Berks organizations seek coordinated approach to emergency homeless shelter funding and services

A coalition of Berks County organizations is seeking additional funding to expand emergency shelter services for people experiencing homelessness, following a winter in which four unsheltered individuals reportedly died of exposure to the cold. The initiative reflects a growing recognition of the urgent need to protect vulnerable neighbors during extreme weather conditions.

Representatives of the Berks Coalition to End Homelessness and Opportunity House outlined a coordinated severe weather response plan during City Council’s committee of the whole meeting. The plan aims to expand street outreach, daytime warming centers, overnight shelter accommodations, and temporary hotel stays for families. It also seeks to establish a unified system for funding and coordinating services across multiple organizations.

Elise McCauley, executive director of the Berks Coalition to End Homelessness, said the organizations are requesting $350,000 from the city for 2027. They have also requested $350,000 from the county. The city has already committed $100,000 to help launch this winter’s program, with an additional $50,000 pledged by United Way and $100,000 from the Wyomissing Foundation.

“Our main goal with this initiative and with this policy is to protect unhoused community members from these outcomes, to keep them safe, and candidly, to keep them alive,” said Bushkie, a representative of the coalition. Bushkie noted at least four weather-related deaths occurred in 2026, though an exact final count of unsheltered individuals who died of cold exposure this past winter has not been officially published or finalized.

The January point-in-time count identified 213 unsheltered individuals and another 420 people living in emergency shelters or transitional housing across Reading and Berks, an 8% increase over the previous year. Bushkie cautioned that the figures likely underestimate homelessness by hundreds of people because some individuals living in vehicles, abandoned buildings, and other locations were not counted. Some shelters also do not report their figures to the coalition.

Officials said the proposed policy would establish a Code Blue season from December 1 through March 31 and a Code Red season, addressing dangerous summer heat from June 1 through September 30. The winter program would focus on five areas: street outreach, expanded daytime facilities, overnight shelter for individuals, hotel accommodations for families, and case management and supportive services.

McCauley said the initiative is designed to eliminate gaps in services while reducing duplication among participating organizations. A central feature would be lowering barriers that sometimes prevent homeless individuals from seeking shelter, including requirements related to substance use. This approach aligns with the biblical call to care for the vulnerable, as seen in Proverbs 31:8-9, which urges justice for the oppressed and protection for the poor.

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