Pennridge FISH

10/14/2026

A huge thank you to the Perkasie Borough Police Department for hosting a winter hat, gloves, scarf drive for our holiday giving program! Click here for details...https://tinyurl.com/5etmezx7

10/10/2026

Just a heads up that we will be giving our volunteers a little rest on Monday, October 12th, but will reopen the pantry on Wednesday, October 14th a 3:00pm. Please feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have an emergent need.

10/10/2026

I would like to update the community on the status of the folks we have been helping who were recently displaced in Perkasie. We assisted 7 people altogether with hotel stays; one person for only one week, and the other 6 people for 3 weeks straight. We are also assisting another person who wasn't able to stay in Quakertown as it was too far from their work. They are unhoused at the moment, but we are helping with food, etc.
(On top of these original 8 individuals, we have also been supporting a young couple who has been trying to attain housing for five months.)
I want to thank the Pennridge Community for stepping up to donate enough funds to cover nearly 3 weeks of hotel stays. This is an amazing testimony to the caring community in which we all reside.
Unfortunately, that funding has come to an end and the 6 individuals will now be effectively street homeless as of early next week.
The cost for keeping someone in the least expensive hotel with our charitable discount was $600 a week. If you do the math...that's $3,600 a week to help these 6 people stay sheltered.
I have communicated all the way up the county to the commissioner level and there are no hotel funds available.
The problem we are seeing in Pennridge may seem small, however, the uptick in people who are unhoused in our area is alarming. We should all be concerned. Rents are too high, boarding house rooms are disappearing, and folks who used to rent out spaces above garages or in in-law suites are turning them into Air BnB style rentals with prices that are out of reach. Even owning a vehicle (which can be a source of shelter) is becoming too expensive for many!
I am not sure what can be done, but something needs to be done!
Thank you to all who supported this effort. And thank you, too, to Steve Nathan, who has been strongly advocating for the unhoused in our community.
(Historic photo of our building on the left and the Trio House which was recently condemned. No information on who took this original photo.)

10/03/2026

Gregory Crystal, Officer/Assistant Branch Manager, Peoples Security Bank & Trust, Doylestown, presents a $500 check to Pennridge FISH board president, Lori Zimmerman, and vice president, Dawn Felix, in honor of National Hunger Action Month. We are especially grateful for their support as we see an increase in pantry visits this month!

10/03/2026

The latest edition of the Pennridge FISH newsletter is here! Enjoy!

09/28/2026

We are excited to be invited to have a table at the Shelby Labs' Senior Expo at the Silverdale Community Center on Friday, October 2nd from 10am to 1pm. Visit our table for a swag bag, chocolate, and other goodies and resources!

Join me for my upcoming Senior Expo on Friday, October 2, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pennridge Community Center, 146 E S Main St, Perkasie, PA 18944 (Silverdale Borough). Please contact my office at 215-489-2126 with any questions. Registration is not required.

09/26/2026

Just a little update...So far, thanks to the help of our awesome community, we have been able to assist 7 out of the 8 people who couldn't find someplace to go on Monday when their rooming house was condemned in Perkasie.
Each one was given 7 nights at a hotel to start with, with the possibility of extending their stay should they not find something more permanent quickly enough.
We are asking the community to pray for these individuals. In speaking with each of them, we learned just how traumatic and humiliating their experience has been. Many are struggling right now and worried about where they are going to go. The community they knew has been broken apart and the bottom has fallen out like it has for so many in Upper Bucks.
I am currently reaching out to some local groups for help with meals and waiting on hearing back from someone at the county to find out what other kind of assistance can be offered. I am questioning why hotel stays weren't covered by the county as they were when this occurred a few years ago at the Bush House. I am also calling on the county to work on their methods when something like this occurs. Surely a better plan could have been in place prior to the eviction where these people could have been helped in a tangible way and not left feeling like their lives didn't matter. To be clear, there were a lot of great folks from different agencies there on Monday who were offering case management, however, there was no plan in place to immediately shelter anyone.
I am continuing to advocate for these individuals, and FISH will continue to offer help where we can. We don't receive government grants for the financial help we provide so funding is somewhat limited and used mainly as an emergency bridge until other aid can be attained.
If you know of a room somewhere for rent, please let us know and we will pass it along. We want to see these folks housed quickly and safely before it gets cold!
Thank you again for stepping up for these neighbors! It's been greatly appreciated!
~ Paige

09/23/2026

Shopping at your local GIANT Food Store? Round up your purchase at checkout September 1st through December 31 to support food pantries like ours!
If you are curious, we received around $20,000 through GIANT/Martin's Eliminating Hunger Round up at the register program last year! It really works!

Thank you for helping fight hunger in our community!

09/22/2026

Oh my goodness, Pennridge! You are just amazing! I'm so shocked at the support we've received related to my post last night. We live in an absolutely generous community. I was very nervous about posting about the situation that some of our neighbors were facing with becoming unhoused yesterday, yet not one negative comment was received on any of our social media. Thank you so much for caring about these people and for being decent and kind. It was so hard watching the individuals respond with confusion to what was happening, wondering whether they would ever be able to get back into their home.
Thank you for remembering that these are human beings and that they deserve something far greater than what they've received in life.
I will continue to be transparent and to update the community on our ability to offer more assistance to these individuals. Some of them are working with other organizations where they might be able to get something more permanent, but I'm very concerned that some of them may struggle to find anything in the area that's affordable.
Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who has donated or shared our post. Please feel free to drop by fish and see more of what we are trying to do to support our neighbors. God bless you all!