Plans for transitional family housing in Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Last month, a homeless camp was cleared out in Wilkes-Barre, leaving many people and families looking for shelter.

Plans are in the works to help provide housing for homeless families.

Keystone Mission is continuing its efforts to help the homeless population here in Wilkes-Barre.

The former Thomas C Thomas complex on East Union Street in Wilkes-Barre could soon have a new purpose. Keystone Mission is planning to fix it up and create at least four apartments for homeless families.

“There’s definitely a need. We see that there are a lot of families that are homeless, some of them even spending a year or close to a year, sometimes over a year in hotels due to the inability to access housing that they can afford,” said Danielle Keith-Alexandre, CEO & executive director of Keystone Mission.

The faith-based nonprofit obtained approval from Luzerne County Council to use 300,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act allocation to lease and remodel the space. The county’s children, youth, and families agency is expected to help identify the families in need,

“This will give them the opportunity to have stable and functional housing, not just for them, but also for the children in the family, which will in part have an impact on their education,” added Keith Alexandre.

It’s just steps away from the Keystone Mission Innovation Center which serves as a temporary homeless shelter for men and women, where we found guest Wendy Pattison.

“I am an ex-government worker and retired from Tubbyhanna Army Depot. So I mean I’ve never been involved with drugs, never been involved with alcohol, it’s just that I was always giving to someone, and I just gave everything away,” added Pattison.

Keystone Mission’s services are always in demand, and they’ve seen an uptick in foot traffic since the homeless camp removal in Kirby Park.

“I find that people have a poor judgment on homeless people. They stereotype us as druggies, or alcoholics, or something like that, and they’re afraid of us. But I find the homeless community is a very strong community, they help each other,” stated Pattison.

Renovations are expected to start in November, and the fully furnished apartments are expected to be ready by January.

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