Winter Newsletter
February 2015
C OALITION N EWS
Coalition to Shelter and Support the Homeless 7661 Easton Rd. Ottsville, PA 18942 215-371-3945
Visit us on the Web at www.co2ssh.org
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Dear Volunteers,
Thank you for all of your hard work,
dedication and spirit this Code Blue
season. By the time you receive this
newsletter our shelter will have opened
nearly three dozen nights. We couldn’t
have done it without all of you so from
the bottom of my heart, a sincere thank
you!
2015 Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Jessie Alfaro, Executive Director / Treasurer
Bob Clark, President
Deb Neidhardt, Vice President
Anne Bishop, Secretary
Board Members
Tony Alfaro
Jeff Griffin
Harold Haas
Carrie Kaiser
Karla Leone
Mara Sitasz
Lynda Vesely
I am pleased to tell you about a recent
decision to partner with A Woman’s
Place this coming year and to share our
many combined resources. In many
ways we both have similar agendas –
helping others and especially those who
may be less fortunate. We both strive to
help people create a new life for
themselves and we are incredibly
excited for the opportunity to work
together and lend each other assistance.
Board Members-at-Large
Raphael Alfaro
Again, thank you so much for making
this Code Blue season so successful
and please keep signing up for Code
Blue nights! It’s a chilly winter and the
homeless are counting on each of us.
Our Mission Statement
Coalition to Shelter and Support the Homeless
(CSSH) is an alliance of faith-based and
community service organizations working to
assist unsheltered adults in Central Bucks
County, Pennsylvania. Our first priority is to
provide shelter to the homeless on Code Blue
nights. At the same time, we try to link the
homeless to needed resources within our
community such as food, clothing, healthcare
and education. All work is done in a spirit of
respect for the individual, and without regard to
gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation,
religious or political beliefs.
Sincerely,
Jessie Alfaro
If you want happiness for an hour—take a
nap. If you want happiness for a day – go
fishing. If you want happiness for a year –
inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for
a lifetime – help someone less fortunate.
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the stress of trying to complete a roster and
scrambling to find last minute coverage.
Shelter Statistics
CSSH kicked off our Code Blue season
beginning December 2nd at Neshaminy
Warwick Presbyterian Church. During this
month we sheltered 10 different individuals and
averaged 4-5 people per night. In January, our
host site location shifted to Trinity Episcopal in
Buckingham and along with colder weather
settling into place, we immediately began
seeing additional guests. We are currently
averaging about 10 guests per night at Trinity
and we fully expect these numbers to grow as
we move deeper into winter and our
temperatures drop.
Remember…in order to open our shelter we
MUST have a complete roster by 12noon of
any given day. There are no exceptions.
There can be no “let me see if someone else
signs up / wait and see” attitudes – because
if we don’t have a complete roster in place,
we will close.
Besides needing to know if we have a complete
volunteer roster, our homeless guests need to
know whether or not they need to find alternate
shelter for the night. Being told at the “last
minute” that we are closed makes this more
difficult for them. We are doing our best to
maintain consistency in their lives – which often
lack consistency. Our guests depend on us in
more ways than you can ever imagine. Lets
make certain that we are there for them
throughout the remainder of our 2015 season.
Our special thanks to our host site coordinators:
Sandi Flynn and Paul Augustine (Neshaminy –
Warwick), as well as Lynda Vesely (Trinity), for
all of your hard work and long hours. Your
dedication has made for a successful start to
the Bode Blue season.
From our Code Blue Coordinator
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered
this season filling the 14 positions needed each
evening allowing us to open the shelter. The
shelter is currently located at Trinity Episcopal
Church in Buckingham and will move to
Doylestown Presbyterian on January 31st for
February and St. Paul’s Lutheran on February
28th for March to conclude our season.
Christmas Day at Neshaminy
Warwick Presbyterian Church
December 25th was a huge success and very
rewarding for both the volunteers and guests.
There were six guests and lots of volunteers. In
the morning, they slept in, which they loved. A
big breakfast was prepared which was really
enjoyed by everyone present. Music was
played and the talk flowed freely. Showers were
open and everyone really felt better; then on to
watching a movie and playing some cards.
To everyone’s surprise a donkey arrived, yes, a
real live donkey. It made the guests smile and
all got in some pets and hugs (Bill Chicoski got
the biggest hug). It was a delightful thing. Later
several young ladies arrived with their families
and played Christmas carols on the piano and
invited the guests to sing along which was
incredibly pleasant and enjoyable. The young
girls and their families enjoyed being there and
being part of something special.
I am happy to report that 105 people attended
and completed our training courses offered this
Fall at five different training sessions. This
brings our list of trained volunteers to just shy of
300. Sadly, not everyone has fulfilled their
obligation to commit to our request for advance
sign-up leaving the majority of our shifts being
covered by the same 40 or so volunteers. It is
this core group of dedicated individuals that is
helping to keep this shelter open and available
to our homeless population on these cold winter
nights.
