A nonprofit in rural Westmoreland County plans to convert a former Methodist church into emergency housing.
Nestled in the Laurel Highlands, the borough of Bolivar has less than 500 residents — some of whom struggle with housing insecurity, according to Kim Botteicher, who runs FAVOR - Western PA.
FAVOR is a community center that serves people in active addiction and recovery. Botteicher said a big part of her job is helping clients find housing — people can't successfully address a drug or alcohol problem if their basic needs are not first being met.
“It isn’t going to be anything permanent. This would be transitional housing,” said Botteicher. “Because it never fails: At 4 o’clock on Friday afternoon is when someone needs treatment. And sometimes you just can’t get them in. Or they don’t have insurance, so we have to wait for insurance to kick.”
Botteicher envisions that the facility will shelter people who need a safe place to stay before entering residential treatment, as well as those who lack a permanent address. She recalled one single father who had been living in a car with his three kids. The situation got dire when the weather turned cold.
“We actually put him up in a hotel for a few nights, so he and the kids didn’t sleep in his Jeep,” said Botteicher, who explained that neighboring Indiana County was able to find the family housing within a week. But paying for short hotel stays is costly for FAVOR, an organization that runs on grants and volunteers.
At an open house celebration that FAVOR held at the church on Wednesday, Rob Hamilton, director of the county’s Department of Human Services, said more rural emergency housing is needed, “Because where are they going to go? Out here in Bolivar, there are no shelter beds here.”
Long-term, Hamilton wants the county to expand its emergency and affordable housing network.
But before FAVOR can start sheltering people at the church, Botteicher estimates the organization must raise $45,000 for repairs and updates. Plus, it needs another $150,000, annually, to staff the facility.
