ALLENTOWN, Pa.— The past week, in terms of weather, has been tough to live through even for those who have roofs over their heads.
Record-breaking rainfall has led to emergency rescues across the region, nearly all reasonably avoidable except for one: a person who lived in a tent near a creek because they had nowhere else to go.
Most of the reported rescues were for people who drove into standing water on flooded roads, which disabled their engines and got their cars stuck.
But for the person in the tent, whose identity and location (except that he lived in Allentown) were undisclosed, one prominent community activist said he was saddened to hear about it, but not surprised.
"We had a couple here who went down the stream," said the Rev. Bob Rapp, executive director of Bethlehem Sheltering and pastor at Christ Church in Bethlehem. "Yeah, it was early morning hours."
Rapp is a well-known respected community advocate for improving housing security in the Lehigh Valley, and helps organize regional initiatives involving the unhoused population, such as the annual point-in-time count.
Rapp said in one case in the middle of the night, while trying to sleep during a cold December flood, an unsheltered person lost all of their belongings in a tent that got swept down a river.
Within seconds, all of the person's clothing, ID cards, government documents, family photos and more were gone.
"They just abandoned ship. I mean, what else can you do in that situation?"Pastor Bob Rapp, executive director of Bethlehem Sheltering
Thankfully, everyone who had their tents swept away was able to secure shelter and be safe, he said.
Their belongings such as government IDs — which are crucial to unhoused populations — can be replaced. However, personal items that sometimes don't have a safe place to be stored, can't.
"There'll be some something as simple as a couple of pictures that they've carried with [them] for years," Rapp said. "You don't think about those simple things and yet it's not simple to them.
"It's — it's their whole being."
Rapp said it's not an aesthetic choice to set-up camp near water, but a functional one: people living in tents of course don't have plumbing, and a nearby creek or river can serve as a shower, a place to wash your hands before dinner, and more.
Resourcefulness and risk: Tent fires
Rapp said people who are living outdoors need to be resourceful to stay warm, especially for heating their tents.
"It's common to see a clay flower pot, and they'll put it upside down and make a hole in it, or some of them already have holes in them already, and they'll put a candle on the tray part and turn that flower-pot upside-down," Rapp said.
"And believe it or not, a relatively small candle [under a clay pot] can heat up a tent for a long period of time. That can make it really cozy and warm."
Such crudely-constructed clay heaters closely resemble similar technology documented as having been used as early as 800 B.C.
Rapp said people also use propane camp stoves and heaters, which are typically fine when used for their intended purposes, but can be risky when used in a small, flammable tent.
Living next to active train tracks, for instance, can cause the person to abruptly wake up from their sleep and knock it over.
Propane tent heating is believed to have caused a blaze earlier in December when two homeless men were severely burned after their tents caught fire.
'Those people'
According to Rapp's estimation — and he admits it's a guess — if every unhoused person in the Lehigh Valley were to go knock on a shelter door today, only 60-70% of them would actually end up with a place to sleep.
"And that number's probably high," Rapp said.
It's true that not every unhoused person chooses to stay in a shelter, and reasons for that are complicated.
For one, a lot of people without homes have families and pets. And many shelters cannot accommodate that.
Some people experiencing homelessness feel unsafe at shelters — a sentiment reflected in wider society, too, with efforts to keep shelters out of neighborhoods being a longstanding and widespread point of contention.
"Folks don't want it in their back yard. We've got to get rid of that attitude of 'those people,' because our folks are no different than anyone else. They just want to live and prosper, and live a life of dignity."Pastor Bob Rapp, executive director of Bethlehem Sheltering
He said some have serious mental health issues that prevent them from feeling comfortable around others, or from living in a group setting in general.
Rapp said another concern he sees is about being belittled or seen as different.
"When I said 'those people' earlier, I say that very deliberately," Rapp said. "When folks have that feeling that that's what's going through somebody's mind when they're trying to offer them services — you can understand why they wouldn't trust folks, right?
"So many organizations do really good stuff. They just sometimes go about it the wrong way."
Christmas on the street
Rapp acknowledged there will be people who have to spend Christmas in tents outside near train tracks or rivers — who simply have nowhere else to go.
For at least a few of those people, it's the most painful day of the year.
"For some, it's a day they'd just rather get through as quickly as possible, and get it over with and move on to the next day," Rapp said.
While the reasons are complicated and different for everyone, Rapp said it can be a day that brings back painful memories of loss, for those who have been separated or estranged from their families — people who they might have spent cozy childhood Christmases with, who they might not be able to call up anymore.
But he said that's not true for everyone living outdoors.
"Some of them, they have their little Christmas trees, and they decorate them and put them up in their camp, and they gather around and celebrate. It's not in such a grand style as before.
"They have their friends around," Rapp said. "And they celebrate — just as they always have."