Please…if you haven’t yet committed to
working a shift at the shelter, I ask that you go
to http://cssh.volunteerhub.com/ today and take
a few minutes to commit to working a couple of
shifts. Doing this will go a long way to reducing
Lunch was terrific, grilled cheese and tomato
soup. What could be better? In the afternoon
the guests helped make gingerbread houses
and gifts were given out. All of this made the
day special and memorable.
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Dinner, of course, is always a fun meal on
Christmas Day. We all spend that day with
family and friends, and have an amazing time
with fun and laughter. That’s the feeling that we
hope the guests had that day.
Transportation / Van News
Additional Stop: in an attempt to better reach
our homeless population, CSSH will once again
modify the pickup locations and van route
starting February 1st with our move to
Doylestown Presbyterian. The new route will
become American Eagle Diner New Hope
(7pm), Wal-mart Warminster (7:35pm),
Redner’s Market Doylestown (7:55pm),
Doylestown Library (8:00pm), Doylestown
Wendy’s (8:15pm) continuing on to host site
church with arrival to be 8:30pm. Directions and
Van route will be posted inside the van for
driver and attendant to reference.
Our volunteers did an amazing job and gave up
time with their own families to make this day
special. It’s a proud thing that Neshaminy
opened their doors to these special people.
This is such a rewarding way to help others and
you always leave with a full heart.
Thank you again to everyone who has helped
with Code Blue in December.
Safety Vests
A BIG Thank You!
Two high visibility safety vests have recently
been added inside the van for both driver and
attendant. Because there are several
opportunities where you may have to step out
of the van and into darkness, we ask that you
place these over the top of your outerwear
(both AM/PM shifts) and give yourself an added
layer of protection and visibility. Thank you
Steve Downs and Jeff Griffin for donating these
important safety items.
We wish to thank our friends at Kershaw & Fritz
Goodyear Tire of Doylestown for assisting us
with our request for new snow tires for the van.
Last season’s severe cold, ice, and snow
pushed the limits of performance and safety for
our “regular tires” and caused concerns on the
part of the board of directors. The safety of our
volunteers and our guests is paramount, and
the more appropriate snow/ice treads that were
chosen will go a long way to ensure everyone’s
safety this season. Thank you Dave Fritz (store
manager), for your thoughtfulness and
commitment to community. And to our
volunteers…should you need automotive
assistance, don’t hesitate to give the folks at
Kershaw & Fritz a ring and mention that you are
one of our volunteers
Sign and Drive
Are you a trained driver but haven’t yet
volunteered to work a shift? What’s stopping
you? To be honest, driver and driver assistant
are two of the more engaging volunteer
positions available. You have a chance to
interact with our guests prior to their arriving at
the shelter and before you know it – you’re
done and back home. Don’t hesitate…sign up
today!
Commonly asked questions
regarding our Code Blue shelter:
What if parents show up with children at the
shelter or are at a van stop and need
shelter? Unfortunately, we are unable to
accept children who are under 18 years of age.
There is a shelter specifically for youth but
obviously we don’t want to separate a parent
and child. In this case, obtain the contact
information for this guest and have the board
member on call contact Jessie. Arrangements
Jeff Griffin (board member) and Dave Fritz (manager)
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will be made to put this family up in a hotel
setting (probably for 2 nights) which will give us
adequate time to contact Children and Youth
Services Bucks County.
listing of those volunteers signed up to work
that particular night. You can print this roster
out so you have it with you at the shelter. The
list contains the names, volunteer position,
email and phone number in the event you need
to contact someone. PLEASE be sure to shred
or remove your copy from the shelter upon
leaving so that we can continue to keep
personal information as private as possible.
What about guests with pets?
First of all…this rarely happens but should it
occur, we have a contingency plan. Animals
are not allowed at any of our Code Blue shelter
locations for a variety of reasons nor are they
allowed in our van. Arrangements can be
made, however, for assistance with ASPCA.
Contact information is located both in the van
and at the shelter. Should this happen while
you are working, contact the BMOC (Board
Member on Call).
Volunteer Hub Updates Needed
Please update your account on Volunteer Hub
by going to our website, clicking on “Volunteer”,
then clicking on volunteer hub. Sign in, click
“Your Account” in the upper right-hand corner
and follow the prompts to check your
information. Be sure to check all boxes that
apply and to complete your preferences as to
where you desire to work during Code Blue
nights as well as your gender. This will make it
easier for us to email specific volunteers groups
where a specific job needs to be filled without
having to send an email blast to the entire
volunteer corp. Also…please do not call the
CSSH office to sign up for volunteer shifts.
