Pottstown Partners with County to Provide Year-Round Hotel Rooms

Tucked away next to the Manatawny Creek and Montgomery County Community College Pottstown campus, a self-contained “tent city” came into existence during recent years in response to our housing shortage. 

Residents and advocates worked together to install a port-a-potty. Regular community clean ups kept the overflow of trash in check to the greatest extent possible. Some dwellings resembled RV sites, adorned with landscaping, welcome mats, and lawn gnomes. 

In other words, people were making it home under circumstances most of us will never experience first-hand. 

Normally, after Pottstown Borough issued a notice-to-vacate – followed by intense clear-cutting of the wooded area – advocates and supporters would have rallied in opposition. Only this time was different. Local government did intervene in a positive way, which culminated with a major announcement Thursday across the street from the Montgomery County Courthouse. 

Earlier in January, crews cleared away trees, along with any indication that people once camped here on College Drive.

The county commissioners announced their second lease in two months with a non-profit service provider for year-round emergency housing and wraparound social services. The Days Inn on W. King Street will rent up to 62 rooms under a six-month lease with Opportunity House of Reading, Pa., as the service provider. 

“I didn’t think it was going to happen this quickly,” Opportunity House President Modesto Fiume said during the meeting. 

Commissioner Jamila Winder praised the collaborative efforts of local, county, and state officials, who felt the urgency of the situation. All three commissioners thanked Pottstown for their cooperation. 

“I’m deeply thankful to the Borough of Pottstown for stepping up,” Winder said. “I know that you have often felt alone in this effort, and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your leadership in doing what’s right to help some of our most vulnerable residents.” 

Pottstown Councilman Andrew Monastra expressed gratitude in return. 

“I know what you did took a lot of coordination, a lot of time, and a lot of hard work and we appreciate that so very much because you heard us. We came to you with an issue, with a challenge, and you stepped up to the plate, and you hit it out of the park,” Monastra said. 

It is worth noting that while the local government in Pottstown fought off a lawsuit for their earlier attempts to remove homeless encampments just down the street from the Days Inn in 2023, several local organizations pulled together to provide emergency provisions. Those groups included Better Days Ahead, the Deviators, Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities, Leann’s Life-Changing Fairies, and others. Then in November, Scott Bentley’s Switchpoint Foundation entered into an agreement to pay for hotel rooms for the unhoused. 

As we enter the new year, it is refreshing and encouraging to see our government take responsibility for a health and human service function that charity should not be forced to sustain over the long-term. 

Thank you, Commissioners Neil Makhia, Jamila Winder, and Tom DiBello, as well as Pottstown Council, Senator Tracy Pennycuick and Representative Joe Ciresi for pushing this solution along. Here is hoping we have entered a new chapter of collaboration for the common good.

The author, Mike Hays, works in Rep. Ciresi's district office.