ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown homeless shelter’s transitional employment program will continue maintaining downtown for years to come after council belatedly approved a new contract for the group.
Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach raised concerns last month over handing the Allentown Rescue Mission’s Clean Team a new five-year contract worth $2.13 million.
“As a body, as a city, we have made public statements and stride towards paying even our lifeguards $15 an hour."Ce-Ce Gerlach, Allentown City Council
She questioned how much of that money would go directly to workers trying to climb out of homelessness.
“As a body, as a city, we have made public statements and stride towards paying even our lifeguards $15 an hour,” Gerlach said Feb. 21. “To know that we (might be) contracting with an organization that doesn't do that is troublesome.”
Administration officials could not answer Gerlach’s question, prompting her to push council to delay a vote on the contract until members learned more about the Clean Team’s pay structure.
Gerlach spent about three hours touring the Clean Team’s facilities and speaking with workers last month.
She said she was satisfied after getting “a pretty extensive breakdown of everything,” including the organization’s pay rates, benefits, and eligibility requirements.
Pay structure
Allentown Rescue Mission Chief Executive Officer Stuart Smith walked council members through the program March 6 before a vote on the contract.
The Clean Team was more than a decade ago to help homeless men find stable employment by offering them jobs cleaning up downtown Allentown, the Kutztown Festival, Saucon Valley Country Club and other areas.
Those jobs help workers build skills and save money to move out of the Rescue Mission's temporary housing, Smith said.
Clean Team employees living in the mission’s housing earn $8 an hour in direct payments and the equivalent of about $10 an hour in services and benefits, like housing, clothing, food, transportation and medical care, Smith said.
"Ask questions, because you never know. In this case, the questions were answered and things seem to be OK.”Ce-Ce Gerlach, Allentown City Council
Employees who continue to work for the program after moving into an apartment earn $13 an hour in direct payments and about $5 an hour in services and benefits, he said.
The Clean Team’s contract with Allentown represents about 30% of its total revenue and supports seven full-time employees, six of whom live in apartments, Smith told LehighValleyNews.com.
About 50 men work on the Clean Team’s various contracts, he said.
City Council unanimously approved the organization’s new contract March 6. But Gerlach said she felt the city’s contract with the Clean Team was “worthy of at least questioning.”
“I don't think it's wise to always just say, ‘Oh, yeah, we worked with them for the last five (years),’” Gerlach said. “No, ask questions, because you never know. In this case, the questions were answered and things seem to be OK.”
