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Community Profile: Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
Community Organizations
This section provides information about affordable housing, social service, economic development, and community revitalization organizations in the area whose interests, activities, and initiatives improve the housing conditions and employment opportunities of residents. These groups represent potential partners for bankers seeking to more fully address the credit needs of each region's low- and moderate-income people and communities.
The information in this section was obtained directly from the websites of the community organizations.
- Allentown Rescue Mission
- Alliance for Building Communities (ABC)
- Anthracite Region Center for Independent Living
- Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Inc.
- CAN DO, Inc.
- Casa Guadalupe Center
- Catholic Charities – Dicoese of Allentown
- Children’s Home of Easton
- Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
- Community First Fund
- Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Lehigh Valley
- Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries (DLSM)
- Easton Area Industrial Land Development Co., Inc.
- Family Answers
- Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
- Housing Association and Development Corporation
- Housing Development Corporation of Northeastern Pennsylvania
- Lehigh County Conference of Churches
- Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Livingp
- Lehigh Valley Compassion
- Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc.
- Lehigh Valley SCORE
- Neighborhood Housing Services of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
- New Bethany Ministries
- Phoebe Ministries
- Project of Easton, Inc.
- Renew Lehigh Valley
- Shiloh Community Services – The Nehemiah House
- Third Street Alliance
- Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, Inc.
- Valley Housing and Development Corporation
- Valley Youth House
- Via of the Lehigh Valley
- Victory House of the Lehigh Valley
- YMCA of Bethlehem
- YWCA of Bethlehem
Allentown Rescue Mission
Mission
Rescue, rehabilitation, and restoration for people in crisis.
Year of Origin
1900
Core Programs
- Christian Living and Values Transitional Program: Residential program for self-sufficiency and permanent recovery from homelessness with individualized case management.
- Gateway Center: An emergency shelter for homeless men that provides opportunities to enter the mission’s long-term programs to help resolve the problems causing homelessness and to end it permanently.
- Life Recovery Treatment Program: A drug and alcohol addiction treatment program that provides long-term and short- term residential care by a certified, professional staff.
- Community Services: Operates an apartment complex to provide permanent housing for clients and offers the Clean Team project, which employs clients who are working their way out of homelessness.
Service Area
Lehigh County
Contact Information
Allentown Rescue Mission
355 Hamilton Street
P.O. Box 748
Allentown, PA 18105-0748
Phone: (610) 740-5500
E-mail: info@allentownrescuemission.org 
Website: http://www.allentownrescuemission.org 
Alliance for Building Communities (ABC)
Mission
To create community partnerships dedicated to revitalizing neighborhoods by developing safe and affordable housing that fosters independent living and enhances the quality of life for seniors and families.
Year of Origin
A predecessor organization, the Lehigh Housing Development Corporation, was formed in 1975. In 1998, its organizational structure and name were changed to ABC to reflect the fact that the organization not only was developing affordable housing, but also was engaged in building communities.
Core Programs
- Develops and rehabilitates affordable housing for low- and moderate income individuals and families
- Owns and manages rental housing properties
- Offers the Doorway to Homeownership Program, which assists families as they improve credit while saving to purchase their own homes and provides individualized training in budgeting, maintenance, and upkeep of properties
- Collaborates with partners on community initiatives, such as a mural arts project
Service Area
Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Carbon, Monroe, and Schuylkill counties
Contact Information
Alliance for Building Communities
830 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: (610) 439-7007
Fax: (610) 439-7888
E-mail: info@housingabc.org
Website: http://www.housingabc.org/
Anthracite Region Center for Independent Living
Mission
To enable individuals with disabilities to attain their highest possible level of independence.
Year of Origin
1990
Core Programs
- Helps answer questions about support services, government benefits, adaptive equipment, accessibility, and other topics related to disabilities.
- Skills Training: Provides training to individuals needing skills to become more independent, including budgeting, preparing meals, shopping, using public transportation, or job hunting.
- Disability Awareness Training: Conducts disability awareness training for schools, businesses, hospitals, and civic organizations.
- Advocacy: Assists individuals in their efforts to resolve issues of inaccessibility or discrimination.
- Transportation: Manages the Wheels on Wheels accessible transportation services, which provide transportation for persons with disabilities who are not able to use ordinary means of transportation.
- Cooperative Ventures:
- Vital (Vocational and Independence Training for Adult Life) House: Helps high school students with disabilities learn the skills necessary to make a successful transition from school to adult life.
- Attendant Care Program: Instructs consumers in hiring, training, and supervising their personal care attendants.
