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Jan 14, 2025 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
A recent press release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lauded massive gains Chester County has made in the battle against homelessness. And while the region deserves credit for lowering the number of people living on the street and in shelters – according to Chester County officials who count and serve those people – little else about the federal agency’s recent comments are true.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
Bucks County Beacon Photographer Cooper Tyksinski dropped by the Bucks County Code Blue shelter hosted by the Coalition to Shelter and Support the Homeless (CSSH) on Wednesday. The shelter has no permanent home and only opens its doors when the “real feel” of the temperatures outside are 28 degrees or lower.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its 2024 homelessness numbers, less than a week before the year ended. The numbers went way up – a full 18% increase over 2023. In Bucks County, HUD’s count went from 320 to 409 persons experiencing homelessness in 2024 – an increase of nearly 25%.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
December ushered in a cold snap all across Pennsylvania. The frosty temperatures prompted the opening of the Central Bucks Code Blue Shelter – administered by the Coalition to Shelter & Support the Homeless (CSSH) – a last-ditch effort on the part of concerned Bucks County residents to keep their unhoused neighbors from freezing to death.
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
indypendent.org | Pat LaMarche |Eleanor Bader |Jeremy Ruby
In Humble Pie, longtime anti-poverty activist and journalist Pat LaMarche reports that nine million people throughout the world die of starvation each year. The United States is not exempt. While most people in this country do not starve to death, LaMarche writes that an estimated 40 million people — one in eight U.S. residents — do not have enough healthy food to sustain them. Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
November is such a lovely month. I just adore the crisp fall days, the leaves changing color, and the commemoration of important times and events – all complete with feasting and other manner of celebration. One noteworthy November holiday is Veterans Day. Originally Armistice Day, signaling the end of the first World War, a Kansas Congressman Edward Rees, proposed that the eleventh day of the eleventh month be changed to Veterans Day.
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Nov 23, 2024 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
Now on the right side of the ring, weighing in with millions of dollars in campaign contributions is the newly nominated heavy weight Secretary of Education, Linnnda McMaaahon. And, on the left side of the mat – America’s children. I feel comfortable playing the ring announcer for how this all might go. You see, I started my career as a broadcaster. Twenty-five years ago, I was the guest ring announcer for McMahon’s old wrestling company when they put on a show in Bangor, Maine.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
Philadelphia residents Eric Tars and Andrew Spiers want you to see a movie with them. They’d like you – and as many of your friends, coworkers, and relatives as you can bring – to meet them Thursday at the Philadelphia Film center around 6 p.m. They’re asking you to get there a little early, the show starts at 6:30 sharp. You won’t need any cash, the filmmakers and their local partners – including Tars and Spiers – are treating you to the show.
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Nov 3, 2024 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
“People need to get out there and vote, and they need to be confident in the system.” Witold J. Walczak the Legal Director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania summed up the organization’s response to the myriad challenges lobbed – without merit – at Pennsylvanians around the commonwealth. For now, Walczak says, it’s an intimidation tactic – one the ACLU of Pennsylvania isn’t taking lightly.
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Oct 24, 2024 | 
buckscountybeacon.com | Pat LaMarche
When the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered businesses and government buildings – driving school children, non-essential workers, and consumers into isolation – millions of Americans scrambled for ways to resume their everyday activities. As restrictions eased, but before the vaccine became a healthcare game-changer, millions signed up for exposure notifications via their cell phones.
