Home Care In Norristown, PA

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After years of fundraising, the Philadelphia region’s small Tibetan community will finally have their very own center where they can gather to preserve and celebrate their language and culture.

Tsering Norbu, 52, owns a construction company and is a member of the Tibetan Association of Philadelphia. He is the driving force behind the effort to raise close to half-a-million dollars. The group bought a former church building in Norristown, Montgomery County. Community members are now renovating the space and plans are to usher in the new year in the building.

Besides serving as a place to gather and celebrate festivals and community events, the center will also be home to the Tibetan Sunday school. Norbu said there are only about 200 first- and second-generation Tibetans in the Greater Philadelphia area. Most of them are political refugees.

Since China’s annexation of Tibet in 1950, the Chinese government has been accused of trying to erase Tibetan language and identity. There are an estimated 145,000 Tibetans living in the diaspora throughout the world today, according to the Central Tibetan Administration.

Sonam Dorji, 46, of Malvern, is one of the Sunday school teachers. He said Tibetans in the diaspora are trying their best to preserve their language and identity, and a community center will support those efforts. For years now, Dorji has been teaching his Tibetan classes in warehouses, churches, and offices.

“Tibet is under Chinese occupation, in Tibet the Chinese government is trying to completely abolish Tibetan language, culture,” he said.“They’re doing forced schooling [for Tibetan children] in China, even the little ones. To keep this Tibetan identity, Tibetan culture, this is the one hope that we can do the community center.”

Norbu said there are usually about 30 children in the Sunday school class learning to read and write Tibetan, which is key to practicing Tibetan Buddhism.

“Once you learn to read and write Tibetan, you understand Buddhism better,” he said.

Dorji said the local Tibetan community is not wealthy, but everyone pitched in toward the center. The community has also received support from area philanthropists.

Jeff Granett, 81, a retired cardiologist, said he’s been “involved in the Tibetan issue” for decades and gave $100,000 toward the center.

“I’ve always thought that Tibetan people represent an example for the rest of the world,” he said. “The Dalai Lama speaks only of kindness and compassion, as do all these people as well. I think it’s a culture that the world needs to survive, as an example, in many respects.”

He said the community center will be a blessing, especially for Tibetan elders, because they usually have very little contact with other people and many of them do not speak English.

“They need a place where they can gather together and speak with old friends,” he said.

Norbu said he hopes that the center will become a meeting place and offer classes not just for the Tibetan community but anyone interested in Tibet.

“Everybody can go there to learn about Tibetan culture,” he said.

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From the darkest days of the rebuild to the World Series, Rhys Hoskins was emblematic of a franchise reborn. He's now leaving for Milwaukee.

|Updated Wed, Jan 24, 2024 at 6:12 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins, the core of the core that brought light to the franchise in its darkest years and helped lead them to the World Series, has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. But the bat spike his career left impacted in the south Philadelphia dirt will be felt for years to come.

The tale of the Big Fella began in the summer of 2017. Bryce Harper and Trea Turner were entrenched in D.C., Zack Wheeler was in Queens, and Kyle Schwarber was on Chicago's north side. J.T. Realmuto fought on a floundering Fish team and the Phillies were on their way to a 66-win, last place season.

Five years into a hellish rebuild, the Phillies had nothing but Aaron Nola to show for it.

Enter Hoskins, Philly's Aaron Judge, an unheralded towering prospect who had put up big numbers in the minors but came with all kinds of question marks.

For the final 50 games of that difficult 2017 season, Hoskins lit the baseball world on fire. He set a all time major league record with 10 home runs in his first 17 big league games, and ended the season with 18 homers and a monstrous 1.018 on base plus slugging percentage.

Find out what's happening in Norristownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For the next five years, Hoskins would become the Phillies mainstay at first base, etching his name beneath Ryan Howard's in Phillies lore at the position. Hoskins and Nola were the sole players on that 2017 team who would be part of the National League pennant winning squad six autumns later.

Hoskins did not maintain his superstar pace from his rookie year. He developed into a very good, not elite player. But his value came from more than just powerful bat and patient eye, which had him among the major league lead in walks in every year of his career.