Service Area
Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties
Contact Information
Anthracite Region Center for Independent Living
44 West Broad Street
Hazleton, PA 18201
Phone: (570) 455-9800 or (800) 777-9906
Fax: (570) 455-1731
E-mail: arcil@intergrafix.net
Website: http://www.anthracitecil.org/
Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Inc.
Mission
To educate, advocate, and provide services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
Year of Origin
1967
Core Programs
- Provides advocacy services free of charge for those who are having difficulties obtaining services for themselves or their family member with cognitive, intellectual, and developmental disabilities.
- Provides assistance in the following areas: education, residential, employment, transportation, adult day services, and state and local systems.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Inc.
2289 Avenue A
Bethlehem, PA 18017
Phone: (610) 849-8076
Fax: (610) 849-6202
E-mail: info@arcofl-n.org
Website: http://www.arcofl-n.org
CAN DO, Inc.
Mission
To improve the quality of life in Greater Hazleton through the creation of employment opportunities.
Year of Origin
1956
Core Programs
- Develops raw land by installing roads and infrastructure in the hope of attracting job creation projects with ready-to-go sites.
- Constructs speculative buildings to have properties available for companies with an immediate requirement.
- Owns and leases industrial, office, and commercial space throughout the community.
- Provides assistance in a variety of ways for incoming businesses, including helping identify options for financing, training, and construction, as well as working to meet municipal regulatory requirements.
- Constructs its own utilities, including water, sewer, and rail.
- Provides funding packages that leverage federal, state, regional, and local money.
- Has an economic development department that serves as liaison between business and service providers.
Service Area
Greater Hazleton, PA, including portions of Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties
Contact Information
CAN DO, Inc.
One South Church Street
200 Renaissance Center
Hazleton, PA 18201
Phone: 1-800-54CANDO or 570-455-1508
E-mail: cando@hazletoncando.com 
Website: http://www.hazletoncando.com/
Casa Guadalupe Center
Mission
To meet the needs primarily of Latino residents in the Lehigh Valley.
Year of Origin
1969
Core Programs
- Offers services for children, youth, adults, and elderly residents in the areas of health, education, and social service referrals.
- Works in partnership with other organizations to promote economic empowerment, social mobility, and civic participation of all residents of the Lehigh Valley. Partnerships, including those with the Lehigh Valley Hospital, the federal W.I.C. program, the Lehigh Valley United Way, and Air Products, enable Casa Guadalupe Center to improve access to health and nutritional benefits for low-income individuals.
Service Area
Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Casa Guadalupe Center
143 Linden Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: (610) 435-9902
Fax: (610) 435-6792
Website: http://www.casalv.org/
Catholic Charities – Diocese of Allentown
Mission
To provide compassionate human services with respect for the sanctity of all human life.
Year of Origin
1961 (Originally incorporated as the Catholic Social Agency of the Diocese of Allentown)
Core Programs
- Counseling and Case Management: Helps individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency through counseling and case management.
- Housing Assistance: Provides funding to prevent eviction or to cover a portion of the first month’s rent in select situations (Lehigh County only).
- Emergency Food Aid: Provides meals and nonperishable food through a soup kitchen and pantry.
- Additional Supportive Services: Provides parish outreach; individual, marriage, and family counseling; pregnancy support services; foster care services; adoption assistance; services to older adults; services to refugees and immigrants; and volunteer opportunities.
Service Area
Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties
Contact Information
Catholic Charities – Diocese of Allentown
530 Union Blvd.
Allentown, PA 18109-3230
Phone: 610-435-1541
Fax: 610-435-4367
Website: http://www.allentowndiocese.org/administration/services.html
Children’s Home of Easton
Mission
To provide a caring, nurturing environment for children in need, as well as assistance to their families.
Year of Origin
1885
Core Programs
- Residential Program: Provides a home for youth to live and function as a family.
- Emergency Shelter Care: Operates two emergency centers for boys and girls that provide short-term housing, crisis intervention, and services for children in crisis.
- Community Services: A program for children who have progressed to the point of no longer needing the structure of their campus program.
- Aftercare Program: Provides young adults with a place to live and allows them to gain maturity, save money, and have a support system.
- Education: Provides a temporary educational program for interim instruction and is approved as a private provider for alternative education.
- Family Enrichment Center: Provides additional individual therapy to clients in their shelter, campus, and community-based programs.
- Recreation: Provides recreation activities for the children in their facilities.
