BUCKS COUNTY HOUSING GROUP INC

BCHG provides a wide range of housing, food, and related social services to homeless and food-insecure families.

Our services include:

Supportive Housing Program
Our Supportive Housing Program (SHP) is a transitional shelter program where we seek to empower individuals through comprehensive services such as education, job development, life skills, money management, and appropriate referrals. The program serves families consisting of at least one adult and one child less than eighteen years of age. The family must also be able to document that they are homeless or imminently at risk of homelessness (according to the HUD definitions) and Bucks County residents. Families can stay up to one year in SHP. Referrals to the program are received through the Bucks County Housing Link.

The Supportive Housing Program consists of 22 fully furnished units scattered throughout the Bucks County area. The units are located in Quakertown (6 units), Doylestown (6 units), Morrisville (6 units), and Penndel (4 units) and are staffed with a full-time, on-site case manager. Case managers work with each family from the time of move-in to establish a permanent housing plan. Case managers and clients then meet once a week (at minimum) to develop short-term goals to help achieve that plan. Goals usually include increasing income (through obtaining disability benefits, enrolling in a certificate program, etc.), saving money and creating and maintaining a budget. Clients are connected to resources such as mental health services or substance abuse treatment as needed.

Bridge Housing & HOME Transitional Programs
Both Bridge Housing and HOME Transitional Housing programs provide subsidized rental assistance and social services to homeless families who include at least one child under the age of 18. Both programs provide housing in scattered site rental properties. The Bridge Housing Program and HOME Transition Housing Program can accommodate approximately 12 families at a time. Rental subsidies and social services are provided for up to one year in the Bridge Program and up to two years in the HOME Program. Families may choose to maintain those apartments independently when they complete the program. The Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency administers the Bridge Housing Program. They administer the HOME Transitional Housing Program in cooperation with the Bucks County Office of Business & Community Development. Direct services for both programs are provided by Children and Youth and by the Bucks County Housing Group.

Application to both programs is made through the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency. To qualify for application a family (at least one adult and one minor child) must be homeless and lack the resources and support networks through which they might obtain housing. The family must have a clear and definite plan for self-sufficiency and must participate in educational vocational training to obtain that goal.

Within the past fiscal year, Children and Youth have used Bridge and/or HOME as a housing option for families facing placement of their children due to housing instability. Families are referred internally from Children and Youth staff, and by shelters and other social services agencies. The referent should know the family well enough to write a recommendation and be able to present their case to the Selection Committee. A Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency worker will interview the applicant/applicants and may follow up with verification of information. The Bridge & Transitional Review Committee then reviews assessments on a monthly basis. Referrals are accepted at any time. Applicants are reviewed as the assessments are completed and presented to the committee.

Families who are accepted into either program will be assigned both a Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency worker and a Bucks County Housing Group worker. Participants in these programs are expected to meet with both workers on a regular basis and to cooperate with services, including budgeting with weekly reviews, counseling and referrals regarding parenting. Participants are expected to remain in educational/vocational training programs while in the Housing Program. Although Bridge Housing is a one- year program and HOME Transitional Housing is a two- year program, these lengths of time represent the maximum time for these programs. Once training has been completed and employment obtained, the family is considered to have obtained self- sufficiency and to have completed the program.

Community Food Pantries
BCHG operates two community food pantries which are overseen by full-time Food Pantry Coordinators. Grant funds and individual donations help pay for the operating expenses of the two pantries. The two pantries are located in Penndel and Doylestown. The Community Food Pantries served about 21,000 unique individuals over the past year. The Food Pantry Coordinators oversee the ordering, stocking, patron services and work to ensure that there are enough (trained) volunteers at each site during hours that the pantries are open. Volunteers are also needed when the pantry is not open to the public to restock shelves, check expiration dates on food and weigh donated food items.

Low/moderate income community members from throughout Bucks County benefit by patronizing one of the pantries on a weekly basis to supplement their food supplies. We request that patrons limit their visits to once per week so that we can serve the maximum number of unduplicated households. Most of our pantry clients are on fixed incomes (as in the case of seniors/disabled individuals – 10% of our patrons are seniors) or are members of the “working poor” who find that despite full-time work, they do not make enough money to make ends meet.

Mobile Markets
BCHG operates two “mobile markets” in service of our mission. These pantry vans bring food where it’s needed most in our community, removing some of the main barriers clients face in food access: lack of transportation and inability to come to pantries during their operating hours. We operate one refrigerated and one non-refrigerated van, allowing us to serve a range of fresh produce, meats, dairy, pantry staples, and snacks to our clients.
 
Community Gardens
Our community gardens are located on-site at both pantry locations, which are also shelter locations for our housing programs. In addition, we have a garden on-site at our largest housing program property, Morrisville, where we host one of our mobile market distributions. Our community garden program aims to increase access to more healthy foods, provide educational opportunities for sustainable skill development, and encourage our clients to engage in community-supportive activities. Food grown in our gardens is harvested by our housing and food program clients, who can then take this fresh produce home to use. Any excess produce from the gardens is distributed by our food program at our regular pantry and mobile market distributions.

Housing Counseling Services
All clients interested in First-Time Homebuyer and Pre-purchase counseling are directed to attend a free orientation webinar where they learn about the agency, our funding sources, what to expect from housing counseling, what to bring to their housing counseling appointment, the steps in the purchase process, the importance of a home inspection, 10 questions to ask a home inspector whom they are considering hiring, and the criteria for participation in the Bucks County First Time Homebuyer Program. Clients who do not have access to a computer and/or printer are provided with a telephone call number and copies of the slide presentation and all other materials are mailed to their home. Participants who choose to continue are directed to complete an application, including a budget form, which is submitted to the agency and reviewed prior to scheduling an appointment with a counselor.

During the appointment (which can take up to 4 hours), the counselor verifies budget information and discusses ways to improve budgeting and saving skills while creating an affordable budget with the client, collects financial documents and transaction documents if the client is under contract to purchase, provides referrals as needed, develops a financial analysis for the client including credit scores, current and proposed debt ratios, and eligibility for various types of loans (including FHA) and home-buyer assistance programs, creates an action plan including steps both the client and counselor will take, and estimated timeframes to complete action plan items.

Follow-up communication is completed to ensure that the client is making progress toward their housing goal, to modify or terminate housing counseling, and to learn and report outcomes. Client follow-up is conducted by a qualified housing counselor who makes reasonable efforts to contact a verbal follow-up within the first 60 days of no client contact. If unsuccessful, after two attempts to conduct a verbal follow-up session, a letter or email is sent to inform the client that their file will be closed. Client file will be terminated when the issue is resolved, the goal is met, or the client is unresponsive.

Veterans’ Housing Assistance Program
Our Veterans’ Housing Assistance Program provides one-time grants of up to $500 to any active duty or honorably discharged serviceperson who is a resident of Bucks County and experiencing a housing crisis. Recipients are referred by social service agencies, houses of worship, veterans’ organizations, etc. and may receive one grant, one time. Funds go directly to the recipients, each of whom is referred and each of whom needs assistance with individualized issues. This program has previously paid for bunk beds for a veteran's children, partial rent for an active-duty serviceperson during the federal sequester, and work clothing for a veteran seeking employment as a floor refinisher, among others.