St. Al's School OK'd as Warm Shelter for Homeless

Image from screenshot

Karla Romberg, TCN board member and second from the left in the bottom row, addresses Pottstown Borough Council Wednesday during the work session meeting, which was held online.

Pottstown Borough Council has approved an emergency application to use the former St. Aloysius School on North Hanover Street into a 'warming center" for the borough's homeless.

The permission is valid through April 30 and became necessary because many borough churches that had served as temporary homeless shelters in previous winters, do not have the capacity to house the homeless safely during the coronavirus pandemic.

The center will be open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night.

It is estimated that there are perhaps 30 homeless people in Pottstown, and Ministries on Main Street can place roughly 10 in motels rooms overnight, said Karla Romberg, a member of the board of directors at the TriCounty Network.

Romberg recounted the story of a homeless man named Tim who was "staying warm by sleeping under a pile of leaves in someone's yard."

She told council an addition  hardship is that code blue beds normally provided by Montgomery County have been eliminated due to concerns about spreading coronavirus.

Pottstown LIFT, which stands for Living in Faith Together, Christ Episcopal Church, Pottstown Salvation Army, TCN HS and a number of county agencies are working together to find creative ways to house folks struggling with homelessness while still protecting our staff and volunteers during this critical time.

All together, TCN has teamed up with St. Aloysius parish and more than 17 organizations to establish a place for homeless folks to sleep during the winter.

The building has been vacant for two years, ever since the parish school operations were moved into the former St. Pius X High School on North Keim Street in Lower Pottsgrove.

Four large classrooms within the school, each 750 square feet, can each fit five beds and maintain COVID-19 socially distance protocols said George Bell, who spoke on behalf of LIFT.

The homeless, said Bell "are in great peril. Winter is coming."

It was not lost on the council members that the proposal was made within 24 hours of the first snowfall of the season.

The plumbing, electrical systems, fire alarms and exists and, perhaps most importantly, the ventilation system have all been inspected and found to be adequate to the task, said Bell.

Although homeless families with children are most often housed in the shelter at the Salvation Army on King Street, it too has a limited capacity. Bell told council that if a family needs shelter, they will get one of the classrooms to themselves to keep them together and isolate them from the other occupants.

The center will be staffed by staff and volunteers, all of whom will have background checks.

When occupants check in, they will have their temperature taken and interviewed about any symptoms and anyone with a temperature of 104 or more will be isolated and COVID-19 protocols followed.

Any alcohol or drugs or weapons will be taken and held and those in the center will try to counsel then and connect them with services that can help.

"I think this is a very important situation," said Councilman Joseph Kirkland. "There are some cold nights coming up," he said.

Councilwoman Lisa Vanni said never more than during the pandemic has she realized how fragile stability can be. "I realize now how privileged I've been to always have a roof over my head, but as this pandemic impacts the economy, and people lose jobs, that can change in an instant."

According to Romberg, "Al's Heart Warming Center is a labor of love of many of the local agencies in the community who strive to serve our fellow residents to the best or their ability. Al's Heart each night to protect the most vulnerable members of our community."

Rather than wait for the Monday council meeting vote, as it usually does, council voted unanimously Wednesday night to allow the use in the building so that organizers can begin setting up the shelter right away.

Click here to see all the Tweets from Wednesday night's council meeting.