Service Area
Easton, PA
Contact Information
The Children’s Home of Easton
2000 South 25th Street
Easton, PA 18042-6031
Phone: (610) 258-2831
Fax: (610) 258-3165
E-mail: che@thechildrenshome.org
Website: http://www.thechildrenshome.org/
Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, Inc. (CACLV)
Mission
To improve the quality of life by building a community in which all people have access to economic opportunity, the ability to pursue that opportunity, and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.
Year of Origin
1965
Core Programs
- Community Action Development Corporations of Allentown of Allentown and Bethlehem: Subsidiaries of CACLV that provide help for individuals starting or managing small businesses.
- Community Action Financial Services: Offers homeownership and renting counseling services, a Family Savings Account program, a free tax preparation program, and Pennsylvania’s Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP).
- Energy Partnership: Offers energy-related services, including residential weatherization programs and energy assistance.
- Fowler Community Technology Center: Offers computer classes for children.
- The Rising Tide Community Loan Fund: Provides loans for small businesses.
- Safe Harbor Easton: Operates a shelter for homeless individuals, both men and women.
- Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania: Distributes food to emergency food pantries and soup kitchens.
- Sixth Street Shelter/Turner Street Apartments/Ferry Street Apartments: Provides short-term housing for families with children and long-term transitional housing for families with children.
- West Ward Neighborhood Partnership: A revitalization project in Easton’s West Ward neighborhood that seeks to provide programs that support children and families, offer affordable housing and counseling, work to build neighborhoods, and provide economic development for low- and moderate- income residents.
- Work Ready Program: Offers job readiness and employment counseling.
- Administers the Lehigh Valley Community Land Trust (LVCLT). Under the land trust model, LVCLT purchases properties, renovates or builds housing on those properties, and sells the houses to income-qualified applicants while maintaining ownership of the land.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley, PA
Contact Information
Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
1337 East Fifth Street
Bethlehem, PA 18015
Phone: (610) 691-5620
Fax: (610) 691-6582
E-Mail: caclv@caclv.org
Website: http://portal.caclv.org/
Community First Fund
Mission
The Community First Fund creates economic growth for its communities by providing equitable financial services, technical knowledge, and advocacy for its customers.
Year of Origin
1992 (Originally called the Susquehanna Valley Community Development Loan Fund)
Core Programs
- Operates the Women’s Business Center, which provides training, customized business counseling, loan capital, and advocacy support to small-business enterprises.
- Provides a variety of loans to individuals and community-based organizations for starting or expanding small or mid-sized businesses, creating affordable housing units, or developing commercial spaces that will affect the community.
Service Area
13-county area in central Pennsylvania (Adams, Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, York)
Contact Information
Community First Fund
Main Office
30 West Orange Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 524, Lancaster, PA 17608-0524
Phone: (717) 393-2351
Fax: (717) 393-1757
E-mail: info@commfirstfund.org
Website: http://www.commfirstfund.org
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Lehigh Valley
Mission
To provide credit counseling and financial education to residents of the Lehigh Valley.
Year of Origin
1975
Core Programs
- Provides free credit counseling by telephone, online, or by appointment.
- Helps clients to establish and maintain a realistic spending plan, develop solutions to meet their short- and long-term financial goals, and repay their creditors in a reasonable amount of time.
- Provides educational workshops, resources, and tools to schools, churches, employers, and community organizations.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley, PA
Contact Information
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Lehigh Valley
3671 Crescent Court East
Whitehall, PA 18052
Phone: (866) 889-9347
Website: http://www.consumercreditlv.org/
Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries (DLSM)
Mission
Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries demonstrates God’s command to love thy neighbor through acts of service.
Year of Origin
1868
Core Programs
- Offers senior living communities and a range of services for children, youths, families, and older adults
Service Area
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware
Contact Information
Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries
Administrative Services Center
798 Hausman Road, Suite 300
Allentown, PA 18104-9108
Toll-Free: 877-342-5667
Phone: 610-682-1262
Website: http://www.diakon.org/Index.asp
Easton Area Industrial Land Development Co., Inc.
Mission
To improve the employment base by attracting industry to the community.
Year of Origin
1961
Core Programs
- Helps companies to relocate as well as to expand their facilities.
- Develops industrial parks to accomplish its mission.
Service Area
Easton, PA
Contact Information
Easton Area Industrial Land Development Co., Inc.
One South Third Street, 7th Floor – PO Box 936
Easton, PA 18044-0936
Phone: (610) 258-5647
Fax: (610) 258-5186
E-mail: eaild@nni.com
Website: http://www.eaild.com/
Family Answers
Mission
To provide affordable, high-quality, preventive, educational, supportive, and therapeutic services that nurture healthy family life in its communities.
