Bracing for impact

Yahoo

17-03-2025

The people who help the homeless in Schuylkill County worry that potential federal funding cuts now being discussed could hurt services that they provide locally to people in need.
In the first two months of President Donald Trump's second term, the newly established Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk has cut spending across various federal departments and is attempting to enact further reductions, according to reports.
Many of those moves are raising concerns about what will happen to community programs that rely on them, and the talk of cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget are among those that advocates for the homeless fear will limit the help they can provide.
Servants to All, which runs My Father's House in Pottsville, the only homeless shelter in Schuylkill, gets about 20% of its funding from a HUD Emergency Solutions Grant, amounting to about $100,000.
The nonprofit uses that money to run the shelter, conduct homeless prevention work and do street outreach for those living outdoors, said Jeanette Triano-Sinn, executive director.
Though the organization also receives private grants, donations and state funding, with homelessness on the rise continually in Schuylkill over the last eight years, that federal grant is important, she said.
Last year, Servants to All provided shelter housing to 295 individuals and families.
'It makes a big impact,' she said of the federal funds.
Shelterforce, an independent publication reporting on affordable housing issues, has said that widespread grant delays, plans for mass firings and rescinded job offers at HUD could threaten the agency's basic functions and take down countless homeless service agencies and nonprofits along with it.
Triano-Sinn said that while she shares those concerns, it's too early to say what will happen with the federal funding her organization receives.
As of now the nonprofit has not been affected, so Servants to All is performing its usual work each day, she said.
'In an ideal world everything (funding) will stay as it is,' she said. 'We hope there are no changes. We want to be able to continue what we do.'
Housing concerns
Service Access Management (SAM) in Pottsville offers housing assistance to individuals and families, helping them to find and maintain appropriate living arrangements.
Housing coordinator Shawn Frankenstein also said that it is unclear what will happen to federal funding used locally for homeless services. So far, he has not been notified of funding reductions despite the discussions under way by DOGE, he said.
'Am I concerned? Of course, a bit,' he said.
The SAM office relies mostly on state funds but also receives federal money through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and its Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, or PATH, program.
PATH funds services for people with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness in all 50 states, supporting about 450 local organizations nationally that offer services and supports not available through mainstream mental health programs. That includes rehabilitation, community mental health, substance use disorders treatment, referrals for primary health care, job training, educational services and housing services.
Deanna Orlowsky, executive director of the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services, is also monitoring what will happen with federal funding now used in the county for housing services.
'If there will be funding reductions for housing subsidies it could greatly impact our older adults and those with disabilities,' she said.
Officials with the Pottsville Housing Authority and Schuylkill County Housing Authority were not available for comment Monday.