The Breaking Bread Community Center, a homeless shelter in Upper Darby, has a $500,000 hole in its operating budget after Delaware County implemented funding cuts.
The shelter needs to close the deficit by May, or it will close its doors, writes Ximena Conde for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The shelter is no longer open during the day, twice-daily food service is gone, and leadership cut its pay.
“I’m working around the clock with private donors and small grants, but it’s so competitive because everyone else is already there as well,” said Luke Stivala, co-executive director of the shelter.
Delaware County spokesperson Michael Connolly said the county’s $1 million budget cut to the adult and family services agency, which is affecting Breaking Bread and two other emergency shelters, was triggered by federal funding cuts and the loss of the Crozer Health System.
Crozer provided behavioral health services, so the county had to use other funding to support those areas, reducing resources to support unhoused residents, Connolly said in a statement.
Homeless and housing advocates warn that services for these populations are already stretched thin, and another resource loss will worsen an existing crisis.
Read more reactions and actions taken to try to cope with the funding loss in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
