An Inside Look of the...Shelter

The second feature of An Inside Look is here! We are excited to share details of Third Street Alliance's history, facility, and programs that you may not know about.

Feature 1 gave an overview of our facility and it's history, dating back to 1902 (read feature 1 here).

Now we are going to take a closer look into our facility's shelter and the history of our shelter program.

Starting as the Y.W.C.A.

The Easton Chapter of the Y.W.C.A. (Young Women's Christian Association) was established in 1909 and moved locations several times due to a continuously growing need for more space.

In 1930, the Easton Y.W.C.A. moved into the Simon Mansion after buying the property from Elizbeth Simon and her daughter Grace for $110,000.

In addition to holding various events, clubs, and activities, the facility hosted rooms for single working women to live in.

In 1955, additions of a gymnasium and swimming pool were established in place of the original carriage house. Additional office spaces and resident rooms were also added on in the expansion.

In 1971, another addition was built upon what was previously 45 North Third Street, the Lawall House that was the Easton Y.W.C.A's second location. This expansion created more space to further develop programming.

In 1983, the organization created an "Emergency Room" to be used as temporary shelter, which served 27 women and 12 children for a total of 265 nights that year.

In the mid-1980s, the Y.W.C.A. transitioned into human services, now hosting a women and children's homeless shelter, a licensed child care center, and the first adult day care facility in Northampton County.

In 1994, what was the Easton Y.W.C.A. became Third Street Alliance for Women & Children. The break from the national Y.W.C.A. was decided upon in order to save money by no longer having to pay the annual fee to the national Y.W.C.A. as well as to reprioritize the agency's programming to best fit the community's needs.

Third Street Alliance's Shelter Today

When you think of a homeless shelter, one idea that might come to mind is a wide open room with multiple beds that individuals experiencing homelessness stay at during specific hours of the day/night. While shelters with those models do exist, Third Street's shelter program varies quite a bit. Third Street Alliance is home to 27 shelter rooms. Each room varies in size and capacity. Upon intake into shelter, clients work with case management to identify a path forward and a set of goals to help create stability. Shelter clients utilize shared bathroom, kitchen, laundry, and recreational spaces, follow set shelter rules, and have weekly chores to complete.

Our goal is for clients to move out of shelter and into stable housing as quickly as possible through case management, housing navigation, rental assistance, etc.

In 2025, the average shelter stay for a family went from over 120 days down to 30-90 days.

With the average shelter stay being decreased, that not only means that we are able to help clients have the shortest stay possible in the shelter environment and move into stable housing more quickly, but also we are able to help even more women and families who are experiencing homelessness work towards achieving stability.

Example of a shelter room with beds for a mother with multiple children.

This room features two single twin beds, a bunk bed, a crib, two dressers, and a closet.

Our vision is for women, children, and families to be connected to community and social networks, achieving positive outcomes including health, social & emotional development, and educational & economic advancement.

For nearly a century, our work has been focused on helping those in our community who need it most. This would not be possible without the generous support of our community.

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