With adequate shelter options not available, Community Justice Project & Legal Aid of Southeastern PA seek to prevent Dec. 1 closure of Pottstown College Drive homeless encampment

(Nov. 10, 2023)

POTTSTOWN - Community Justice Project (CJP) and Legal Aid of Southeastern PA (LASP) filed a lawsuit Nov. 1, 2023 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with the goal of preventing the Borough of Pottstown from sweeping a homeless encampment next to the Schuylkill River Trail along College Drive in Pottstown, unless adequate alternative shelter is made available to all of the College Drive encampment residents.

The Borough of Pottstown issued a notice declaring that it will close the College Drive Encampment on Dec. 1, 2023. The Borough’s notice states that residents there can obtain shelter by dialing 211 or by going to the Pottstown Beacon of Hope warming center, but these programs do not have the capacity to meet the current demands for shelter or to house all residents of the encampment.

Marielle Macher, CJP Executive Director, noted, “The law provides that unhoused residents cannot be displaced from public land unless they are first offered adequate alternative shelter. The Borough of Pottstown has not offered adequate alternative shelter here. Displacing unhoused people without offering alternative shelter, especially during the winter, subjects our clients to serious dangers. We are seeking to protect our clients’ rights.”

Carolyn Johnson, LASP Chief Counsel, stated, “Our mission is to represent low-income people and to ensure that they have access to adequate housing and other necessities that make life livable, whether that may be inside or outside. The purpose of the litigation is to ensure that those who are homeless do not face criminal charges and are not being harassed. They have the basic human right to exist and function. Right now there is no alternative place to be. It's not always possible for everyone to be indoors, but it should always be a goal to strive to achieve.”

Read the filing here (24-page PDF).

ATTORNEYS

Marielle Macher and Daniel Vitek of Community Justice Project; and Carolyn E. Johnson, Charles Burrows and Lisa Whalen of Legal Aid of Southeastern PA.

MEDIA CONTACTS

For Community Justice Project: Marielle Macher, Executive Director, at 717-236-9486, ext. 214 or mmacher@cjplaw.org

For Legal Aid of Southeastern PA:  Carolyn Johnson, Chief Counsel, at 484-681-2439 or cjohnson@lasp.org