New Bristol Twp. Facility Will Allow For Expanded Services For Opportunity Council

For a few months last year, Jim Sawchuk was sleeping his car.

It wasn’t where he wanted to be and it certainly wasn’t comfortable. On top of that, winter was coming.

This past Friday, Sawchuk, 69, thanked the Bucks County Opportunity Council for helping him get back on his feet and finding a home he could afford earlier this year.

“I was looking for a hand up and not a hand out,” he said.

Sawchuk’s story is similar to that of countless others who have been aided by the Bucks County Opportunity Council, which has offices in the lower, central, and upper portions of the county.

By the end of 2018, the Bucks County Opportunity Council plans to begin helping others like Sawchuk out of the renovated 6,400-square-foot former Planned Parenthood building on Veterans Highway (Route 413) in Bristol Township, which sits about halfway between the I-95 ramps and Route 13.

Officials from the nonprofit said the new two-story Opportunity Center will feature organization offices, a housing resource center, homeless recharge center, economic stability center, tax preparation center, job skills training center, and emergency service office.

One feature that Bucks County Opportunity Council Executive Director Erin Lukoss, a Falls Township native, said had grown over the planning stages is the homeless recharge station. A shower will be available along with laundry facilities and a place to recharge electronic devices.

Lukoss said the new facility is owned by the nonprofit and much bigger than their current 2,100-square-foot facility in Bristol Borough.

About 60 percent of the Bucks County Opportunity Council services come through the Bristol Borough office, making the additional space much needed.

“We listened to the community,” Lukoss said of designing the new office.

Bucks County Commissioner Chairman Robert Loughery said the new building will allow the Bucks County Opportunity Council to continue aiding Bucks Countians who have fallen on hard times.

A $340,000 federal block grant will help pay for the renovation at 721 Veterans Highway.