Bucks County Housing Group answering need as more families are food insecure
Dean Bowers had to stop working at his electrical assembly job six months ago following abdominal surgery.
"I haven't had a check in six months," the Langhorne resident said. "I can't work. I'm waiting to collect disability."
But the bags of food he picks up each week from the Bucks County Housing Group Food Distribution Center in Penndel help put food on the table along with the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments he and his household of six receive.
"This place is a savior," he said on the pantry porch Tuesday afternoon.
It was Giving Tuesday and the pantry was extra busy. Some 15 volunteers were there to help insulate storage sheds where extra food could be stored to help the pantry provide for clients like Bowers over the long winter months.
'Giving Tuesday' marks 10th year
Giving Tuesday celebrated its 10th anniversary this year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It was initiated at the 92nd Street Y in New York City run by the Young Men and Young Women's Hebrew Association and has grown into an international movement to promote a day "that encourages people to do good. Over the past nine years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity," the Giving Tuesday movement states.
Retired Central Bucks biology teacher Inge Karlberg-Stannik of Buckingham was among those helping out at the Bucks County Housing Group site in Penndel. She is involved with the Rotary Club and joined other Rotarians in the effort.
"It's the right thing to do. Our club wants to help people meet their basic needs," she said. "We work internationally and locally."
Lisa Pitts of Doylestown Township also volunteered. "I just came on my own," she said.
The Housing Group also has a pantry in Doylestown and she's helped out there before with Girl Scouts and the Doylestown United Methodist Church.
"It's good to help out ... It just brings a lot of joy to me and people around here can use our service."
Help for the homeless and those in need
Homelessness is an issue in Bucks County and BCHG Executive Director Erik Clare said the nonprofit is one of several organizations in the "Bucks County Continuum of Care" that is organized by the county to connect various groups that can provide housing and other services to those in need.
A person who is facing a housing crisis can dial the Bucks County Housing Link number at 1-800-810-4434 to be connected to an agency or agencies that can help them.
The Housing Link provides "a single, coordinated, inclusive housing crisis assistance system" provided by Housing Link members, including the BCHG.
Clare explained that the BCHG has 23 housing units in Penndel, Doylestown, Morrisville and Quakertown that are used to put up the county's most vulnerable residents, including women and children, as a step on the road back to financial security.
Its service is different than the Bucks County Emergency Shelter which provides immediate sheltering for weeks to a few months and is run by the Bucks County Family Service Association.
Residents are sometimes referred from the shelter to the housing group for longer-term assistance when they leave the shelter. The housing group's counselors may help the family re-establish credit or find employment while they remain in residence at one of its apartments for about a year.
In addition, the Housing Group runs the pantry in Penndel and another in Doylestown and is preparing to start a van delivery service for those who cannot get to the pantries.
In 2021, Clare said the BCHG helped 22,872 people, almost half of the approximately 46,000 people facing food insecurity who live in Bucks County. It receives donations from the federal and state government as well as corporate partners and churches, synagogues, and other religious and social groups.
It distributes them each week to people whose income is at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four that would be $51,338 a year.
Since summer, when the federal government cut back on SNAP benefits as part of the CARES Act relief for those affected economically by the COVID crisis, the BCHG has seen a 40% jump in the number of people needing additional food assistance.
Steven Keller, the Penndel site coordinator, said the food distribution center at 349 Durham Road at is open 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Donations are accepted 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays. It serves about 160 individuals or families each week, providing bags of staples like cereal and canned goods as well as fresh produce and dairy products and beef, chicken and pork. For information, call 215-750-4344, ext. 104.
"It's a really good place and Steve does an excellent job," said Leanna Graham of Langhorne who volunteers there each week. She and Lorraine Goodwin, also of Langhorne, were busy packing bags for the day's recipients to pick up.
Goodwin said she formerly worked at St. Mary's Medical Center which collected thousands of pounds of food donations that she would drop off at the Penndel center. She got to know the others helping there and decided to join the team. "I wanted to volunteer and make the bags for people," she said. "It's a great, great place."
Volunteer Fred Gropper of Yardley said he enjoys talking to those who come for donations. "I go up to the clients and say goofy things and make them laugh," he said.
The pantry at 470 Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown is open 4:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays and 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. The best time to drop off donations is 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Information: 215-345-4311, ex. 101.
While Giving Tuesday has passed, Clare said the BCHG can always use more volunteers, especially now as its preparing to start a van service to drop off food for those in need who can't get to the pantry.
"We're always open to volunteers," he said.
For more information on the BCHG, visit https://bchg.org/.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County Housing Group pantries answer increasing need
