As Keystone Mission prepares to close its Innovation Center in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County plans to sue the organization over hundreds of thousands of dollars in American Rescue Plan grant funding provided to the agency.
“Because of the distinct possibility of the immediate closure of Keystone Mission, I have instructed the Office of Law to prepare, file, and serve a praecipe for a writ of summons to initiate a lawsuit against Keystone Mission to protect and preserve our right to clawback ARPA monies distributed to the Keystone Mission,” Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo said Thursday.
A praecipe for a writ of summons is a document letting one party know that another party intends to file a lawsuit against them.
In a statement, Crocamo said county council will be asked to approve the litigation at the next council meeting.
She said the lawsuit is regarding American Rescue Plan Act funds given directly to Keystone Mission by the county. The award was for $500,000. So far, the county has sent Keystone $300,081, Crocamo added.
Keystone Mission also received $109,500 in ARPA funds from the city of Wilkes-Barre last year. That money was intended to pay for the 365-Overnight shelter’s operation for the year.
Interim director Justin Behrens said on Thursday he is aware of the impending lawsuit.
“We are waiting to hear what it says and we will address it then,” he said Thursday afternoon. “We will continue to have open communication with the county and answer any questions they have.”
Scranton center closed, Wilkes-Barre closure date set
Keystone Mission's Innovation Center for Homelessness and Poverty in Wilkes-Barre, which includes the 365-Overnight shelter, will close to guests on July 10, Behrens said, and the mission's Innovation Center in Scranton is already closed.
The staff in Wilkes-Barre will be reduced about a week after guests leave.
“July 19 will be … when we start letting go the staff for the operation,” Behrens said.
Behrens said the staff is sorting the current Wilkes-Barre guests into tiers based on how they can best help them relocate.
“We’re in the process of, right now, ‘tiering’ everybody of … where we can get them,” he said.
Some of the shelter's guests will receive bus tickets to help them reconnect with identified family members. Some will be relocated to other shelters and “missions” that have room.
“We have reached out to a lot of our rescue missions that are in our network all across the state of Pennsylvania, asking how many beds they have available, to see if we can get people there,” Behrens said. “If they chose to do that, we're going to get a bus pass to the front doors of that location.”
For anyone who wants to stay in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, Behrens said the staff will focus on relocating them with local agencies.
Downsizing in progress for Keystone Mission
Behrens announced last week that Keystone Mission would downsize its operations to the Wilkes-Barre Transformation Center near the Sherman Hills apartment complex in Wilkes-Barre, closing the Innovation Centers in both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
Scranton’s Innovation Center has never housed an overnight shelter and Behrens said its day program services had already been reduced. He says prior to last week, the facility on Olive Street was only providing help with Photo IDs, a clothing closet, and bed rolls.
“Scranton is officially closed,” Behrens said. “Right now we're in the process of liquidating all the stuff that we have in Scranton.”
Because of the overnight shelter, there is more involved in closing the Wilkes-Barre Innovation Center. Behrens said they have around 70 consistent guests that need a new place to stay.
“We're right now (down to) about 49 people, so we've already done almost 50 percent placement, and we're continuing to get people placed every single day,” he said. “We are on trajectory to meet our number for July 10, and hoping that when we close the doors there'll be nobody left in our building.”
The Wilkes-Barre Innovation Center was still welcoming people this week as a heat wave baked the region. Guests filed into the lobby doors seeking air conditioning and cool drinks.
Haamid Shivers enjoyed the cool air and was looking forward to dinner and watching some TV. He’s been a guest in Wilkes-Barre for the past year.
“This place is a good place, they let you come in during the day instead of being outside all the time,” Shivers said. “They help you actually get jobs … but when it’s shutting down, that’s going to be harsh for a lot of people.”
Shivers said the staff at Keystone Mission helped him get on the waiting list for housing in Nanticoke. He said he’s number 11 on the list now.
“I’m just waiting for that,” he said.
Behrens to step down as director of Keystone Mission
Once the downsizing is complete, Behrens said he will step down as interim director of Keystone Mission. He will be leaving as of Aug. 1.
“I want to make sure everything is okay with who we have right now,” he said. “Once that has been accomplished and that transition runs smoothly in the cities, then I'm going to step away, and hopefully, you know, the nonprofits can learn from this and move forward.”
Behrens, a former CEO, returned to Keystone Mission as interim director in February after Danielle Keith-Alexandre left Keystone Mission in late January as part of what the board of directors later called a "leadership transition."
Behrens says a drastic drop in donations, increased staffing costs and less grant funding led Keystone Mission’s board to decide on the downsizing plan.
“I've loved Keystone Mission,” Behrens said. “It's always been my baby, but I also understand some chapters have to end for another thing to happen.”
‘Keystone Mission’s work is not done’
The Transformation Center in Wilkes-Barre offers 10 permanent beds for men going through the transformation program.
“It's like wraparound services that we provide them — guidance on how to live and guidance on how to get back on track,” Behrens said. “We help them with employment, but they have the relief of living in an apartment setting type facility.”
Behrens said the first floor of that facility can be used for emergency shelter on extremely cold or hot nights. When the 365-Overnight shelter opened last summer, that need was eliminated in Wilkes-Barre.
“Now it's going to take more of a strategic (approach) and talking around with the community and making sure that we have teamwork among all agencies and government to make sure that we have everyone safe,” Behrens said.
“This was done before. We can make this happen.”
