{"id":47790,"date":"2025-11-29T18:30:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T18:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/47790\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T18:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T18:30:16","slug":"homeless-residents-push-back-on-bethlehem-camp-evictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/47790\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless residents push back on Bethlehem camp evictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Norfolk Southern Railroad has asked Bethlehem police to clear a sprawling homeless encampment along the Lehigh River, setting off discussions among city officials, advocates and residents about how to respond.<\/p>\n

About 30 people live in tents across 22 acres of railroad-owned property where the company has raised concerns about improper waste disposal, open fires and hazards near active tracks. Notices are expected to be posted Sept. 15, with a deadline of Dec. 15 for removal.<\/p>\n

Bethlehem officials estimate roughly 91 people are experiencing homelessness in the city. Mayor J. William Reynolds said the city will continue to offer outreach, emphasizing that \u201cwe do not feel that being homeless should be a permanent state of existence for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue dominated Tuesday\u2019s City Council meeting, where advocates, service providers and residents warned that a wintertime clearance could have devastating consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unfortunate that Norfolk Southern has taken the position that they have,\u201d said Marc Rittle, executive director of New Bethany Ministries. \u201cMy hope is we can find an agreeable short-term solution while continuing the dialogue for meaningful long-term solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Hillard, a board member with Serving to Aid & Restore, urged compassion in the city\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just looking to survive; these people need places to live,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Several camp residents also spoke, sharing their fears about losing the only shelter they have.<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently I exist because I\u2019m here,\u201d said Terry Schew, a camp resident. \u201cI\u2019m alive. I\u2019m not a bum. I work harder now than I ever did before. I see all sides of this. But I don\u2019t see the point of doing it in the middle of winter. You\u2019re going to literally have people dead. Shelters don\u2019t and can\u2019t hold that many.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease do whatever you can to stop Norfolk Southern\u2019s proposed eviction,\u201d said Sam, a Bethlehem resident. \u201cEveryone has a right to live in dignity and peace. Housing is a human right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Health Bureau Director Kristen Wenrich said the city\u2019s Community Connections program has been embedded in encampments since 2020, pairing social workers with police to connect people to housing, mental health and addiction treatment. The railroad\u2019s deadline adds pressure, but Wenrich said Bethlehem is not starting from scratch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate that we have an infrastructure and we have those partnerships that are already set up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Bethlehem clearance comes as neighboring Allentown faces its own deadline. About 100 people living along Jordan Creek are expected to leave by Sept. 29, when the city plans to clear the encampment ahead of the winter warming station\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n

Advocates say both situations highlight a regional crisis. The Lehigh Valley\u2019s most recent point-in-time count found 763 people experiencing homelessness, up nearly 100 from two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re helping all the wrong people,\u201d said a homeless female resident at the Bethlehem camp. \u201cWhen they see us down there, they put all of us in the same category whether we do drugs or not. I\u2019m a college student. I work four jobs right now. There are a lot of people down there who obviously do that, but a lot of us work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wenrich emphasized that the city will continue to put an increased focus on community outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that\u2019s down there has an individual set of circumstances,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a myriad of reasons why people are homeless and why they might be living in the encampments. With us, it\u2019s really important being down there that we\u2019ve established a relationship with the individuals \u2026 particularly in that community, there\u2019s a lot of distrust, so we\u2019re working overtime to build that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Isabel <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Isabel Hope is a journalist and website designer based in Bethlehem, PA. She graduated with a degree in journalism from The University of Alabama in 2022, where she served as News Editor of the student newspaper. Isabel has lived in the Lehigh Valley for three years and is passionate about reporting for the communities she now calls home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Norfolk Southern Railroad has asked Bethlehem police to clear a sprawling homeless encampment along the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-47790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47790","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=47790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}