With a stretch of brutally cold temperatures on tap, community leaders met Tuesday in Allentown to come up with ways to keep the homeless safe and warm.
The Lehigh County Conference of Churches was a big part of that meeting.
"We are currently experiencing below freezing temperatures," Ryan Vernick of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches said. "Our primary reason is to keep people from freezing to death."
This year the Lehigh County Conference of Churches opened Alliance Hall in Allentown through April 30th for anyone who needs a place to stay. The Hall has purchased 50 cots and has paid supervisors on hand to watch over the groups at night.
Housing Director for the Lehigh Conference of Churches Deanne Malacsics Best, says the total cost to keep doors open for a season is about $150,000 dollars. It is a number the group did not meet this year. Deanne says as a result, instead of closing doors at Alliance Hall, fewer accommodations will be made for guests.
"We wanted to provide a meal but that has not been able to have been provided because we do not have the funding to do so," Malacsics Best said.
Now the group is looking for additional funding sources to meet its needs this year as well as prepare for next year. To help with the effort a Go Fund Me Account has been set up.
Deanne says while the funding sources for the effort are typically met through the city and private donations, more contributions are still needed.
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