HARRISBURG, Pa. — At Shippensburg University, Stephanie Toledo-Valentin and a few of her classmates are working on more than passing their classes: they're trying to combat homelessness in central Pennsylvania.
"There are so many families and people out there without a home," said Toledo-Valentin. "I did live downtown for a while and I can see a lot of people on the streets."
As part of their Dignity and Worth Student Action Project, Toledo-Valentin and her classmates are partnering with Family Promise of Harrisburg Capital Region to provide resources for those experiencing homelessness in the city.
Local officials say homeless shelters in Harrisburg are seeing elderly populations in particular suffer.
"We are seeing some uptick in elderly women requiring some type of housing program whether that's emergency shelter or maybe our single resident occupancy program," said Rhonda Hendrickson, the vice president of programs with the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg.
Hendrickson said the COVID-19 pandemic played a huge role on this increase.
"For our elderly population, we know that many of those individuals have very limited incomes, and so their options are going to be pretty small here," she explained.
Meanwhile, Toledo-Valentin and her classmates are asking for help from the public, as they hope to raise $400 to combat homelessness. So far, they've raised $150.
Click here to contact the Dignity and Worth Student Action Project or for more information on this initiative.