May 29, 2006
THE HOBOKEN SHELTER
From Heather Maher
I recently volunteered to represent the All Saints Episcopal Parish on The Communities of Faith for Housing Board with the Rev. Geoff Curtiss and Kathleen Whittemore. I would like to share with you in detail the mission of the shelter, some of their great accomplishments and some of their continuing struggles. I hope you find the Shelter's work as important as I do especially at a time when so many of us have so much and take for granted some of the most ordinary things.
The mission of the Shelter is to provide a safe haven to homeless adult men and women. They aim to prevent homelessness and assist homeless men and women to reintegrate into the community. The Hoboken Shelter strives to be an example and a role model for other Shelters around the country.
The Hoboken Shelter was established in 1982 and is owned and operated by Communities of Faith for Housing Inc., a non-profit housing corporation made up of six congregations their ministers and laity from houses of worship as well as several Hoboken community leaders. All Saints Episcopal Parish is one of the six congregations, along with the Synagogue, two Lutheran Churches, and two Roman Catholic Congregations. The Hoboken Shelter is one of All Saints Episcopal Parish's ministries within the larger community.
The Hoboken Shelter offers its guests a number of educational and life-enriching programs. The programs and services the shelter provides can be broken down into four parts:
I. Food & Shelter
The shelter provides accommodations for 50 and feeds 80-100 every evening. Along with providing accommodations the shelter serves an evening meal to everyone that arrives at their door, which is approximately 100 people per night. They provide breakfast and lunch daily.
II. Integrated Living Program
III. Intensive Day Treatment Program and
IV. Homelessness Prevention Program
The Hoboken Shelter not only provides shelter and food for those in need but it offers educational and life-enriching programs. It is these programs that assist men and women to reintegrate into the community.
The shelter has been very successful at assisting shelter residents’ permanent housing. Since January 1, 2006 to May 23, 2006 30 people were successful in finding permanent housing. The other good news is that from January to December 2005 the Homelessness Prevention Program that provides rental and utility assistance to people facing imminent eviction, served 29 Families and 10 individuals totaling 102 people.
The shelter offers case management, counseling services such as drug and alcohol counseling, budget counseling, medication counseling and emergency clothing. The shelter also offers workshops in the arts and training in job and life skills.
FUNDING FOR THE SHELTER
Private funding is essential for the operation of the shelter and they rely on the generous support of individuals.
The Board, shelter staff and volunteers have worked very hard and to come up with creative and new ways to reach people for donations. They are now utilizing email to reach out to the community. They publish a quarterly newsletter along with distributing flyers via the Hoboken Family Alliance Newsletter. The newsletter alone helped raise over $6,516 dollars. The list of corporate sponsorship has grown and corporations are also volunteering their time at the shelter to assist with meals and helping with maintenance of the Shelter.
There have been several very successful fundraisers this past year. The Black Bear hosted a Silent Auction in December that raised approximately $5,500. In April there was a Happy Hour Fundraiser at the Liberty Bar on 14th Street, which raised $1,580. The All Saints Episcopal Parish, and the Hoboken Charter School ran the Empty Bowls fundraiser to help raise funds for the Hoboken Shelter and to raise awareness about hunger and homelessness in our community.
Unfortunately with all the hard work of Jaclyn Cherubini, the shelter staff and dedicated volunteers the shelter turn away rate still remains high, especially during the colder months, January 2006 was 1,184, and 971 for February.
Fundraising is a very important factor for the shelter budget since the shelter is facing some obstacles, for instance, FEMA cut their funding 21%. The rising cost of gas has made it very difficult to budget for utilities not to mention the strain that it puts on the budget.
The shelter always has a need for volunteers. If you are interested in helping the Hoboken Shelter provide a safe haven for homeless adult men and women there are several ways you can help the shelter:
1. Come and serve dinner 6:00 PM to 8:15 PM.
The Future and Looking Down the Road
2. Donate food for 100 people.
3. Donate the money for the cost of the meal ($300.00).
4. Donate frozen meats such as hams or turkeys or canned tuna fish
5. Make a financial donation -- no amount is too small.
6. Donate clothing.
The Hoboken Shelter and the Board and Executive Director have planned out a Three Year strategy.
1. Diversify our fundraising to sustain the core Shelter services and expand the other offerings.
Beyond three years the Hoboken Shelter strives to be a countrywide example and offer a replicable model. Jaclyn Cherubini, the Executive Director of the Hoboken Shelter, serves on Hudson County’s Continuum of Care’s 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness Subcommittee. They are in the process of identifying the root causes of homelessness, researching the current resources offered, and developing strategies to prevent and end homelessness.
2. Improve and expand our services that contribute to our guests achieving independence and re-integration into the community.
3. Have transitional housing available for our guests.
4. Continue to increase public awareness about the homeless and their needs.
5. Continue to improve the shelter facilities.
As you can see the Hoboken Shelter is making very positive changes in people's lives and plays a very important role in Hoboken’s society.
If you would like more information on the Hoboken Shelter or you are interested in volunteering your time, or making a financial donation please feel free to contact me at hdmaher@comcast.net or you can visit the Hoboken Shelter Website at www.hobokenshelter.org.