Pittsburgh City Council still working on plan to address homelessness

PITTSBURGH — Homelessness is a growing issue in the City of Pittsburgh. While City Council members have tried for two years to propose new shelters and even tiny homes, nothing has changed.

“There are just a lot of people that struggle to afford housing or find affordable housing,” said Pittsburgh’s Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak.

Pawlak said during the city’s research, it found a huge gap in the next step in housing: where do people in the shelters go to open up those beds for the people on the streets?

That’s why the city is taking more than $8 million from the American Rescue funds to preserve affordable housing and build that transitional element with $6 million going to the URA.

“The opening of Second Avenue Commons is a really important milestone on addressing the needs of the unhoused, but we need to continue the pipeline from those frontline services through a continuum of housing supports in order to get folks back into stable housing,” Pawlak said.

The plan has brought up concerns on the timeline of getting help for people in need now, as much of what is proposed wouldn’t be built for years. Pawlak said the Mayor’s Administration does have other plans in the works, but this money could not be used for shelter situations.

Mayor's office proposing plan to get homeless population off of Pittsburgh streets

“These funds aren’t eligible to be used for those frontline services that you heard questions about. Things like the tiny house proposal Councilperson Coghill and Gross have discussed because it relies on congregate sanitary facilities that means it’s not eligible for these funds,” Pawlak said.

City Councilman Anthony Coghill told Channel 11 that there is a lack of communication from the Mayor’s Office on this topic.

“I think this was the time to allocate real money to the immediate need of getting people off the streets that are stuck there overnight now,” Coghill said.

He just wishes the City Council members who did the work on research had been included in this conversation rather than just having to approve a plan that can’t be changed at this stage in the game.

“We are open to anything. We could have refurbished an office building, an empty building it’s six million dollars I wish we would have used better to get people off the street,” Coghill said.

City Council is expected to approve the Mayor’s proposal tomorrow.

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