Falls Twp. Police & Community Collect Over 5,400 Items For Homeless

The Falls Township Police Department’s Project Dash collected 5,416 items to support local organizations serving the homeless population.

Lt. Chris Clark, who spearheaded the program, presented the results to the township board of supervisors on Monday evening.

The police commander thanked the board, township manager, and police chief for allowing him to take part in this effort.

“Homelessness in Bucks county, the epidemic of homelessness has been greater than it’s ever been,” Clark said. “We, as a police department, dealing and interacting with these individuals, really saw that the need that we could. The void that we could provide in collecting donations to support the various organisations that are here tonight.”

Clark acknowledged the community’s generosity in uncertain economic times, which resulted in the significant number of donated items. He also thanked police staff for their work in collecting, sorting, and organizing the donations.

The Project Dash initiative involved partnerships with various community organizations, including churches, fitness centers, and local businesses. The partners either solicited donations on behalf of the police department or allowed collection boxes to be placed on their premises.

Venus Johnson, executive director of the Reachout Foundation, spoke about how the collected donations will support the nonprofit’s mission. The organization operates an unhoused drop-in center where individuals can take showers, do laundry, access a pantry, and find solace for 12 hours a day.

“We try to change that vernacular from homelessness to unhoused because it gives a sense of hope,” Johnson said. “When you say homelessness, it gives them that sense of helplessness.”

Johnson, who experienced homelessness at 16, emphasized the importance of community support.

“We have to really pour into our community so these people can re-acclimate into society,” she said.

Representatives from several other organizations were present, including Family Service Association of Bucks County, Valley Youth House, Bucks County Opportunity Council, and Advocates for the Homeless and Those in Need.

Those organizations provide services like street medicine teams, emergency homeless shelters, street outreach to homeless youth and families, and facilitating code blue shelters.

Supervisor Erin Mullen said she recently heard at county commissioners meeting that there are 500 families on a waitlist for shelter.

“When I heard that number, that tells me we all have to pitch in on that. Five hundred people on a wait list in Bucks County is too many,” she said.

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