Hoskins commanded respect in the clubhouse and became a de-facto leader of the team before the outside superstars ever came into town. He was active in the local community immediately, organizing fundraisers for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and becoming the face of the franchise at fan events. And for six summers along the Broad Street Line down to the Bank, when you spotted his visage on the walls in the yellow light of Tasker-Morris, you knew you were close.

No Phillie deserved the 2022 World Series run as much as Hoskins, the piece that stayed in the center of the lineup and the team as successive front offices added superstar after superstar until the magic finally gelled.

Hoskins missed the entire 2023 season after an ACL injury during spring training last March. His deal with the Brewers, a team badly in need of a power hitter, is for two years and $34 million. For a player of Hoskins' caliber, it's something of a "prove it" deal, as he has an opt out option after the first season and can re-enter the free agent market for a longer deal once he proves he can still perform at a high level after the injury.

Hoskins' departure from Philly has been all been guaranteed for months now, as the team had announced Harper as the first baseman of the future back in the beginning of the offseason. With Schwarber now set as the every day designated hitter, that left Hoskins as the odd man out.

Here's a glance at some Patch highlights from Hoskins' tenure:

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A Montgomery County community could be losing behavioral health care services aimed at older residents.

Unionized staff at Suburban Community Hospital in Norristown said the facility’s behavioral health unit serving people 55 and older stopped admitting new patients about two weeks ago. More than a dozen nurses and therapy professionals who staffed the unit have been laid off.

Carrie Walz, a registered nurse at the hospital for 15 years, is among those who lost their jobs. She said she worries about the patients, who need specialized care.

“Some people may find other places to go to, but some may not,” she said. “Some people may call and they’re not getting an answer, not getting an answer, not getting an answer, leaving messages and nobody is calling back because nobody is checking it, and so they might just give up.”

The 15-bed senior behavioral health unit offered 24/7 short-term inpatient care, according to services listed on the hospital’s website. It primarily served people experiencing psychosis, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.

California-based Prime Healthcare, one of the largest for-profit health care systems in the U.S., owns the hospital. The company has 45 hospitals in more than a dozen states, including Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia and Lower Bucks Hospital in Bucks County.

Leaders at Suburban General Nurses Association, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals labor union, said Prime Healthcare also plans to slash operating hours in one of three operating rooms at Suburban Community Hospital.

A Prime Healthcare spokesperson said the hospital “remains committed to the health and safety,” but disputed the characterization of their actions as a ward closure.

“The Behavioral Health Unit and the OR at Suburban Community Hospital are not closed,” a spokesperson said in a written statement. “There has been a slight reduction in staff. This is all part of an effort to strengthen our focus on the community’s needs, and these changes will not adversely impact patient care.”

But hospital staff say they’ve already had to refer patients to nearby facilities for behavioral health services.

Octavia Rumer, a registered nurse of 20 years, said patients in need of behavioral health services are still coming into the emergency department where she works.

“Suburban Prime [Healthcare] has not let the surrounding nursing homes know we are no longer taking behavioral health unit patients,” she said. “So nursing homes are still sending patients to our ER for evaluation and hopefully an admission to our BHU, but we can’t do that now.”

The unit’s stalled admissions and services, and staff layoffs, is a blow to behavioral health options in Montgomery County, said Shannan Giambrone, an ICU registered nurse and co-president of the hospital’s nurses union.

“Norristown State [Hospital] has significantly cut their services, the crisis unit is not available the way that it used to be,” she said. “Our ER is constantly overloaded with patients waiting to be placed in a psychiatric facility, and then to just abruptly cut it, I can’t begin to explain what a let down that is for the community, for the county.”

Winds from 40 to 60 miles an hour, along with heavy rain, could hamper weekend plans in eastern Pennsylvania.

|Updated Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 10:24 am ET

EASTERN PA — A major storm could be on the way to eastern Pennsylvania, with the potential for severe thunderstorms and heavy rain throughout the region over the weekend, according to forecasters.

A smaller storm is likely to hit parts of the area on Wednesday, which could bring some light snow to the area. The National Weather Service's Mt. Holly branch says that rain showers are likely to be followed by some scattered flurries around the Philadelphia area in the afternoon.

Accumulations are expected to range from negligible to less than an inch.