Year of Origin
N/A
Core Programs
- Offers individual, couple, family, and group therapy, along with assessment and family life education, at multiple sites across the Lehigh Valley.
- Administers a Ways to Work family loan program that provides affordable loans to low-income families who lack access to fairly priced loans from traditional lenders because they have poor credit or no credit history.
- Offers other supportive services, including geriatric care management, homemaker health aide services, and a family preservation program.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties (Ways to Work program also available in Monroe County)
Contact Information
Family Answers
411 W. Walnut Street
Allentown, PA 18102
Phone: (610) 435-9651
Fax: (610) 435-9654
Website: http://www.familyanswers.org/
Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
Mission
To work in partnership with people from all walks of life and a variety of faith communities to build and renovate houses so that people in need can live in decent houses, in safe communities.
Year of Origin
1989
Core Programs
- Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with affordable loans. The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments are used to build future Habitat houses.
- Provides mentoring and homeownership skills to help families succeed as homeowners.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley, PA
Contact Information
Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
245 N. Graham Street
Allentown, PA 18109-2191
Phone: (610) 776-7737
Fax: (610) 776-7569
Website: http://www.habitatlehighvalley.org/
Housing Association and Development Corporation
Mission
To revitalize neighborhoods through the development of affordable housing, the provision of employment and job training, and the pursuit of community development initiatives.
Year of Origin
1978
Core Programs
- Affordable Housing: Constructs, purchases, and rehabilitates homes to be sold to working low- and moderate-income families and individuals.
- Home-Buying Assistance: Provides mortgage assistance, including determining an individual’s income eligibility under HUD guidelines, reviewing an individual’s credit history, giving bank referrals, and enrolling individuals in the Homeownership Counseling Program.
- Job Training: Provides on-the-job training and employment in the construction trades to neighborhood residents with few job skills.
- Neighborhood Revitalization: Works to develop a public park in the neighborhood, to foster a homeowners’ association, and to create a neighborhood center for financial literacy and banking services.
Service Area
City of Allentown
Contact Information
Housing Association and Development Corporation
513-515 Chew Street
Allentown, PA 18102
Phone: (610) 432-6336
Fax: (610) 432-5745
Website: http://www.hadcallentown.org
Housing Development Corporation of Northeastern Pennsylvania (HDC)
Mission
To assist low- to moderate-income individuals and families to achieve the dream of owning a home.
Year of Origin
Incorporated in 1984
Core Programs
- Develops affordable housing for homeownership or rent and manages rental properties.
- Provides rental assistance and supportive housing services to formerly homeless persons/families.
- Provides pre- and post-purchase counseling to low- and moderate-income homebuyers, reverse equity counseling, mortgage assistance counseling (including through Pennsylvania’s Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program), and counseling to renters who are under the threat of eviction or in need of adequate and affordable housing. Also offers fair housing outreach and education.
- Offers technical assistance to communities and organizations seeking solutions to local housing problems.
Service Area
Carbon, Columbia, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Wayne counties
Contact Information
Housing Development Corporation of Northeastern Pennsylvania
163 Amber Lane
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
Phone: (570) 824-4803
Fax: N/A
Website: http://hdcnepa.org/index.asp
Lehigh County Conference of Churches
Mission
To unite communities of faith as ecumenical partners.
Year of Origin
1954
Core Programs
- Provides three mentoring programs that serve middle school and high school students.
- Offers self-sufficiency programs with educational, socialization, nutritional, and employability components for men and women who have successfully completed or who are currently being treated for mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, or HIV/AIDS.
- Operates a soup kitchen for hungry men, women, and children.
- Assists low-income residents who have no health insurance with emergency prescriptions for asthma, seizures, diabetes, high blood pressure, and antibiotics.
- Provides the Homeless Supportive Services program to ensure that formerly chronically homeless individuals will have the support services, health care, and employment opportunities needed to live as independently as possible.
- Works with people who receive Social Security benefits to ensure that their housing, utility, medical, and other bills are paid in a timely manner.
- Provides the Linkage program, which connects the homeless with appropriate agencies and/or treatment, aids and strives to move homeless to self-sufficiency.
- Provides the Pathways program to assists individuals in need of emergency assistance and refers them to community services that match their needs.
