Bucks County Code Blue season: How it keeps the unsheltered safe, and how you can help

Damon C. Williams, Bucks County Courier Times

With the cold weather moving in, Bucks County and its partners are again working to ensure the homeless and have warm and safe space to shelter on the worst nights of the season.

Roughly 313 people in Bucks County are either sleeping in emergency shelters, residing in transitional housing or living outdoors, according to the annual point-in-time count for 2023.

And Code Blue has long been the county's strategy to keep people safe when the bitter cold and other severa winter conditions hit. The county declare a Code Blue when the temperature drops below 20 degrees or when the forecast calls for other dangerous weather, including wind chill, precipitation, or other potential for a public health risk.

The county's Upper Bucks partners began its Code Blue sheltering season this week.

Code Blue designation triggers homeless outreach, puts shelters on notice in Bucks County

A Code Blue activation in Bucks County instantly alerts the county's partners, including community groups and nonprofits, to open their homeless shelters and enhance efforts to get homeless individuals off the streets. The county, in turn, provides funding to help defray shelter operation costs.

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Bucks County spokesperson James O'Malley said the county doesn't directly run any homeless shelters, but works with many throughout the county. Commissioner Bob Harvie has said it would cost some $8 million to build a county shelter.

"During the winter, we do spearhead the Code Blue program with three shelters," O'Malley said. "We are tasked with calling the Code Blue, and mandate that all shelters are open. But when it's that cold, most shelters are already open."

Here are the three shelters notified and activated whenever this is a Code Blue designation:

  • Upper Bucks: Quakertown Masonic Lodge, 501 W. Broad Street, Quakertown.

  • Central Bucks: Doylestown Presbyterian Church, 148 N. Church Street, Doylestown.

  • Lower Bucks: Cavalry Baptist Church, 250 Green Lane, Bristol.

O'Malley said county administration will notify the public if these locations change.

Bucks County administration also published a Code Blue resource page online, which provided additional homeless outreach information and locations:

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Free Code Blue outreach training for those wanting to volunteer

Bucks County also is looking for volunteers to help through out Code Blue season, and training is available. .

Through its Code Blue Project, the Coalition to Shelter and Support the Homeless is providing free Code Blue volunteer training.

The next Code Blue training will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6th at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 301 N. Main St., Doylestown.

O'Malley said the county is also looking for volunteers in Upper, Central and Lower Bucks County, including those to help with meal preparation, shift supervision, morning aides and bus team volunteers.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Code Blue in Bucks County works to shelter the homeless

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