Norristown Hospitality Center

Started in 1992, formerly known as Norristown Ministries Inc., now Norristown Hospitality Center, is a faith-based, non-profit homeless day shelter dedicated to enhancing the physical, mental emotional and social outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and poverty in the Norristown Community. The Center has been in existence for over 25 years. What initially started off as a drop in center for a few hours a day, has now evolved into a place that is open eight hours a day, and that has become a one stop shop for over 1000 people every year. The Center continues to successfully meet the need in the community and has consistently grown over the years, which is a testament to the need in the community and the Centers capacity to respond to it. The Center has remained open during the Covid19 crisis serving approximately 75 unique individuals a day whether it is for food, showers, mail or use of bathrooms and laundry services. At the present time our work involves meeting basic needs and also a lot of inter-agency work in addressing housing related needs. Our programs are divided into 4 silos, which address Basic Needs, Social Services, Health and Wellness and Workforce Development. Additionally, the Center has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Episcopal Legal aid of Pennsylvania and the Family services of Montgomery County. Through both of these partnerships, the Center is able to offer monthly Legal Aid clinics and HIV/STD clinics which occur on a bi-monthly basis. People experiencing homelessness experience a unique set of challenges and often dont have any place where they can just be and process some of the trauma they experience. The Center has two significant new programs to mention:Code Blue Shelter: Since the Winter of 2020-2021, the Center initiated a Code Blue Program that involves providing overnight shelter to the unhoused population on very cold nights. The Center collaborated with a local church and set up a Code Blue Shelter with the capacity of 20 beds.ID Clinics : Another new addition to our programs during the Pandemic has been the ID Clinics. The Center has joined forces with Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Mennonite Church and jointly host 6 ID clinics in a year. These clinics provide a way for people who are stuck and need support with applying for IDs which is a very important document to move forward with jobs, housing etc.