LEHIGHTON, Pa. — Peaceful Knights homeless shelter in Lehighton only accepts men. It's been that way since 2015 when instead of operating out of a handful of apartments, the operation moved under one roof.
For safety, the shelter's owner could only choose one or the other.
"At least locally here, there were always more homeless men," said Aggie Schoenberger, the owner of the nonprofit.
Without any services for women in the county, Schoenberger found herself referring a lot of women to the Lehigh Valley area.
Now she's purchased a second space, just for women.
Not only is it on the same block as Peaceful Knights, but there are two separate storefronts in the building. One side will host a long-term transitional living program. Women will live there and receive assistance hunting for jobs to try to get back on their feet.
The other side will be an emergency shelter for short stays.
The space also has apartment buildings on the top floor. Schoenberger plans to rent them out to cover the new mortgage.
"The plan is that the nonprofit can rent the two commercial spaces for the cost of utilities," Schoenberger said. "So, in theory, it's going to pay for itself."
That's important because Peaceful Knights require tenants to go to church and doesn't qualify for any government funding.
"I just closed on the building a couple days ago, and already we have support pouring out for things, appliances, flooring items, that we need, coffee table, television, it's like everybody wants to help," Schoenberger said.
Before she can open the shelter doors, Schoenberger says she needs to find the perfect house mother. She's looking for an employee to stay here and help out with the transitional living program.
"Make sure they're job hunting when they're supposed to be, following the rules, giving drug tests."
Nonetheless, she's confident things will be up and running by Christmas.