An organization that provides services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity and/or food insecurity plans to open a building next month in downtown Lehighton.

Willow Foundation’s Alderwood Office plans to be fully operational at its space at 191 S. First St. by mid-May, according to Amanda Gipson, CEO, Willow Foundation, who noted that Willow names all of its locations after trees.

Gipson said the conversation began with St. Vincent de Paul, whose Cold Weather Station had been operating a seasonal day program and recognized a broader need in the community.

She said St. Vincent de Paul continues its own work with the Cold Weather Station, and added St. Vincent de Paul invited Willow Foundation to address the wider gap with a separate, year-round program serving Carbon County residents generally — anyone who needs help organizing next steps toward their own goals and reaching the services already in place.

“The First Street location was chosen because it is a small office and meeting point where staff can sit down with residents and help them work toward their goals,” Gipson said. “A community resource hub does not change the landscape of a community. Its work is to connect what already exists and help strengthen the existing resources and systems through greater connectivity.

Gipson highlighted the services the building will provide, noting that Alderwood’s work is connective.

“Staff help Carbon County residents reach the services already in place across the region — counseling, recovery support, primary care, benefits assistance, employment resources — and walk through the practical steps that turn awareness of a resource into engagement with it: making the appointment, completing the application, returning the call,” she said. “Each person who makes an appointment at Alderwood develops goals, and those goals determine what steps they take.”

Gipson said that the work that serves Carbon County is already being done by many hands — by churches, by long-standing community agencies, by united funds and community foundations, by county agencies, by neighbors.

“In many communities, a neighbor may know help exists somewhere. A working parent may know there’s help with utility bills. A senior citizen may know there are programs that help with heating bills and home repairs. Someone out of work may know there are resources to help them reenter the workplace.

“What is harder to know is where to begin, how to start, what to do next. The local infrastructure exists. Alderwood exists to ensure access to it.”

Gipson noted that Willow Foundation serves as an umbrella organization for community programs that are different in every place Willow works.

“Each program reflects the community it serves — its needs, its existing partners, its strengths — and Willow does not run the same program twice,” she said. “Willow’s work is relational. It begins with listening: to participants, to partners, to the people already doing the work in a community.”

“That kind of foundation takes time to build, which is why Alderwood is in its earliest phase. The office space is expected to be fully operational by mid-May.”

Gipson discussed the overriding goal of providing these services.

“The goal is to make existing resources easier to access and easier to use,” she said. “Alderwood’s role is to help residents reach the people already doing that work.”

Mayor supports initiative

Lehighton Mayor Ryan Saunders said that as part of the homeless task force, he regularly attends the meetings and is in constant communication with the Lehighton Cold Weather Station volunteers.

“Obviously we have a camping ordinance prohibiting any type of camping in borough, I have been regularly conveying that ordinance to them (Lehighton Cold Weather Station) so that they do not set up camp anywhere in the borough,” Saunders said.

He met with the Lehighton Cold Weather Station and a representative from Willow Foundation.

“At that meeting, they advised me that they have secured a multiyear lease for a building on First Street where they will be conducting case worker services to the homeless individuals where they will get access to computer systems telephones, drug and alcohol services. They will eventually have medical staff that will help with some sort of drug and alcohol rehab, and they’ll be assisting them in entering governmental programs to help them better their situation and help them get enrolled in the programs that they need to help them.”

Saunders said, “I told them I need to get in front of our community to make sure our downtown business district knew this is coming and what they may potentially expect once this happens. I did not want anybody in our downtown business district to be blindsided by an influx on First Street.”

He set up a meeting with the Lehighton Area Merchants Association, the borough manager, the police chief, and Lehighton Downtown Initiative.

Saunder said services will be offered to Carbon County/Lehighton specifically, it’s only a small part of a multitiered program that he believes is their intentions for future progress. “Although I respect their intentions, and I think the services they are going to be providing I think are absolutely needed and think is a fantastic thing for the homeless community, I personally do not think First Street in Lehighton was the ideal location in Lehighton for it,” he said.

Saunders said police will have a strong presence downtown “to make sure all of our laws and ordinances are followed, and we’re going to do our best to make sure that our business district remains safe, and that the patrons in our downtown business district feel safe about coming downtown and shopping with local businesses down there.”

He invited Willow Foundation to the borough council meeting on Monday.

Willow Foundation

Willow Foundation, a Northeastern Pennsylvania nonprofit organization, was approached by Hazleton about helping address housing and food insecurity in the city. In response to that request, in 2021 Heartwood began providing services within weeks.

Gipson said the founders bring a combined 50 years of leadership experience in human services, and Willow’s five-member board of directors have backgrounds in behavioral health, academic research, nonprofit operations, and clinical practice.

Willow employs 20 staff members across its programs, supported by trained volunteers and graduate-level interns from regional universities.

In 2025, Willow Foundation supported more than 17,000 visits across its programs, serving residents from Wilkes-Barre to Hazleton, Tamaqua to Peckville.