Beaver County homeless men and families lack facility

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A small group gathered outside of Uncommon Grounds, in Aliquippa in 2018 to pray for the homeless. From right are Nora Miller of Hopewell Township, Lisa Signore of Patterson Township, Denis Sutter of Beaver and Lt. Fabi Soto of the Beaver Falls Salvation Army. [BCT file]

Snow covered the streets of Beaver County Tuesday as the temperatures dipped into the low 30s — and for the second winter, there was no shelter for the county’s homeless men.

It’s been more than 500 days since there was a dedicated homeless shelter for men in Beaver County, and officials say it’s a situation unlikely to change before spring.

“For this winter, we’re thinking it’s a ways off, but hoping by early spring to have something coming together,” said Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning. “What’s complicated things even more is COVID itself, because opening a facility for 15-16 homeless men and putting them into a shelter presents other potential issues than just trying to get them out of the elements.”

The need for a shelter that allows men and families continues to grow as the pandemic continues, said Marie Timpano, executive director of the Cornerstone of Beaver County.

The county hasn’t had a physical shelter for homeless men since June 2019. Crossroads, the only shelter in Beaver County that accepted men, parted ways with the Beaver Falls church where it was located and has since struggled to find a location that allowed transitional housing.

Organizations that work with the county’s Continuum of Care have been working to ensure the county’s homeless male population have somewhere to sleep. Last year, that required transporting the men outside of Beaver County.

But the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in those plans.

Many out-of-county shelters aren’t accepting cross-county clients to watch the spread of COVID. Safety measures preached to contain the virus don’t mesh well with homelessness. Shelters by nature aren’t conducive to social distancing — and how is it possible to limit one’s interactions to their own household when they don’t have a home?

Timpano said the last few months the Cornerstone has worked to place about 35 families each month in hotels, a feat that costs on average $600 each week. And more and more people the groups work with require help for more than 30 days, she said.

“The hotels have been great, but this is not a cheap endeavor,” she said. “And some people aren’t appropriate for a congregate setting because of compromised immune systems. Even if we had a shelter, there are some people that we’d still be hoteling.”

Cornerstone is working to raise more money to help keep those families — and others in need — in the hotels they’re currently calling home through their Home for the Holidays campaign.

“This is what we’re seeing right now as the pandemic is continuing much longer than any of us expected,” she said. “The county has been working really hard to work through the process of getting something in place, but in the meantime, we are reaching out to the public to help.”

County officials are still trying to work with local officials to find a space that can work for transitional housing. Manning said there’s money set aside for the purchase of a facility and eventual relocation, but officials need a partner to take charge.

“The county does not want to own and run a homeless shelter any more than they wanted to run Friendship Ridge,” Manning said. “Getting into that business is not something that we’re well-versed with.”

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