Plans Underway To Help Aid Homeless During Papal Visit
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Plans for caring for the homeless when Pope Francis visits Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families at the end of September are already taking shape.
Project Home's Will O'Brien says up to 150 people a night stay out on the Ben Franklin Parkway during warmer weather.
Days before the Pope arrives, however, a security perimeter is likely to be installed with fencing and restricted access points to the Parkway.
"We know for a lot of the folks out there, this could be potentially traumatic and difficult." said O'Brien. "That's why outreach workers and formerly homeless persons are starting to go out on the streets now."
However, O'Brien says he has been told the homeless will be allowed to return once all that is in place.
"We are being assured that there's no discrimination that people who happen to be homeless should be like anyone else, welcome to participate in the events."
Donna Crilley Farrell, executive director of the World Meeting of Families, Philadelphia, says the group is working on a plan to ensure the homeless are treated with respect and dignity.
"The question of the dignity and the care of the homeless population in Philadelphia has always been a pastoral concern and a priority for the World Meeting of Families."
The Pope will be here Sept. 26 and 27.