- Provides the Permanent Employment Program to assist chronically unemployed individuals to search for, and obtain, meaningful employment by providing barrier assessment, education, case management, and subsidized work experiences
- Provides the Pharmaceutical Assistance Program that gives a once-a-year emergency pharmaceutical assistance up to a certain limit.
Service Area
Lehigh County
Contact Information
Lehigh County Conference of Churches
534 Chew Street
Allentown, PA 18102
Phone: (610) 433-6421
Fax: (610) 439-8039
E-mail: info@lehighchurches.org
Website: http://www.lehighchurches.org/
Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living
Mission
To provide information and resources to allow consumers to make independent decisions and to increase inclusion in the community whether it is in housing, transportation, voting rights, employment, or many other areas.
Year of Origin
1990
Core Programs
- Advocacy: Offers individual and collective advocacy on issues that affect a person’s right to live an independent, productive life.
- Common Playgrounds Program: Offers a disability sensitivity education program for late elementary and middle school children.
- Community Outreach: Offers outreach and education services to promote better understanding of the independent living philosophy.
- Home Modifications: Provides information about loans and grants available for home modifications.
- Housing Search: Works to educate the community on fair, affordable, and accessible housing.
- Independent Living Skills Training: Offers group programs and some individual aid designed to teach and hone skills required to live independently.
- Information and Referral: Works to educate individuals and the community at large in all aspects of living independently with a disability.
- Landlords for All Program: Encourages landlords to rent to people with disabilities.
- Speaker’s Bureau: Has speakers that are available to lead discussions on a variety of disability awareness topics.
- Peer Support: Provides one-on-one support from experienced staff and others living with disabilities.
- Transition: Provides an intensive transition program to students ages 14-21 with any type of disability.
- Site Surveys: Conducts accessibility site surveys of area homes for potential renters/owners, businesses, and private and public offices.
- Sign Language Interpreter Referral Services: Provides access to interpreting services.
- Wellness for All: A program that covers different topics important to their consumers.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living
435 Allentown Drive
Allentown, PA 18109
Phone: (610) 770-9781 or (800) 495-8245
Fax: (610) 770-9801
E-mail: info@lvcil.org
Website: http://www.lvcil.org/
Lehigh Valley Compassion
Mission
To build foundations for families.
Year of Origin
Incorporated in 2006
Core Programs
- Operates a long-term housing facility for the homeless.
- Manages the CaringTrust Network, which pairs a person with no support network with someone who is willing to provide support.
- Provides a supervised visitation program for parents who hope to reunite with their children.
- Collects clothing to send to various organizations.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley, PA
Contact Information
Lehigh Valley Compassion
4319 Newburg Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Phone: 610-570-0742
E-mail: caringtrust@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.lvcompassion.org
Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc.
Mission
To create jobs, to expand tax revenue for their communities, and to diversify the local economy.
Year of Origin
1959
Core Programs
- Provides land that is primed for development, with infrastructure already in place. LVIP accommodates a mix of uses, including office, commercial, manufacturing, and distribution, and meets the needs of small and large businesses.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc.
1720 Spillman Drive, Suite 150
Bethlehem, PA 18015-2164
Phone: (610) 866-4600 or (800) 360-LVIP (5847)
Fax: (610) 867-9154
Website: http://www.lvip.org/
Lehigh Valley SCORE
Mission
To provide entrepreneurial counseling, mentoring, and education on the formation, growth, and success of small businesses.
Year of Origin
1965
Core Programs
- Provides free and confidential business counseling tailored to client’s business needs and personal objectives.
- Offers workshops for start-up entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofit organizations.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley, including the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton areas
Contact Information
Lehigh Valley SCORE
2158 Avenue C #200
Bethlehem, PA 18017-2148
Phone: (610) 266-3000
E-mail: jmrscore@aol.com
Website: http://www.lehighvalleyscore.org
Neighborhood Housing Services of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
Mission
To renew pride, restore confidence, build a sense of neighborhood identity, promote reinvestment, and revitalize the NHS neighborhoods.
Year of Origin
1981
Core Programs
- Lending: Distributes program information and administers the Home Ownership Outreach Program (HOOP), a homebuyer mortgage assistance program, offers low interest loans for code abatement and other home improvements to low- to moderate-income customers, and offers a lease/purchase program.
- Counseling and Education: Provides financial counseling and/or referrals for consumers with budget, credit, or homeownership needs; offers consultation services, including finding contractors, preparing job specifications and cost estimates, assisting with emergency repairs, and maintaining and financing property; works with residents and other nonprofit organizations to address community issues; and provides a 10-hour course that educates consumers on developing a spending plan, understanding credit, finding ways to get a loan, avoiding identity theft and predatory lending, and obtaining banking services and insurance.
