NEWS VOICES
Welcome to News Voices, a weekly feature where members of the WVIA News team will talk with each other — and sometimes sources — about key things we've learned in recent stories we have been working on.
Today, WVIA News' Roger DuPuis and Sarah Scinto talk about the challenges facing Keystone Mission as the organization closes facilities and faces questions about its use of federal funding. This is a transcript of their conversation as it aired on WVIA Radio, lightly edited for clarity.
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ROGER: You're listening to Morning Edition here on WVIA Radio. I'm Roger DuPuis, and this is News Voices. Today I'm here with WVIA News reporter Sarah Scinto — also your Morning Edition host, taking a moment away from her usual duties — and we're going to talk about Keystone Mission and some of the challenges that have been facing that organization. Good morning, Sarah.
SARAH: Good morning, Roger. It was around this time last year that they opened a 365 (day) overnight shelter in the Wilkes-Barre Innovation Center. It was actually in June of 2024 and that's where our coverage kind of really picked up, because this was a service that Mayor George Brown of Wilkes-Barre had been pushing for, had been wanting, had been dreaming of for years, and had spoken with the former executive director about and now it was a reality, and it was serving upwards of 70 people per night and giving them shelter no matter the weather. Whereas previously, Wilkes-Barre and Keystone Mission had to work together to provide emergency shelter on Code Blue nights — meaning dangerously cold or snowy nights — and they were debating doing a similar process for dangerous heat. Then enter the overnight shelter ...
ROGER: OK. Unfortunately, Sarah, we're just a little over a year after that point, and things have changed, not for the better.
SARAH: Yes, that's correct. So it was actually a year to the day that I covered the grand opening of the 365 overnight shelter that we learned Keystone Mission would be downsizing. So that included the Innovation Center in Scranton — which, to be clear, has never included an overnight shelter — but also the Innovation Center in Wilkes-Barre. So that 365 (day) overnight shelter, and all of the services that they provide there — like showers, address services, food, all of that — was going to be closing and downsized into the Wilkes-Barre Transformation Center, which is a smaller center that serves primarily men near the Sherman Hills apartment complex in Wilkes-Barre.
ROGER: Okay, Sarah, do we have a sense of why, all of a sudden?
SARAH: Interim Executive Director Justin Behrens — who was a former CEO, he took over in February after Danielle Keith Alexandre left — stated that the primary reason is a drastic decrease in donations, in monetary support. The number he gave was a 42% decline over the past year in donations. And also grant funding from some sources had dried up just because of the economy, people not being able to give what they used to be able to.
ROGER: And then, as you reported on Wednesday of this week, Justin has now stepped down as well.
SARAH: Yes, he originally told me that he was going to step down on Aug. 1. This was when we were discussing the progress of the closures. But I spoke with him on Wednesday, and he said he's just, he's burnt out. So he has stepped away prematurely.
ROGER: Okay. The mission faces a legal challenge as well, correct?
SARAH: Yes, the mission is facing a lawsuit from Luzerne County over its use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that Luzerne County provided. There was a writ of summons issued, which is basically a notice of an intent to sue. And in speaking with Luzerne County solicitor Harry Skene, they're in the process of investigating how those funds were used. It's upwards of $400,000 that they received, (and the county is) investigating how those funds were used in order to build up their complaint. And once that complaint is filed, it will be made public.
ROGER: OK. And if I remember correctly, Harry had said to you that they're looking to determine whether or not the spending was in compliance with the ARPA regulations.
SARAH: Yes, exactly. He made the point to me that the federal government has the right to claw back those funds if Luzerne County doesn't do its due diligence. So they are that's basically what they're doing. They're doing their due diligence to make sure that these funds were used properly.
ROGER: What is going to happen to the folks who were using the overnight accommodations at the shelter?
SARAH: Over the past few weeks, Keystone Mission has been basically finding places that they can go so that there's no interruption in the services that they're receiving.
ROGER: Sarah, thanks for being here.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE: Behrens no longer Keystone Mission director as Luzerne County investigates funding
