2008 News

February 4, 2008

Commissioners Urge Gov. Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania DCED Officials to Reconsider Red Cross Homeless Shelter Funding Loss

In a letter dated Jan. 31, 2008, the Board of Bucks County Commissioners – Chairman James F. Cawley, Esq., Vice-Chairman Charles H. Martin and Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW – reached out to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell, state Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson, state Reps. Dwight Evans, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Anthony J. Melio, Gene DiGirolamo and John T. Galloway to request reconsideration of the recent loss of $100,000 of funding for the Red Cross Homeless Shelter in Levittown.

The letter addressed last October’s notification from the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) – Center for Community Development that it was not renewing the federal Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) to support the shelter’s operations. Since that announcement, the commissioners have met with shelter officials and taken multiple steps to address the funding loss.

“The (funding loss) notification came as a surprise, particularly in light of the commonwealth’s steady annual funding support for the operations of the shelter for many years,” the commissioners wrote. “Annually, the shelter serves over 400 homeless individuals and families, with single parents encompassing over 80 percent of the families and children making up more than half of the total residents.”

Concerned that the funding loss (or roughly 10 percent of the shelter’s operating budget) will result “in reductions in critical support services and staff reductions,” the commissioners asked the aforementioned state officials to consider two options. They included “having the DCED review and reconsider its rejection decision,” and “ensuring that the state continues its annual support for the Red Cross Shelter operations.”