Homeless Count Shines Light on Invisible Problem

The Housing Continuum and Care agency counted more than 150 unsheltered people living in Bucks County.

Homeless Count Shines Light on Invisible Problem

The Housing Continuum and Care agency counted more than 150 unsheltered people living in Bucks County.

One day before starting the official count of unsheltered people living in Bucks County, volunteer Deborah Neidhart asked a staff member at one of the Central Bucks libraries if she knew of any homeless people in the area. Neidhart said the woman was shocked and denied that there were any homeless people at all in the area. "If you are not exposed to it, if you don't see it, then you really don't know that it exists," she said. "It's more invisible in Central Bucks than anywhere else in the county." It's a common misconception that Neidhart encounters, that only the lower part of Bucks County has a homeless population. It's a myth that Neidhart needs to shatter if she and the rest of her team hope to get an accurate count. "The camps are …

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Cold Weather Alert Issued for Next Week

Temperatures are expected to be frigid the next few days, prompting cold weather preparation.

A governmental cold-weather alert was issued Friday in advance of a cold front expected to bring frigid temperatures overnight next week. Bucks County's Code Blue weather alert will run from 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20 through 7 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, county officials said Friday. The alert puts two Bucks County churches on call to help the homeless or others needing shelter. The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures overnight on Sunday to drop to around 24 degrees and continue to fall. Tuesday night's low is predicted to be about 15 degrees. Two churches are on-call to assist residents in Central Bucks and Lower Bucks. Woodside Presbyterian in Yardley and Trinity Episcopal in Buckingham will activate their emergency shelters, as…

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County to Count Homeless Residents

Jan. 26 count used to assess the extent and characteristics of homelessness across the country.

The Homeless Continuum of Care of Bucks County (HCOCBC) plans to conduct a countywide “Point in Time” count of unsheltered homeless individuals on Thursday, Jan. 26. The count will be part of an annual nationwide initiative of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assess the extent and characteristics of homelessness across the country. In addition to the unsheltered homeless survey, the Homeless Continuum of Care for Bucks County Committee (HCOCBC) will also conduct a survey of those who are homeless but sheltered on the same day.  This will provide a more complete picture of the homelessness in Bucks County and provide information to design services and programs to combat homelessness at all levels. Since the first …

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