Keystone Mission urges Scranton leaders to back 'transformation center' to move people from streets into housing

Justin Behrens, chief executive director of Keystone Mission, addressed the Scranton City Council during the meeting's public-comment period to outline a multi-stage approach the nonprofit uses to move people from homelessness into stable housing.

Behrens said Keystone Mission seeks a local transformation center that would follow a three-tier funnel—an overnight shelter, a transformation program with case management and work development, then independent housing—and asked the city and other local partners to help identify a site and funding.

The model matters because, Behrens said, it focuses on longer-term stability rather than short-term relief. “We meet immediate needs, offering food, shelter, and safety. But our greater purpose is to walk with [people] all the way from homelessness to stability,” he said.

Keystone Mission runs a transformation center in Wilkes-Barre that Behrens said took about six months to stand up after the city provided funding. He attributed the center’s reported outcomes to sustained program participation: “Across this nation, the average rate is 13 percent in success. And we're at 58.” He also described a local funnel that includes a 365-night shelter that feeds into the transformation center and then into apartments.

The nonprofit’s current funding mix, Behrens said, includes two foundation grants, private donations and other foundations; he said about 64% of operating costs come from private donors. He also said he is applying for a foundation grant through a Pittsburgh bank that could provide about $1,500,000 if awarded.

Behrens gave capacity targets and usage details from Wilkes-Barre as a planning reference: he said the shelter there runs about a 70-bed “sweet spot” for the 365-night facility, and that Wilkes-Barre’s shelter typically sees between 40 and 70 people at a time. For Scranton, he said staff are seeing roughly 40 to 58 people in the current period and described a transient population that sometimes moves between communities.

On program rules and operations, Behrens said the Wilkes-Barre model requires participants to engage with services—drug and alcohol treatment if needed, mental health care and job placement—and that the center keeps a bed available for those who participate. He said the transformation phase typically takes “a year to a year and a half” for people to shift from immediate survival decision‑making to making longer-term plans.

Council members asked operational and neighborhood‑impact questions, including whether Keystone has current funding and how the organization will address nearby residents’ concerns. “Do you have any funding now? Where do you get funding from?” one council member asked; another asked how Keystone would ensure neighbors are protected and what steps Keystone takes to prevent loitering or camps near homes and schools.

Behrens described past neighborhood work in Scranton, including hiring on‑site security and working with partner agencies. He said the mission coordinates with CIC (the community day-room operator) and Catholic Social Services to avoid duplicating services and to create handoffs: CIC would manage the daytime day room while Keystone would focus on overnight shelter and the transformation program. He said Keystone has scaled back the mission’s day room and is cooperating with CIC on that service.

Behrens invited council members and staff to tour the Wilkes-Barre facility and provided contact availability, saying, “You are more than welcome to open up there. If you really don't wanna call me and just show up, just show up and walk in.” He said he is not taking a salary while he leads the organization and that the board is pursuing an aggressive plan to relaunch services and pursue partnerships.

No formal vote or directive by the council was recorded during this public-comment exchange; members expressed interest in further coordination and a site search. Behrens and council members discussed locating a site outside immediate residential blocks to reduce neighborhood impacts and described the need for shared funding and partnership among nonprofits, businesses and city government.

Behrens named partners and program elements repeatedly in the discussion: CIC for the day room, Catholic Social Services, LCC for job training, and local employers tied to a work-development program. He emphasized that the transformation center model includes on‑site counseling, medical screening space, a kitchen and smoking areas, along with a work-development and transportation plan to help residents get to jobs.

The public comment closed with council members offering to follow up; several asked to schedule a tour of the Wilkes-Barre operation and for staff to continue conversations with Keystone Mission about possible sites, security plans and funding pathways.