Instead…go to http://cssh.volunteerhub.com/
Thank you!
I haven’t worked any of the shifts yet and
am hesitant to sign up. How will I know
what to do?
Not to worry…there are plenty of experienced
people at the shelter on any given night and
there is a trained BMOC (Board Member on
Call) that will help to guide you through the
experience. Volunteering can be very fun and
rewarding. Please do not hold back from
signing up because of these fears. We all have
to start someplace, so why not just borrow the
Nike saying and “just do it”! BTW…several
“newbies” have come down and observed and
shadowed someone doing your job. You are
welcome to do this any night that we are open if
it helps you to get your feet wet. You will NOT
be turned away and there is always something
to do.
How do I know who is a guest and who is a
volunteer? Aha…in the past this could be a
real challenge. Recently, identification badges
were created and made available to our
volunteers. These are located in our equipment
bins at the signup desk. Please seek them out
upon your arrival and then be sure to pass them
off to your replacement or to place back in the
bin upon completion of your shift. We only
have so many, so if you have accidentally taken
one home with you, please return it to the
shelter as soon as you are able. These ID
badges are a simple lanyard style and work well
to identify our volunteer corp.
Volunteers: Becky Bernstein (and son) with Michael Hutkin
Students Lend a Helping Hand
Kudos to the young men and women of Central
Bucks East High School Key Club who
partnered with us this fall and provided CSSH
with restaurant gift cards, hand warmers, as
well as a check for cash donations that were
collected at the school. All totaled the
donations were valued at nearly $500 and were
Who will be working with me on a night I’ve
signed up? Once our roster is complete, our
Code Blue coordinator will email out a complete
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immediately put to good use with our guests.
Next year we hope to continue this relationship
with a fund drive effort at the East/West football
game at the NEW CB East stadium.
Going the extra mile
Just recently, it became apparent that one of
our young guests was having some serious
vision issues. Without prescription contact
lenses, his vision was severely impaired and he
was squinting constantly to see. Realizing how
difficult it must have been (let alone exist
homeless) board member Jeff Griffin reached
out to a local eye doctor for assistance. We
would like to thank Dr. Curt Gottlieb of Allied
Eye Care in Doylestown, who provided our
guest with a complimentary vision exam and
courtesy pair of glasses. Words can’t describe
the joy many of us felt as a smile came across
the face of our young guest for the first time
since meeting him.
Monthly Community Meals
Hats off to our many volunteers who have
worked tirelessly to provide a wonderful meal
for our homeless guests or those less fortunate
and residing within our community. The
Community Meals are held on the first Sunday
of each month from 2pm-4pm at Trinity
Episcopal Church in Buckingham. These meals
are open to anyone interested and are
consistently well attended. There are many
areas of need ranging from setup, kitchen /
prep food, or just hanging out at one of the
tables and shooting the breeze with our guests.
We think the experience will leave you with a
positive experience and a smile on your face.
FYI…the February meal will start a little earlier
(12:30pm) so that anybody going to our Winter
Fundraising Concert can attend both events.
Special arrangements have also been made to
open up at Doylestown Presbyterian Church a
few hours earlier that night so that our guests
and volunteers can watch the Super Bowl.
Outreach Committee Notes
The Outreach Committee has now met on
several occasions and any CSSH volunteer is
welcome to attend. This is the perfect
opportunity to come together and help gameplan important activities such as communicating
with the homeless, community education and
awareness or just staying in touch with other
service organizations, the local police forces
and the community (at large) to familiarize them
with our services.
A very special thanks to Susan Laphen, who
came out and worked our last community meal
on her birthday. Now THAT is what we call
dedication to community! Thank you Susan!
Perhaps this is the perfect alternative for those
individuals who may not be able to cover shifts
at the Code Blue Shelters. Do you have a
couple of hours to spare to help post flyers
throughout the area, or could you spend some
time performing some outreach work at one of
our local food pantries? It’s easy, there is no
stress and you get a chance to be an important
component of what makes CSSH successful.
The next Outreach Committee meeting will be
Sunday 2/8 @ 2:30pm at Doylestown Library.
Recently, one of our homeless guests offered
us a tip regarding a homeless encampment.
With the help of Allan Johnson (Mental health
advocate and outreach worker for Bucks
County), Rob “Woody” Wood (Youth outreach /
runaway / trafficking) for Synergy Project and
Jeff Griffin (CSSH Board Member) the team
searched a wooded area near Kmart as well as
pipes and tunnels near Septa railroad tracks in
Susan Laphen (volunteer) with
Raphael Alfaro (board member)
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Doylestown and found evidence of recent
homeless activity. While no homeless were
located, information on how to obtain
assistance was left at the site and at some point
in the near future, we will visit that site again in
hopes of making direct contact with any
homeless.
