill at the homeless camp along the Little Lehigh Creek, which is set to be cleared Monday, April 20. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 7 of 7
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0AllentownHomelessCamp_LittleLehigh6.jpg\n <\/p>\n
Tents and debris line a path along the Little Lehigh Creek and a retaining wall at Fountain Park. The small homeless camp is set to be cleared by city crews starting Monday, April 20.<\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
Siegel\u2019s administration is exploring a project to convert the vacant corrections center into temporary housing for about 400 people. <\/p>\n
But she warned it\u2019s in \u201cthe very early stages\u201d and not \u201cclear cut\u201d as it would require extensive intermunicipal cooperation.<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach, who led the body\u2019s push for a safe-camping study last year, urged county officials \u201cbypass the red tape\u201d and work faster to find a \u201cshort-term, emergency solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that \u2026 there\u2019s no parking lot that exists, there\u2019s no land that exists where people can temporarily put their tent \u2014 I don’t buy that,\u201d Gerlach said.<\/p>\n
A safe camping spot would be \u201canother Band-Aid,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you get a wound, you put a Band-Aid on, and then you go get surgery,\u201d Gerlach said. \u201cThat’s where we’re at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 More than 100 people who have used the city’s only winter shelter in recent months…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,17193,121,2458,120,45546,2455,16438,36194,76079,3553],"class_list":["post-168923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-commission-on-homelessness","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-homeless","tag-allentown-news","tag-allentown-shelter","tag-allentown-ymca","tag-josh-siegel","tag-lehigh-county-executive","tag-lehigh-valley-homeless-camp","tag-mayor-matt-tuerk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}