On cold nights, when those without homes in Bucks County are looking for a place to keep warm, Desiree Arney is providing resources to local churches to help, writes Jo Ciavaglia for the Bucks County Courier Times.  

Bucks County volunteers and nonprofits have been providing the homeless with warm, sheltered spaces since 2009 on Code Blue nights when temperatures fall below 30 degrees Fahrenheit.  

For nights when the temperature isn’t cold enough, Arney created “Shelter in a Box,” a kit to be used by congregations. The kits come with everything needed to host an overnight homeless shelter, along with volunteers and transportation. 

The first successful pop-up shelter took place in a Levittown church last month, leading two Quaker meetinghouses to express their interest in hosting.  

Arney works as the executive director of Penndel’s Reach Out Foundation of Bucks County and has witnessed firsthand how the cold has impacted the homeless. 

“This allows us to expand emergency cold-weather shelter capacity while partnering with more congregations across the county,” she said.   

Reach Out provides two volunteers to the hosting congregation, acting as overnight supervisors. Transportation is organized ahead of time to drop off the homeless and pick them up the following day. 

Read more about Desiree Arney’s Shelter in a Box and how it’s helping the homeless in Bucks County in the Bucks County Courier Times. 

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