WILKES-BARRE — The city council took a step to help homeless people during its meeting on Thursday. Council members unanimously agreed to give $109,500 in American Rescue Plan money to Keystone Mission, a nonprofit based on faith.
The money will help the emergency shelter to expand its hours and provide overnight housing every night for the next year. After that, Keystone Mission will cover the costs on its own.
Currently, the shelter is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Mayor George Brown believes that extending the hours is a positive step.
“I think this is very important, and I fully support it,” said Brown.
“Instead of staying beside the river or under the bridges, homeless people will now have a place to go. This is very important because homelessness is a major issue for the city,” he added.
Keystone Mission has shelters in both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. The Wilkes-Barre location opened last October and the CEO and executive director Danielle O. Keith-Alexander says the shelter has been used by an average of 50-60 people per day.
Apart from providing shelter, Keystone Mission also helps with getting identification documents, housing applications, educational programs, as well as providing free haircuts, meals, laundry services, clothing, showers, and more.
“The goal is for them to be able to function independently once they are ready to move forward,” said Keith-Alexander. She mentioned that Keystone Mission will be able to offer overnight services for around 50 homeless individuals at a time.
The council reacted positively to the proposal, and Councilman Stan Mirin agreed that it would be beneficial for the city.
“It’s a great idea. I often pass by and see families waiting there, and it's sometimes heartbreaking. What you do is really great,” he said.
Councilman Mike Belusko asked if shelter residents would have the freedom to come and go, to which Keith-Alexander said that they would not, and residents would have to enter the building around 9:30 p.m. for the night.
“Once they're inside, they stay for the night and we monitor it to ensure there's no in-and-out traffic late at night,” she said.
In the morning, shelter residents would have to leave by 7 a.m. to allow enough time to prepare the space for the day’s activities.
Wilkes-Barre resident Angel Mathis expressed concerns about whether shelter residents would have to take part in religious activities to receive services, and Keith-Alexander clarified that this is not required, despite Keystone Mission being a faith-based nonprofit.
“Even though Keystone Mission is based on faith, no one needs to attend any bible study or religious activities to receive services,” she said.
Wilkes-Barre resident Linda Joseph addressed the council to request their support for the funding.
Joseph stated that there is a significant issue with homelessness in the city which affects everyone. He believes that efforts should be made to help homeless individuals find jobs or at least have shelter during extreme weather, and sees this as the right direction to take.
City payroll upgrades
The city is considering a three-year agreement with iSolved to upgrade its payroll system.
The updated system, costing $189,638 and funded through a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Early Intervention Program grant, will relieve the Human Resources department from the manual calculation of payroll, taxes, and other tasks.
City Administrator Charles McCormick stated that the upgraded system will remove payroll responsibilities from HR, leading to fewer errors, improved efficiency, and reduced administrative costs.
He also expressed that this upgrade should have been done a long time ago.
Joseph defended the agenda item and referred to her own experience with payroll.
She mentioned past occurrences of incorrect W2s being issued by the end of the year, and emphasized that updating the system is long overdue.
The council approved the sale of a piece of land at 120 Sambourne Street to Antar Gales for $1,000.
