Hungry and Homeless in Bradford
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
When you think about people being hungry and homeless, you might not think about Bradford.
But YWCA Executive Director Amy Pierce says both are problems here.
"Our homeless shelter is currently operating at full capacity with a waiting list of about 14 people," Pierce said on Monday's LiveLine on WESB. "As soon as someone finds a place, (the shelter) fills right back up."
As for the food pantry, she says, "We had a record week right before Thanksgiving," serving 70 families in two hours.
But the problem didn't start with the onset of the holiday season.
Mandi Wilton Davis, executive assistant with The United Way of the Bradford Area, says that back in August she saw a 5- or 6-year-old boy standing in the food pantry line.
Davis, who has a son that age, says she was struck hard when thinking "someone that small is standing in line at the food pantry."
She says she noticed that the boy was crying and soon heard him tell the woman he was with "We're too far back in line. We're never going to get any food."
"I can't believe that's what 5 year olds in our community have to worry about right now," Davis says. "Imagine when you were 5 or 6 years old and what worries you had. I'd be willing to bet it wasn't how far back you stood at the food pantry to receive food."
She says homelessness is a growing problem in Bradford, too.
"It happens right here in our community and people have to be aware of that," Davis says.
She and Pierce say they expect the needs to grow as the temperatures get lower and home heating costs go up.
Pierce says some people are prioritizing their bills by deciding whether they should buy groceries or heat their homes.
"It's difficult, and it's getting tougher for people," Pierce says. "It's going to be a tough winter."
She stresses that people who are having financial problems are not spending frivolously.
"It's not a matter of bad budgeting," she says. "They really have cut down to the point where there's nothing left to cut."
She says that people on the waiting list for the homeless shelter "couch surf" with friends and family, if they're "lucky." If they're not, they sleep in their cars.
Pierce says that one night in January, all agencies in Pennsylvania that receive funding to help homeless people have to go out and count people who are living in parks, parking lots and under bridges.
"We do find them," she says.
Pierce says she's heard people say Bradford doesn't have a problem with homelessness because no one sees it.
"That's because we're taking care of it," she says. "A lot of the United Way agencies are doing different things to help the people in need.
"Without United Way funding," Pierce says, "you would see people sleeping in (Veterans) Square."
WESB/WBRR News Director
When you think about people being hungry and homeless, you might not think about Bradford.
But YWCA Executive Director Amy Pierce says both are problems here.
"Our homeless shelter is currently operating at full capacity with a waiting list of about 14 people," Pierce said on Monday's LiveLine on WESB. "As soon as someone finds a place, (the shelter) fills right back up."
As for the food pantry, she says, "We had a record week right before Thanksgiving," serving 70 families in two hours.
But the problem didn't start with the onset of the holiday season.
Mandi Wilton Davis, executive assistant with The United Way of the Bradford Area, says that back in August she saw a 5- or 6-year-old boy standing in the food pantry line.
Davis, who has a son that age, says she was struck hard when thinking "someone that small is standing in line at the food pantry."
She says she noticed that the boy was crying and soon heard him tell the woman he was with "We're too far back in line. We're never going to get any food."
"I can't believe that's what 5 year olds in our community have to worry about right now," Davis says. "Imagine when you were 5 or 6 years old and what worries you had. I'd be willing to bet it wasn't how far back you stood at the food pantry to receive food."
She says homelessness is a growing problem in Bradford, too.
"It happens right here in our community and people have to be aware of that," Davis says.
She and Pierce say they expect the needs to grow as the temperatures get lower and home heating costs go up.
Pierce says some people are prioritizing their bills by deciding whether they should buy groceries or heat their homes.
"It's difficult, and it's getting tougher for people," Pierce says. "It's going to be a tough winter."
She stresses that people who are having financial problems are not spending frivolously.
"It's not a matter of bad budgeting," she says. "They really have cut down to the point where there's nothing left to cut."
She says that people on the waiting list for the homeless shelter "couch surf" with friends and family, if they're "lucky." If they're not, they sleep in their cars.
Pierce says that one night in January, all agencies in Pennsylvania that receive funding to help homeless people have to go out and count people who are living in parks, parking lots and under bridges.
"We do find them," she says.
Pierce says she's heard people say Bradford doesn't have a problem with homelessness because no one sees it.
"That's because we're taking care of it," she says. "A lot of the United Way agencies are doing different things to help the people in need.
"Without United Way funding," Pierce says, "you would see people sleeping in (Veterans) Square."
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