Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 156, No. 36
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
$1.00
Homelessness in Chester County: Part 2 in a series
Empty shelves: KACS continues fight to deliver shelter, food to homeless By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer It is as dramatic as it is barren, and it tells the absolute story of a local crisis without uttering a single word. Up and down the shelves in the storage and shopping areas of the Kennett Food Cupboard at Kennett Area Community Services on West Cedar Street, the metallic steel rows are normally filled with the essential items needed by the families who use the agency’s services. Baby wipes. Diapers. Jelly. Fresh vegetables. Rice and beans. In the years before COVID-19, an average of 550 families used the Food Cupboard every month, and 90 percent of the food was donated.
INSIDE
Most of that inventory has been depleted. Food donations to the agency have dwindled dramatically over the past several months, and in July alone, KACS distributed a total of 59,259 pounds of food from its Food Cupboard. At the same time, community donations during the month amounted to just 8,547 pounds of food. The empty shelves, however, are merely a touch point to a surging reality that has held county-based agencies like KACS in a vice grip the past two years. In the richest county in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, homelessness and its many tendrils – affordable housing, food distribution, shelter, case services and the doorways of education and opportunity – are no longer able to withstand
the weight of a county whose underserved are being ripped from the lifelines that have traditionally sustained them. In truth, KACS’ entire mission – to help vulnerable individuals and families achieve sustainable living solutions through emergency assistance and case management – has been forced into compromise over the last several months. Against the increasing weight of a runaway crisis, what was once considered unthinkable is now cold-hearted fact: As of Aug. 1, the case management team at KACS was so overloaded with cases that those now seeking emergency and housing assistance are being referred to The United Way of Pennsylvania’s 2-1-1 hotline for help with services like food, housing and shel-
ter, employment, clothing and other resources. As of Aug. 1, KACS had 90 individual emergency assistance cases and had spent $115,000 to house individuals and families at four local hotels during July alone. Meanwhile, the requests for assistance continued to pour in to an agency whose offices continue to be a hodgepodge of new configuration after a fire and flood in August 2020 and then again in April 2022 forced KACS to house case managers in trailers. “We have been overwhelmed with cases,” said KACS Executive Director Leah Reynolds. “Normally, we walk with them through the entire process, but we are tapped out. I am recruiting for another case manager that we didn’t have in the budget. Just
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Ray Didinger, a legendary sports journalist who covered the Philadelphia sports scene for more than 50 years, will be coming to the Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center in West Chester this Wednesday, Sept. 7 to discuss his career and his latest book, “Finished Business: My Fifty Years of Headlines, Heroes and Heartaches.” This very special evening will look back at Ray’s distinguished career covering the Philadelphia sports scene. Didinger retired earlier this year after a career that including covering everything from the Flyers’ Stanley Cup championships and the Phillies 1980 World Series Championship to the 76ers championship in 1983-84 and the Philadelphia Eagles victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52. Didinger became a beloved figure in Philadelphia for his meticulous and insightful coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles. The evening will begin with a VIP reception in the Univest Cabaret at Uptown! at 6 p.m. and a presentation from Didinger will start at 7 p.m. There will also Continued on page 4A
last week, a local resident called me and said, ‘Leah, there is a homeless person at the Wawa.’ I responded, ‘I am not surprised.’ “You’re going to see more of that until we fix the problem. “Human beings are not made to live outside.” In the past few weeks alone, KACS has placed
three homeless households in hotels: • One household is an immigrant couple who recently arrived in the U.S. While KACS has been able to find them a hotel for two to three weeks before a room is available for them elsewhere, but Continued on Page 2A
FROM OUR LENS
EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK Didinger to discuss his career, new book in West Chester
Photos by Richard L. Gaw
Kennett Area Community Service (KACS) Executive Director Leah Reynolds, front, stands with some of the KACS staff and volunteers.
Are we ready for some football?
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
The Kennett Middle School football team recently went through a round of summer practice at the school, in preparation for their home opener against Coatesville on Sept. 14 at Kennett Stadium, beginning at 3:15 p.m. The Chester County Press will provide coverage of selected high school varsity football games throughout the upcoming season.
Oxford Car Show attracts thousands to First Friday event By Chris Barber Contributing Writer The perfect weather people had been hoping for since spring breezed in last Friday, just in time to smile on Oxford’s eighth annual car show. A rough estimate of several thousand visitors browsed the length of 3rd Street and Market and Locust streets starting at 3 p.m. until closing at 8 p.m. to enjoy the 200 classic vehicles on display. The show, sponsored by Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. attracted car and truck owners from all over the region. Adding to the gaiety of the evening along the way were the Revolution Heroes musicians at the Oxford Hotel porch, food trucks, emergency responders (including the fire company) and representatives of local businesses and non-profits. Even State Rep. John Lawrence, of West Grove, also had his restored U.S.
Post Office delivery truck parked in front of the Oxford Hotel, where the musicians performed. Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. Executive Director Brian Dix said planning begins for this popular annual event at least six months prior. This year, he said, they put a cap of 200 on the number of entrants and did not allow drive-ins. He praised the efforts of the Oxford police for keeping the show orderly and said the only big problem in the history of the event was the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the car show in 2020. There has never been anything more serious than the occasional vehicle breakdown during the car shows. Commenting on the attitudes of the owners he saw there, Dix said, “They love their cars. They’re like their children.” The cars on display varied from some of the very earliest
All photos by Chris Barber
Visitors fill Third Street to view the cars on display at the recent Oxford Car Show.
antiques to a 2019 Tesla all shined up. Most of the cars sat along the side of the street with their hoods open, inviting spectators to notice how well-kept their engines are. On one display of contrasts, Steve Roberts and Steve Jensen teamed up to show
the evolution of vehicles as history progressed. Lined up together were a 1911 Stanley Steamer, a 1923 Model T Ford and the Tesla. The contrast between the blue Stanley Steamer and the model T, Jensen explained, was that the steamer, true
to its name was powered by steam with the water heated by kerosene. The Model T was powered by a gas engine. Like almost all of the vehicles on display, they were gleaming clean and shiny regardless of their ages. Continued on Page 3A