- Rehabilitation and Resale: Monitors the management of an affordable housing initiative and has various programs available to acquire deteriorated properties, rehabilitate those properties, and then resell the properties to eligible first-time buyers.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Neighborhood Housing Services of the Lehigh Valley, Inc.
239 North 10th Street
Allentown, PA 18102
Phone: (610) 437-4571
Fax: (610) 437-3609 and (610) 437-9958
Website: http://www.nhslv.org/
New Bethany Ministries
Mission
To provide care and services to poor, homeless, hungry, and mentally ill people in the Lehigh Valley.
Year of Origin
1985
Core Programs
- Supportive Housing:
- Transitional Housing and Bridge Housing Programs: Offers short-term housing for homeless families with comprehensive case management, life skills classes, and children’s programs.
- Wyandotte Apartments: Offers HUD subsidized rental apartments for low-income families.
- Restoration Housing: Offers two-year HUD-subsidized housing program for homeless families with comprehensive case management and life skills classes.
- Single Room Occupancy Program: Offers permanent housing and support services for low-income individuals, including HUD-subsidized single rooms for formerly homeless individuals and financial case management for mentally challenged individuals receiving disability income.
- Mollard Hospitality Center: Provides services such as free annual flu and pneumonia shots and tuberculosis tests, free HIV testing and education, clothing vouchers, showers, etc.
- Representative Payee Services: Provides services for mentally ill individuals receiving Social Security benefits, such as assistance with budgeting and paying rent and bills, ensuring that a person does not become homeless, and case management and interface with health workers.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley, PA
Contact Information
New Bethany Ministries
337 Wyandotte Street
Bethlehem, PA 18015
Phone: (610) 691-5602
Fax: (610) 866-3427
E-mail: newbethany@newbethanyministries.org
Website: http://www.newbethanyministries.org/
Phoebe Ministries
Mission
To provide compassionate care to residents of its communities, regardless of their ability to pay.
Year of Origin
1903
Core Programs
- Offers a variety of residential options for seniors from independent affordable housing to secure dementia care.
- Rehabilitation Services: Provides outpatient and short-term rehabilitation services that feature a staff of physical, occupational, speech, and other therapy specialists to treat individuals who need rehabilitation due to strokes, falls, broken bones, and more.
- Pharmacy Services: Operates its own in-house pharmacy that provides dispensing and consulting services to all Phoebe communities.
- Phoebe@Home: Works to provide new ways to provide care to older persons living at home.
- Spiritual Support: Provides for the spiritual care of residents and staff through a comprehensive pastoral care program.
- Support Groups: Provides regularly scheduled gatherings that seek to help those in need.
- Resident Communications: Helps residents stay in touch with loved ones and participate in campus activities and hobbies.
- Massage Therapy: Provides massage therapy services at various locations for residents and members of the surrounding communities.
- Provider Services: Has the technology and the staff to monitor residents through clinical practices that are guided by research-based protocols along with personal goals for the residents. Offers facilities that are directly connected to local hospital information systems and allows for significant portions of their medical records to be available electronically.
Service Area
Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Union counties
Contact Information
Phoebe Ministries
1925 Turner Street
Allentown, PA 18104
Phone: (800) 453-8814
Website: http://www.phoebe.org/
Project of Easton, Inc.
Mission
To help people help themselves.
Year of Origin
1968
Core Programs
- Emergency Assistance:
- Interfaith Food Pantry – Distributes food to income-qualified clients.
- ASSIST – Provides emergency vouchers for goods and services, such as prescription medicines, emergency shelter, eyeglasses, home heating oil, work clothing, baby care needs, and local transportation.
- Family Self-Sufficiency Initiative – A collaboration with Easton Housing Authority designed to help struggling families obtain employment, economic independence, and self-sufficiency.
- Community Connections Initiative – Case managers reconnect TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) clients with the Northampton County Assistance office in order to pursue educational or employment opportunities.
- Language and Literacy:
- For Adults and Families – Offers adult literacy classes, GED instruction, English language instruction, and family literacy instruction.
- For Children – Offers children the opportunity to participate in the early learning center while parents receive adult literacy instruction combined with other training relating to child development, early childhood education, parenting skills, and home support, and offers the SIZZLE! summer literacy day camp.
Service Area
Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and Warren County, New Jersey
Contact Information
Project of Easton, Inc.
