Emergency Homeless Shelter Approved At Pottstown Days Inn

Editor's note: While this program has been approved, the available rooms at the Day's Inn have not yet been prepared and are not yet ready to accept individuals off the street.

POTTSTOWN, PA — A new emergency "hoteling" program that will provide shelter to homeless individuals in Pottstown was approved on Thursday at the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting.

It's the latest step toward addressing the homelessness crisis in Montgomery County, and comes in one of the county's most high need areas.

“It's unacceptable that any of our residents are sleeping on the streets, especially during a brutally cold winter," Commissioner Neil K. Makhija said in a statement. "That's why Montgomery County has and will continue to take steps to address homelessness with compassion and urgency."

The project will allow the county to use 62 rooms at the Days Inn in Pottstown to provide what officials called "safe, temporary housing" for individuals without a roof.

The initial term of the lease for the county to use the Days Inn property is six months, and will cost $669,000, according to county estimates.

“This collaborative effort helps bridge the gap in services as we await the completion of the permanent shelter facility," Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller added. "We value the County’s willingness to implement a tailored approach that meets Pottstown’s unique needs during this transitional period, and we look forward to working with them as this project moves forward."

It comes after Pottstown borough cleared out a significant stretch of homeless encampments along the Schuylkill River. It's the second new shelter to be announced by the county in the past several weeks, as a shelter opened in Lansdale in late December.

During the Board meeting Thursday, commissioners also voted to provide emergency funding to a project called Opportunity House. If also approved by Pottstown, this would increase the amount of available rooms at the Days Inn to 98, while also adding services like permanent housing placement assistance, behavioral health services, and connections other key community services.

Pottstown had 55 individuals on the streets during the county's January 2024 "point in time" count, and it's estimated about 359 individuals are without full time shelter, making the borough one of the worst in the county for homelessness.