According to forecasters with the National Weather Service, there is also a slight chance of snow showers in the northern part of the Philadelphia region on Thursday between 10 a.m and noon.

Showers are likely to begin at around 8 a.m., with rain getting steady at around 2 p.m. Wind gusts could reach up to 60 miles an hour, with the storm expected to be most intense on Sunday and Sunday night.

Precipitation is expected to continue through the day Monday, forecasters siad.

Here is a look at the upcoming forecast for southeastern Pennsylvania according to the National Weather Service:

Wednesday: A slight chance of rain showers before 4 p.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 42. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Wednesday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 28. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.

Friday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 54.

Saturday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39.

Sunday: A chance of showers between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., then rain likely after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Sunday night: Rain. Low around 44. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent.

Monday: Rain likely. Mostly sunny, with a high near 49. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Officials continue to clash over homeless encampments in Norristown, Pennsylvania, after recent comments from the borough's council president sparked controversy.

There are currently multiple homeless camps in Norristown, including a camp on state land, another camp on SEPTA property and another camp on land partially owned by PECO.

PECO officials said they can’t have unhoused people living on their land due to safety concerns over high tension power lines. They also said those people would have to be moved at some point though there’s no firm plan regarding when that would happen.

As officials continue to discuss possible solutions, Thomas Lepera, a longtime member of the Norristown Borough council who became council president more than a year ago, recently sparked controversy due to comments he made about the homeless encampments.

A recent Philadelphia Inquirer article reported that Lepera stated he would bus Norristown’s homeless population to Villanova University. In a Facebook post, Lepera accused the article of misrepresenting his positions and clarified his stance.

“I never said I wanted to bus homeless people to Villanova. I said I wanted to bus people, including myself, to the Villanova campus to make a point: a wealthy institution like Villanova University - with ample grounds, empty dorms all summer long and strong Catholic values to offer help to the underprivileged - could very well ease Norristown’s immediate homelessness crisis, especially since Stephanie Sena is an anti-poverty fellow at Villanova’s law school,” Lepera wrote.

In his statement, Lepera referenced Stephanie Sena, an anti-homelessness advocate and anti-poverty fellow at Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law, who has been working on behalf of an estimated 160 people experiencing homelessness in Norristown. She also runs a homeless shelter in Upper Darby.

Sena has publicly criticized Lepera’s handling of Norristown’s homeless population.

“He has made policy choices to ensure that people will end up homeless. And he doesn’t just want homeless people out. He wants poor people out,” Sena told NBC10 on Tuesday.

Sena said Lepera’s policies have only added to the growing homelessness problem in the borough.

“If he really wanted people off the street, he would put them in shelter,” she said.

Lepera said social services tend to hub in Norristown which is the county seat of Montgomery County. He called on other counties and towns to step up and allow more affordable housing to be built rather than have Norristown bear the brunt of Montgomery County’s homeless problem.

“All I’m asking is for everybody to come to the table, all 62 townships, municipalities and boroughs to come to the table, and take on their fair share of the problem because we’re sick and tired and my residents are overburdened by taxes and all I want to do is help them,” Lepera said.

Lepera addressed his comments at the start of Norristown’s council meeting Tuesday evening.

"First and foremost, I never had a plan to bus homeless people to Villanova. That would be immoral and inhumane," Lepera said. "I'm not anti-homeless but I also do not believe that a homeless encampment that operates pretty much as an open drug market, should be able to continue to operate."

The council also called rumors of a citywide sweep of the homeless false, stressing there have never been any discussions on that. Mike Hayes, who joined other demonstrators outside the Norristown municipal building during Tuesday's council meeting, doesn't believe Lepera however.

"I don't believe him at all," Hayes said. "He's tried to walk back all his previous statements including the one about the $500 gift card to lure the people on the bus to take them to Villanova."

The demonstrators said they're looking for ways to safely help the homeless.

Montgomery County officials said the county has been paying for hotel rooms for those affected by a recent shelter closure. The county is also working with Norristown, state and federal government officials to address the issue.

PECO officials, meanwhile, said they want to treat everyone involved with dignity and respect and if anyone has to be relocated, they will be given ample time to collect their belongings.