NBC News to air story about homeless issue in Luzerne County

WILKES-BARRE — The issue of homelessness in Luzerne County will receive national attention this week.

NBC-TV sent a crew to town Tuesday to talk to Justin Behrens, CEO/executive director at Keystone Mission, about the efforts to establish a permanent homeless shelter in Wilkes-Barre and to talk about issues affecting a major remodeling project at the facility off of Coal Street.

Dasha Burn of NBC is the lead reporter on the story that will first air Wednesday night on the network’s Top Story with Tom Llamas from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Burns said the story will also air on other NBC platforms on Thursday.

Luzerne County is one of several counties across the country that are being featured in NBC’s County to County series that will take a deep look at the 2022 mid-term election.

According to a news release from NBC News announcing the County to County project, NBC News reporters will build on the success of the 2020 initiative, doubling down on its on-the-ground reporting to understand — from the ground up — the issues, political fault lines, and national headlines driving local conversations.

Burns will report from Luzerne County as well as from Delaware County, Ohio.

The other counties to be featured are: Chattooga County, Ga.; Duval County, Fla. and Dane County, Wisc.; Anson County, N.C., Washoe County, Nev.

NBC said the reporters will interview voters throughout the year in the seven demographically significant counties, track the local economies, media landscapes and evolving opinions and sentiments as the 2022 midterm races begin to take shape and unfold.

The reporting will appear across all platforms of NBC News, MSNBC, and NBC News NOW. In addition, NBCNews.com/counties will have stories, segments and interactive maps.

“Our goal is to embed ourselves in these communities to understand them better as voters get ready for the mid-terms,” Burns said during an interview Tuesday at Keystone Mission. “So when we talk about national issues and trends, we will have these listening posts about how each county is dealing with key issues and how they are affecting people.”

At Keystone Mission, Burns spoke with Behrens about the ongoing project to create living space for about 15 men. Behrens told Burns that there have been delays with the supply chain, driving the cost of the project to almost double.

Behrens announced this week that he hopes that the recent accreditation received from the National Financial Accountability Organization, will result in a concerted effort to establish a permanent homeless shelter in Wilkes-Barre.

Behrens said Keystone Mission is growing in Northeastern Pennsylvania, from Mobile Outreach in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties to Emergency Shelter, Code Blue, to the Day Center in Scranton and the opening of the 15-bed Transformation Center in Wilkes-Barre this spring.

“But when you receive the accreditation, it validates that we are utilizing our funding properly,” Behrens said. “It is a lengthy process and all the paperwork is reviewed and verified.”

Behrens said in Luzerne County, Keystone Mission has seen an increase in homeless persons seeking help.

“Since the city of Wilkes-Barre enacted the Code Blue program, we have seen 20 to 25 people per day,” Behrens said. And with the recent fire at Genetti’s, we have seen the numbers rising.”

“We need something in Wilkes-Barre so that we can accommodate these people and begin to transform the lives of those suffering homelessness,” Behrens said. “Those coming through our door today are not drug users — these are people who want to change their lives and move forward. We want to help them find that right direction.”