Turning now to homeless shelters in the area
Saying they are worried about a much higher demand as the harsh weather elements continue
We spoke with shelter officials about the shortages their experiencing
More and more people are looking for assistance getting a roof over their head according to local shelters.
The Women’s Help Center in Johnstown says it sheltered people throughout the Summer and now that the weather is getting colder the need continues growing.
“Been experiencing with the colder weather now about 50-60 calls with people requesting things like emergency shelters or resources to help prevent evictions so they can stay at home and we on average have been getting about
10-12 people just walking in looking for shelter assistance.”
Shelter officials are saying there are worries about there being a much higher demand for shelters than beds available in the area.
They say they’re seeing an increase in people looking for help with shelter and that trend continues into the colder months leading to a long list of people looking for help.
Executive Director of Family Services in Altoona says the shelter has 35 beds available.
“There are 230 families on the by name list and 42 of those families have children with them, so we are calling people as quickly as we can when. We see just a little bit more and more each month and there’s more families than
we’ve ever seen requesting assistance.”
Women’s Help Center Executive Director Roxann Tyger says their shelter has nine rooms.
“Our shelter here is full. We have a waiting list of about 15 people waiting to get into shelter. We haven’t had a waiting list before, so this is the first time that we’ve been experiencing this and really we’re seeing that ever increasing number of people who are in need of assistance.”
Tyger says she’s shocked by the number of children needing shelter along with their parent or guardian.
She says just in October the Women’s Help Center sheltered nearly 50 kids.