320 Ferry Street
Easton, PA 18042
Phone: (610) 258-4361
Fax: (610) 258-7502
Website: http://www.projecteaston.org/
Renew Lehigh Valley
Mission
To promote smart growth and smart governance in order to revitalize core communities, preserve open space, and establish an economically and environmentally sustainable foundation for the region's future growth.
Year of Origin
2005
Core Programs
- Regional Health Initiative: Supports an effort to build broad-based community support for the creation of a regional health department to serve all of Lehigh and Northampton counties.
- Regional Water Initiative: Oversees and guides a comprehensive research study that evaluates the benefits of regionalizing water/wastewater systems in the Lehigh Valley.
- Sustainable Transportation Initiative: Supports land-use policies and approaches that promote livable, mixed-use communities and help foster an economically and environmentally sustainable region.
- Equitable Public School Funding: Partnered with a number of individuals, concerned organizations, parents, teachers, and students in the movement to reform the funding of Pennsylvania's public education system in hopes of achieving educational justice in this state.
Service Area
Lehigh Valley (Lehigh and Northampton counties)
Contact Information
Renew Lehigh Valley
1337 East 5th Street
Bethlehem, PA 18015
Phone: (484) 893-1060
E-mail: smartgrowth@renewlv.org
Website: http://www.renewlv.org/
Shiloh Community Services – The Nehemiah House
Mission
To provide an innovative long-term transitional living facility for adult males who are recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, and who are at high risk of relapse without provisions of supportive services and to provide supportive services in a semi-protected, home-like environment to assist with the gradual re-entry to society.
Year of Origin
N/A
Core Programs
- A transitional housing program, which provides long-term residential housing for adults who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
Service Area
City of Easton
Contact Information
Shiloh Community Services – The Nehemiah House
The Nehemiah House
416 Canal Street
Easton, PA 18042
Phone: (610) 653-9494
Website: http://greatershilohchurchpa.com/inner.cfm?siteid=151&itemcategory=28468&priorId=38355
Third Street Alliance
Mission
To improve the quality of life for members of the community, with special emphasis on women and children.
Year of Origin
1902
Core Programs
- Sharing the Caring Adult Care Services: Provides a day program for adults facing the challenges of aging.
- Learning Center: Operates a state-licensed, nationally accredited child care center serving children ages 12 months to 12 years.
- Wellness & Education Programs: Offers a wide variety of activities for men, women, and children of all ages, such as swimming, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, self-defense, and more.
- Resident Housing Program: Offers shelter to homeless women and children and provides education, encouragement, and training, to give women the skills they need to stabilize their lives.
Service Area
Easton, PA area (Select programs also provided for residents of Warren County, NJ)
Contact Information
Third Street Alliance
41 North Third Street
Easton, PA 18042
Phone: (610) 258-6271
Website: http://www.thirdstreetalliance.org/
Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, Inc.
Mission
To work toward the elimination of domestic violence, to increase community awareness of the problem, and to empower victims of domestic violence by providing shelter and support services.
Year of Origin
1978
Core Programs
- Counseling Services: Provides information and support through a 24-hour hotline and counseling services.
- Shelter Program: Operates two emergency shelters in Lehigh and Northampton counties.
- Transitional Housing: Provides clients and their children with transitional housing, support services and counseling, life-skills education, and referrals to job opportunities and educational programs.
- Cout Advocacy: Helps those victims looking to find legal retribution from their attackers
- Children’s Programs: Child abuse victims are offered special programs to get them back on their life paths.
- Community Education: Visits schools, churches, and local community centers to teach how to prevent and look out for abuse.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, Inc.
444 E. Susquehanna St.
Allentown, PA 18103
Phone: (610) 797-0530
Fax: (610) 797-0585
Website: http://www.tplv.org/
Valley Housing and Development Corporation
Mission
To develop and expand the affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income seniors, families, and persons with disabilities.
Year of Origin
1981
Core Programs
- Provides affordable rental apartments for low- and moderate-income individuals.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Valley Housing and Development Corporation
635 Broad Street
Emmaus, PA 18049
Phone: (610) 965-4514
Website: N/A
Valley Youth House
Mission
To provide prevention and intervention services, counseling, life skills, and behavioral health services to abused, neglected, and homeless youth and their families.
Year of Origin
1973
Core Programs
- Residential and Independent Living: Operates runaway and homeless youth shelters, provides independent living programs, provides a Pre-Adolescent Treatment Home Service (PATHS) program, and operates the Bucks County group home.
