The Community Action Agency of Delaware County, which operates three homeless shelters and a rental assistance program, is starting to open some doors.
A lack of a state budget had the organization reduce capacity at one of its shelters by 50 percent and close the other two on Nov. 1.
With the state budget impasse over, funds are expected to arrive in the next 30 to 90 days, writes Katie Bernard and Ximena Conde for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“[Employees] have been busy kind of preparing for the residents to come back,” said Ed Coleman, the nonprofit’s executive director.
By Wednesday, Wesley House Shelter, a facility for families and single women, was able to take in a senior citizen and a second resident.
Nonprofits were hit twice when state funds dried up and federal grants and social service programs were cut.
Yet the need has grown. Since Nov. 13, the Community Action Agency has received more than 250 rental assistance requests, Coleman said.
The CAADC is assessing how much it can spend while it waits for state dollars to arrive.
Read more about how nonprofits in the region are struggling to cope in a time when funds are not readily available in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
