As homelessness numbers continue to surge locally, Carbon County initiated its latest edition of a task force aimed at assisting those in need with a meeting in Jim Thorpe on Friday morning.

Goals included addressing the complex issues faced by those without stable housing, including addiction, mental health problems, lack of affordable housing, and limited access to public transportation.

“I think it’s a good start,” Commissioner Wayne Nothstein. “It’s something to build off of as we break out into committees and talk about how we can improve services and coordinate services among various agencies.”

Kimberly Miller, Executive Director of the Carbon County Action Committee for Human Services, revealed the recent completion of the homeless Point In Time county count.

“We can’t give numbers yet as we have not received surveys back from all the partners,” she said. “I can tell you the homeless count is higher than it’s been in many years. We are also certain that these numbers are only a percentage of what is actually out there.”

Nothstein emphasized the need for sustained effort, dedication, and involvement from various agencies. He underscored the importance of community engagement to ensure the success of any program.

“We need to step up to the plate,” he said. “One or two people on a committee can’t do the job. I hope we develop good goals and more community involvement by various agencies. That is the biggest thing to make any program successful.”

Jessica Jones of the St. Vincent de Paul Society highlighted the opening of a local warming shelter.

“A new member came to a meeting and expressed a concern about a woman in Lehighton living in her car,” she said. “We started thinking about what was going to happen to her and others when the temperature dropped below 20 degrees. A lot of locations turned us down, but at the last minute St Peter’s Community Center in Weissport offered us their basement. We got some cots in there. There was a kitchen with a stove and refrigerator. By 5 p.m. on Jan. 14, the doors were open.”

The warming shelter remained open until Jan. 23. On its final night, the shelter hosted 15 overnight guests.

“A majority of guests were from the Lehighton area with about one-third from other locations,” Jones said. “We were able to tentatively place one person with Peaceful Knights and another with Family Promise.”

Carbon County Commissioner Michael Sofranko brought attention to Tent City, an encampment along the Lehigh River with around 20 homeless residents. Sofranko emphasized the need to build trust with the homeless population, citing their distrust of the system as a significant barrier to progress.

Addressing the legal aspects of such encampments, Carbon County Solicitor Robert Frycklund cautioned against hasty solutions that merely displace individuals without addressing the root causes.

“Many counties will just go through and do a sweep and clear it out, but you have to realize their whole lives are there,” Frycklund explained. “It also doesn’t solve the problem. They aren’t suddenly not homeless anymore. There needs to be a long-term solution and an end goal.”

Shedding light on the broader challenges contributing to homelessness, state Rep. Doyle Heffley described soaring energy costs and the escalating housing market since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local business owner Robbie Furman urged a nuanced approach to address the multifaceted nature of homelessness.

“I think it’s important to try and identify why someone is homeless,” Furman stated, pointing to mental health, financial situations, and personal choices as potential factors.

The task force plans to reconvene on March 8.