- Out-Client Counseling: Provides a family-based mental health program, behavioral health rehabilitation services, diagnostic services, the Adolescents and Families Together (Lehigh Valley AFT) program, and a family preservation program.
- Prevention and Intervention Services: Offers the youth education program to assist youth to make positive life choices. This program includes a student assistance program and a public information center on drug abuse prevention.
- Camp Fowler: A therapeutic adventure camp for youth who would not be otherwise able to experience camping.
Service Area
Bucks, Carbon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia counties
Contact Information
Valley Youth House
827-829 Linden Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: (610) 820-0166
Website: http://www.valleyyouthhouse.org/
Via of the Lehigh Valley
Mission
Provides leadership, support, opportunities, and resources for people with disabilities so that they may be independent and productive and enjoy full lives within the community.
Year of Origin
1954 (Originally the Lehigh County Association for Retarded Children [LARC])
Core Programs
- Employment services: Offers several employment programs, including the Community Employment program and ViaWorks, and provides assistance in the interpretation and implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Community Employment program provides job development, job coaching, and follow-along support to adults with disabilities so they can work in the community. The ViaWorks program, an employment service that subcontracts services for Lehigh Valley employers, focuses on training and skill development for people with disabilities.
- Children’s services: Provides an early intervention program for children from birth to age three to enhance the children’s development and provide support and assistance to families.
- Community services: Offers the community connections program to facilitate relationships between individuals and the communities in which they live.
- Operates several thrift stores.
Service Area
Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Via of the Lehigh Valley
336 W. Spruce Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
Phone: 610-317-8000
Fax: 610-867-5385
E-Mail: Via@ViaNet.org
Website: http://www.vianet.org/
Victory House of the Lehigh Valley
Mission
To address the problems of homeless men. Victory House provides shelter services and resources to support a transition toward self-sufficient living.
Year of Origin
1985 (formerly Center City Ministries)
Core Programs
- Operates emergency shelter dorms and transitional housing units.
- Provides free meals and life skills training.
- Provides case management services.
- Partners with several mental health providers to ensure that participants receive professional care to overcome and manage their affliction.
- Manages an on-site health center for clients.
- Offers an employment assistance program that provides interested individuals with access to employment, education, and training resources.
Service Area
Lehigh and Northampton counties
Contact Information
Victory House of the Lehigh Valley
Website: http://www.victoryhouselv.org/
YMCA of Bethlehem
Mission
To be the Greater Bethlehem Area's community leader in providing the services to enhance family life and healthy lifestyles and to help our youth develop leadership qualities through values based on Christian principles.
Year of Origin
N/A
Core Programs
- Operates a wellness center that includes fitness equipment and a weight room as well as an aquatics center.
- Offers adult fitness classes.
- Offers several youth programs.
- Operates a child care center for children from 6 weeks to 12 years old.
- A subsidiary, Bethlehem YMCA Affordable Housing L.P.: Provides affordable housing for single men and women.
Service Area
Greater Bethlehem area
Contact Information
Bethlehem YMCA
430 East Broad Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
Phone: (610) 867-7588
Fax: (610) 867-8295
Website: http://www.ymcabethlehem.net/
YWCA of Bethlehem
Mission
The YWCA of Bethlehem is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.
Year of Origin
N/A
Core Programs
- WAND (Women Achieving New Directions): Helps women discover more about themselves, develop job readiness skills and career confidence, network with potential employers, and think about nontraditional career opportunities.
- Women’s Health: Promotes awareness of breast cancer and the benefits of mammography.
- Racial Justice: Sponsors a community dialogue program, which includes a study circle that discusses issues on racism and race relations.
- TechGYRLS: An after school program that gives girls in elementary and middle school a chance for hands-on exploration of graphic arts, web design, animation, and robotics in a mentoring environment.
- LPGA-USGA Girls Golf of the Lehigh Valley: Teaches girls ages 7-17 the game of golf and helps to build lifelong skills such as etiquette and discipline.
- Adult Day Services: Provides caregivers of elderly family members with respite, which helps to minimize the stress and health problems associated with care giving.
- Residential Services at the Rooney Building: Provides the services of a resident services coordinator to the residents of a senior living facility in South Bethlehem.
Service Area
Bethlehem, PA
Contact Information
YWCA of Bethlehem
3895 Adler Pl Building A, Suite 180
Bethlehem, PA 18017-9092
Phone: (610) 867-4669
Fax: (610) 997-3786
E-mail: adminassist@ywcabethlehem.org
Website: www.ywca.org
- Last updated: September 17, 2010
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