Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Montco experiencing lack of affordable housing options, officials say
Officials give update on Point-in-Time Count held Jan. 25
NORRISTOWN » Those dealing with housing in Montgomery County have noticed it’s becoming more and more expensive, creating a shortage of affordable housing options.
“Montgomery County is becoming more of a desirable place to live, which is a wonderful thing, but … we need to provide more housing, and more housing affordability opportunities, for those that live and work here in Montgomery County,” said Kayleigh Silver, administrator for Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community Development.
“Rents in Norristown are up nearly 4 percent from 2019. In other areas of the county, they’re up 12 to 17 percent,” Silver said. “Rents are up nearly 2 percent in King of Prussia, and that puts those rental rates close to the highest in the state, just under Philadelphia. So more than half of the county is paying more than 30 percent of their income towards rent if they are renters.”
In addition, Silver acknowledged that “our public housing units in the county ha(ve) a very very long wait list.”
Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr. shared a similiar observation during a Feb. 3 board meeting.
“Stable secure housing is severely needed across the county and is critical to combating negative social determinants of health, while also supporting households across the income spectrum in achieving greater economic mobility,” Lawrence said.
Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds Jean Sorg agreed. She gave a presentation during that same meeting in which she shared an update about the department’s progress over the past year.
“We were able to provide affordable housing with over $2.4 million and I believe … affordable housing is an issue we need to deal with in this county,” Sorg said.
Along with lack of affordable housing stock, Silver noted that increased cost of living, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the remnants of Hurricane Ida have contributed to the uptick in homelessness in Montgomery County.
“We’re still experiencing higher numbers, particularly in our sheltered count,” Silver said. “We are hoteling a lot of people in order to get them off the streets and help protect against COVID. We still have Hurricane Ida displaced people in hotel rooms.”
Many residents were displaced as a result of the Sept. 1 storm that brought historic flooding levels and an EF-2 tornado to the county. Many continue to pick up the pieces. Riverside Apartments, a 124-unit building located along Schuylkill Avenue in Norristown, was “condemned due to flooding damage from Ida,” according to a county spokesperson, leaving residents displaced and unable to find an apartment they can afford.
How many homeless?
The myriad of circumstances were explored during the county’s annual Point-inTime Count on Jan. 25. According to Silver, more than 100 volunteers coordinated with Your Way Home representatives and street outreach teams to get a “snapshot” of the homelessness situation in Montgomery County and “our progress on solving homelessness over the years.”
“It was a big success. We helped raise awareness around housing and homelessness issues in our county,” Silver said. “We had more donations of food, blankets, socks, toiletry items than we’ve ever received before that will last us also for months to come.”
The count, which is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, covered areas in and around Abington, Ambler, Ardmore, Bridgeport, Cheltenham, King of Prussia, Lansdale, Lower Merion, Norristown, Pottstown, Souderton, and Willow Grove, according to Silver.
The annual initiative aims to “survey people who are either sleeping in a place not meant for habitation, such as outside, or in a car, or an abandoned and condemned building, as well as people sleeping in a designated emergency shelter throughout Montgomery County,” Silver said.
People participating in the Jan. 25 count were charged with assisting in the fact finding mission.
“This allows volunteers to go with our street outreach team (and) become more aware of homelessness that exists, what homelessness looks like in their community, the housing struggles, and the shelter availability in their local community,” Silver said.
The federal survey includes a number of demographic-based questions for participants including age, disability and veteran status, according to Silver, who stressed that participation is not required.
“Beyond that though, we definitely implement a lot more in our Point-in-Time Count,” she said. “We engage with people experiencing homelessness from a holistic approach, asking what they need, offering shelter for the night if they’re interested in entering shelter.”
In addition, representatives from county’s COVID-19 mobile vaccine clinic were on site to administer COVID-19 vaccines, booster shots as well as flu shots, according to Silver, who added that Narcan was accessible. Volunteers also distributed donations.
“We also added a few questions in the survey if they were willing to answer, particularly around understanding how they may have lost their last housing, or become homeless, just to understand more of the root causes of homelessness in our county,” Silver said.
Engaging and helping
Lawrence was among the volunteers tasked with canvassing throughout Montgomery County on Jan. 25.
“Amazingly, despite the 25 degree temperature, most of the people that we came across were willing to be interviewed, and were thankful for the opportunity to share their stories, and the water snacks and other supplies we were able to provide,”
Lawrence said during his opening remarks of the board meeting earlier this month.
Silver clarified that more beds have been available for those seeking shelters throughout Code Blue declarations, which are issued when “temperature or the wind chill is expected to be below 20 degrees. Residents in need of shelter should call Your Way Home at 211 or text their zip code to 898-211.
Highlighting the night’s success, Silver revealed in feedback obtained from the Point-in-Time Count survey, that volunteers were “able to engage and just have a conversation with people experiencing homelessness, to understand their situation, to understand their wants and their needs, and help inform us how we can move forward in helping to solve homelessness.”
Lawrence said that figures aren’t expected until “late February or early March,” Silver anticipated that numbers will be on the rise.
“We are absolutely expecting (an) increased Point-inTime Count numbers this year,” she said, going on to say that “we’re expecting higher numbers not just due to Hurricane Ida but all the systemic drivers into homelessness have really worsened since COVID-19: rising rents, rising land prices, with wages not keeping up, and also economic disparities felt because of the impact of COVID-19.”
With these factors leading to an increase in homelessness, limited shelter availability contributes to the problem.
Shelter displacement quandary
The Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center, located on the grounds of Norristown State Hospital, is Montgomery County’s only yearround homeless program for single adults 18 years and older, according to Director Christina Jordan.
The 50-bed facility will soon need to find a place to call home as the Municipality of Norristown is set to convey a 68-acre portion of the property later this year. The organization led by The Resources for Human Development, of Philadelphia, has its lease ending in July.
“If we’re not able to relocate this facility, that takes 50 beds offline already,” said Owen Camuso, regional director of Resources for Human Development, in a December 2021 interview with MediaNews Group.
Norristown’s Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones provided a progress report on the state hospital project to members of the Norristown Municipal Council during a meeting on Feb. 1.