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Rick Canard realized he needed to do something to help Lancaster’s homeless nearly a decade ago when he saw people routinely losing their most important belongings.

Canard, a semi-retired EMT instructor, was working at the time as a patient care navigator at Lancaster General Hospital, where he worked with homeless patients. Without a guaranteed place to lay their heads at night, Canard said the homeless also didn’t have anywhere to store their personal belongings. As a result, much-needed medication often was stolen.

Canard suggested the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition, then part of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, install a set of lockers for people to store their personal items. The initiative started to get off the ground but soon stalled when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Repeated efforts to ignite the project fell short over safety concerns, he said.

This week, though, Canard partnered with community organization SoWe to install 12 lockers in the city’s southwest neighborhood. Many of the lockers were quickly claimed, affirming the need.

“The benefit far outweighs the risk,” Canard said.

Amos Stoltzfus, SoWe director, said he became passionate about the project last summer when more groups of unsheltered people began staying in Culliton Park on South Water Street. Like Canard, Stoltzfus said he noticed people would do anything to keep their belongings safe, like hiding clothes and blankets in any crevice of the city they could find.

People experiencing homelessness end up carrying their entire life on their back daily, Stoltzfus said, including important documents such as birth certificates and Social Security cards. If those documents go missing, it can be devastating for a person who is trying to restart their life.

“Some of it is neighbors complaining that there’s just a lot of stuff in the park … but then also just a recognition that people get their stuff stolen fairly frequently,” Stoltzfus said.

READ: Point-in-Time count shows homelessness continues to climb in Lancaster Count

READ: Federal grant money funds efforts to expand housing for 'chronic' homelessness across Lancaster County

‘Critical need’
The lockers are about 5 feet tall with a padlock design typical of those found in school buildings or gym locker rooms. The lockers sit atop a trailer to ensure mobility in case they need to be moved to a new location, Stoltzfus said.

Right now, the trailer is parked on the 100 block of South Prince Street, just a stone’s throw from Culliton Park. The site soon will hold Lancaster County Redevelopment Authority’s wraparound homelessness hub, which will include shelter beds, showers and more lockers. Construction of the hub is expected to begin in December, and the trailer will have to relocate.

SoWe Lockers
SoWe collaborated with Rick Canard, an advocate for the homeless community, to install 12 portable lockers in the city’s southwest neighborhood. Lockers will be available for use for the homeless to store their personal belongings like clothes, blankets and documents.
Submitted by SoWe
Stoltzfus said the location is a key feature of the locker project, because people will become more comfortable turning to the site for safety once it becomes the services hub.

The lockers also will display a bulletin board advertising free community meals and showers offered throughout the city, a detail Stoltzfus said was suggested by Lancaster’s Homeless Advocacy Board. The board was created by Mandy Mastros, a pastor at Lancaster Moravian Church, and is composed of people who have experienced homelessness.

The total cost of the project was about $1,500, paid in part by a $1,000 grant from the Lancaster Elks Lodge and a $5,000 grant from Lancaster’s Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Stoltzfus said the church grant also will help manage the program, covering the cost of the bulletin board and a future mural for the trailer.

City outreach workers will connect SoWe with people who are interested in using lockers. They will be expected to sign a contract, renewable every two weeks.

Security cameras will monitor the lockers to offer some protection from damage or theft, Stoltzfus said. Motion activated lights also have been installed in the area.

Eventually, Canard said he would like to see the initiative expand to other parts of the city, namely Binns Park on North Queen Street, and across the county.

Deb Jones, executive director of the county’s Homelessness Coalition, said the lockers address a “critical need” in the homeless community. She emphasized the county’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority has been a crucial partner in the project, securing funding for the lockers and providing the site.

“This pilot program serves as a model that can be replicated throughout Lancaster County. Having a safe place to store belongings offers a sense of dignity and allows individuals greater freedom to attend appointments, access services and seek employment and housing,” Jones said in a statement.

The Housing and Redevelopment Authority is accepting donations to support the lockers at lanc.news/LockerDonation. Please note the funds are intended for the lockers.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/sowe-opens-free-lockers-for-lancasters-homeless-with-hopes-to-expand/article_240114e2-6709-11ef-9167-37c3f53c90ee.html

SoWe opens free lockers for Lancaster's homeless with hopes to expand Rick Canard realized he needed to do something to help Lancaster’s homeless nearly a decade ago when he saw people routinely losing their most important belongings.

Displayed with good hope