Lower Bucks County Chapter of the American Red Cross Homeless Shelter Program

The Lower Bucks County Chapter of the American Red Cross Homeless Shelter program provides three meals a day, a cot, pillow, linens, shower facilities, personal hygiene supplies and intensive case management services free of charge to single men and single women as well as homeless parents and their children. All residents are at or below the federal poverty guidelines. The shelter offers on-site workshops, educational services for school children in public school, mental health, and drug and alcohol treatment options and transportation. The Homeless Shelter joins with county agencies to bring other important services to its residents, including preschool through Bucks County Head Start and nursing services through Bucks County Department of Health.

While nutritional needs are met by federal food grants, operation of the shelter depends on many volunteer hours, financial contributions and donations of supplies by community members. Approximately 20 volunteers per week assist the staff in daily operations by watching the children, assisting with meal preparations, transporting residents, providing moving assistance and answering the phone.

In 1996, shelter services began a homeless hotline that is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and staffed by trained caseworkers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Using a database of over 250 Bucks County agencies, the hotline matches callers with services that include shelter placements, referrals, information and limited case management.

Since the opening of the dormitory-style shelter in 1989, the American Red Cross Homeless Shelter has served 3,824 people of Lower Bucks County. Last year alone, the shelter housed 376 people, 185 of whom were children.