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Homeless Shelter

City Delivers Services:

  • Faced with a growing affordable housing crisis and uncertainty about the future of Bethlehem’s sole emergency homeless shelter, the City of Bethlehem launched its Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness in early 2022. This year-long study concluded that the American Rescue Plan Act uniquely positioned the City to fund the acquisition and/or construction of a year-round, emergency homeless shelter in the City. In 2023 and 2024, and the City has been working closely with local service providers and partners to implement the strategies and recommendations of the plan. The Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness can be found here.


  • The City is collaborating closely with Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering to create a roughly 70-bed permanent year-round shelter in Bethlehem. The City is committing both funding and professional time to support project planning and development.
  • The City is also committing funding and professional time to the conversion of a property in South Bethlehem into a shelter facility with 11 family units that would be operated by the Lehigh Conference of Churches. 
  • To address immediate needs of the unhoused community in Bethlehem, multiple City departments collaborate and provide services and support in the encampments, including the Health Bureau through the Community Connections program, the Police and Fire Departments, the Department of Public Works, and the Department of Community and Economic Development. 

City Supports Service Delivery through funding sources:

  • The City has allocated $2 million to the creation of a permanent year-round shelter, in collaboration with Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering.
  • The City has allocated $1.4 million in HOME-ARP dollars to the creation of an 11-unit family shelter, in collaboration with Lehigh Conference of Churches. 
  • Through the CDBG program, the City has routinely supported current shelter operations at Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering with annual financial contributions.
  • Through the CDBG program and the Community Recovery Fund, the City also routinely supports New Bethany with financial support for its soup kitchen, food pantry, and representative payee programs.
  • As a component of the City’s Opening Doors housing plan, the City is providing funding to New Bethany for emergency rental assistance to ensure individuals do not lose their housing. 

City Collaborates and strategizes with service providers:

  • As the City works to open a year-round permanent shelter, City staff meet regularly with staff from Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering, New Bethany, the Lehigh Conference of Churches and Lehigh Valley Regional Homelessness Advisory Board.
  • Deputy Director of Community Development Sara Satullo sits on the RHAB’s Governing Board.
  • The City works closely with Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering: This is to ensure both their short and long-term needs are being met. The City has supported the shelter operations via Community Development Block Grant funding. The City also works closely with New Bethany funding emergency rental assistance to ensure individuals do not lose their housing as well as supporting its soup kitchen, food pantry and representative payee programs via Community Development Block Grant funding.

For information about Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering visit:

Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering

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