CSSH is on Facebook
Please “like” our page and share with your
friends on FB. Special thanks to Doug Keith
who has recently volunteered to apply his
knowledge of social media and take over the
handling of our Facebook page.
Other Stuff…
CSSH has a number of opportunities to get
involved with committees, volunteer activities,
board roles, community outreach, fundraising
and office work. If you are interested in taking
on a more active role within the organization,
have a special talent to offer us or are just
feeling the need to help on a greater level,
please reach out to us or better yet consider
coming to one of our monthly board meetings
held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
Meetings are held at Doylestown Presbyterian
Church and begin at 7pm. All are welcome!
Rob Wood (Synergy Project) and
Allan Johnson (Bucks Co. Mental Health Advocate)
Revised Guidelines for Code Blue
Bucks County Commissioners recently agreed
to revise the current Code Blue policy. Code
Blue will be called if conditions create a public
health risk to those who may not have stable or
appropriate shelter. Determining factors will
include temperatures lower than 20 degrees,
but may also be called with higher temps based
on consideration of wind chill, precipitation, or
other circumstances and may also be called for
a single night’s duration where in the past it
involved multiple days of
Board members Anne Bishop and Antonio Alfaro at a
recent training session
Donations Appreciated
Winter Concert Fundraiser
Several of you have asked about donating
items and we sincerely appreciate all that you
do. What we find is most helpful is to have gift
cards on hand in smaller denominations ($5 or
$10), phone minutes for Trac phone usage, or
local fast food restaurants (Wendy’s,
McDonalds, etc.) that allow us to give a smaller
item to several guests vs. one large gift card
that is hard to split up. If you are thinking of
donating gift cards, why not call us at the office
to check and see if a specific item is needed.
One thing we do ask is that you allow us to
distribute items directly to our guests so that we
can share items equally amongst our guests.
We are happy to announce that the Palisades
Community Chorus will be holding a benefit
concert for CSSH and support of the homeless
on Sunday, February 1st at 3pm. The concert
will be held at Doylestown United Methodist
Church followed by a gala reception at 4pm
hosted by A Woman’s Place of Doylestown.
Our very own director, Jessie Alfaro, will be
performing as a soprano in the chorus! All of
our volunteers were recently mailed tickets that
we hope you will consider purchasing as a gift
or donation. Additional tickets are available
online at our website www.co2ssh.org or by
calling 215-550-3578 for a donation of $20 for
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adults or $10 for students. If unable to attend,
please consider purchasing your tickets and
giving them to someone who you think might
like to attend. Thank you all for your generous
support of this benefit concert. FYI…this is also
Super Bowl Sunday but we guarantee that you
will be done and home sitting on your sofa in
plenty of time for kickoff.
invited to grab a few items prior to leaving the
shelter each morning. This has been a great
addition and allows us to be sure food items are
reaching their intended targets – our guests.
Partnering News
Rolling Hills Church: This congregation,
located in Pipersville, has recently expressed
interest in helping us out at CSSH and came
through big-time a few weeks ago with a
generous donation of gift bags that were
handed out at the last community meal. We
would also like to thank the anonymous donor
who contributed $900 worth of gift cards for our
guests. These cards have come in very handy
and have been given to our guests each
morning so that they could obtain some
additional food. They are also used in some of
our outreach efforts as well. Currently, our
guest supplies committee is overseeing the
distribution of this most generous gift. Thank
you Rolling Hills!
Board Member Lynda Vesely stocking supplies!
Homeless and Hunger Facts
According to the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights, there is an estimated 100 million
homeless people worldwide.
As of 2013, the number of homeless people
sleeping each night in the New York City shelter
system was already over 60,000, 22,000 of
which were children. NYC is also the top U.S.
city for homelessness.
Lack of affordable housing and homeless
shelters has contributed to the alarming number
homeless people throughout the U.S.
According to the film, “A place at the table”,
nearly 50 million Americans – including one in
four children - -live in food insecure households.
They don’t know where their next meal is
coming from and it’s often a source of worry
and stress.
Board Member Raphael Alfaro (2nd from left)
with members of Rolling Hills Church
There are 3 Code Blue Shelters in Bucks
County (North, Central and South), one full time
shelter serving approximately 75 people and
over 30 food pantries serving our residents.
The Goodie Fridge
Some of you may have noticed the small white
“dorm size” fridge that was recently loaned to
CSSH for placement at our shelter sites. This
fridge is stocked with a selection of small items
(beverage, pudding, yogurt, etc.) that our
guests can have access to at any time
throughout their evening with us and are also
Do you have additional content that you
would like to share for our next newsletter?
Photographs of our volunteers (not guests) is
always welcomed and can be submitted to
Jeff Griffin at jl.griffin@outlook.com
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