Residents, council discuss heat dangers, Keystone Mission closure and county 'code red' policies

At the June 24 meeting, several residents urged the Scranton City Council to respond to an ongoing heat wave by expanding access to cooling centers and by working with county partners after the announced closure of Keystone Mission locations in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Joan Hodowanis, a resident, praised local volunteer organizers and urged neighbors to check on vulnerable people during the heat: "please check on those who may be in danger from this kind of heat," she told council. Hodowanis also suggested public libraries be promoted as cooling centers.

Angela Ramon said she has access to air conditioning and water but described that many residents do not. Ramon urged the city to cooperate with Lackawanna County to lower the threshold that opens county code-red shelters and to account for humidity in addition to temperature. "I believe that our county should update its rules to, lower the temperature requirement to open up our code red shelters and also account for humidity when determining whether or not our shelter should be open," Ramon said.

Ramon and other speakers also reported that Keystone Mission is closing its local locations because federal grants have been frozen. Ramon said that closure leaves the city at a crossroads and asked the council to consider whether the city will "step up and make sure that the most vulnerable people in our city ... are able to get the assistance they need to survive with dignity."

Tom Coyne and other public commenters urged concrete actions such as creating or funding local shelters and exploring revenue sources, including potential targeted taxes on out-of-town landlords who collect rent in Scranton, to support services for people experiencing homelessness.

Council members acknowledged the concerns. Doctor Rothschild requested staff follow up on county cooling-center arrangements and noted county-run daytime cooling centers listed on the county Facebook page, naming the Scranton Senior Center at 1004 Jackson Street and the Jewish Community Center at 601 Jefferson Avenue as local options. Rothschild said she will "look into the possibility of code red shelters again and discuss what role the city might be able to take in something like that." She added practical information about access at one site: "for the JCC, they do have, like, a bell that you have to ring, and then you could speak to someone on the speaker to ask them to let you in because you're you're there for the cooling center."

The transcript shows no formal council vote at the meeting to change shelter or funding policy; instead, multiple council members asked the administration to investigate and report back. The council also noted the planned public hearing on the HUD consolidated plan, which could relate to housing and homelessness program funding.

The issue remains active: residents requested clearer city communications about cooling options during heat events and asked the council to engage the county on lowering trigger thresholds for code-red shelters and to explore ways to replace services lost by Keystone Mission's announced closures.