ALLENTOWN, PA -During the COVID-19 outbreak, the region’s most vulnerable are being put to the test; with homeless camps at the center of growing concerns over Pennsylvania’s nearly 15,000 homeless residents.
"Our most vulnerable populations, who struggle on their best day, are experiencing that so many people are using the system," explains State Representative Peter Schweyer, "It’s just making it harder and harder for them to acquire the stuff that they need."
Scheweyer agrees an outbreak among the homeless would be especially devastating; where many lack health insurance while living with pre-existing medical conditions and other complications that put them at higher risk.
"People that don’t have access to health insurance, that are suffering from food insecurity or housing insecurity, when there aren’t lines to go into the emergency room, when there aren’t lines to get into food pantries or soup kitchens or what have you, at the very best of times, it is extraordinarily difficult for them," says Schweyer.
House bill 2451, the Emergency COVID-19 Homelessness Grant Program, aims to allocate funds to homeless organizations that Schweyer says have been exhausting their resources during the Coronavirus pandemic.
"The system is just overwhelmed," Schweyer tells PBS39 News Tonight Reporter, K.C. Lopez, "What we are seeing now is so many more people are trying to access government programs for healthcare, for example, trying to address their own food insecurity, who otherwise may have the ability to go to the grocery store to pick up something but now are relying on meals on wheels or second harvest food bank, things like that."
Shelters across the area have been pulling money from their own coffers, using funds from donors and in some cases, taking out lines of credit to meet immediate needs. But Scheweyer says when the pandemic eases, homeless services are going to need funds to stay afloat; "We are still going to need these organizations to be on their feet. And what we can’t do is have a number of organizations close shop because they ran out of money."
HB 2451 is headed to the House Human Services Committee for consideration.