Taking a break at Joseph’s House of Camden on May 20 were Executive Director Colandra Coleman (fourth from right) and her staff. Paintings by Brother Mickey McGrath, an oblate of St. Francis De Sales, were in the background.
“When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard,
I will comfort you.”
“Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Simon & Garfunkel
Rough living on the streets is a constant struggle for people – many of whom have been forgotten by family, friends and society.
But like a lighthouse signaling a safer path for ships, there is a beacon of hope at 555 Atlantic Ave. St. Joseph’s House of Camden (JHOC) is a homeless shelter guided by the principles that everyone can change their situation in life and every guest has dignity and deserves respect.
In an effort to improve services and hear success stories from guests who’ve found a safer path, the shelter has transitioned to a 24/7 operation. Executive Director Colandra Coleman said in an interview on May 20 that JHOC had previously been open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.
“Before, from 2 to 8 p.m., people left to brave the elements and return to dysfunctional behavior,” explained Coleman, who earned her bachelor’s in sociology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “These are the people where stability is critical. We can now offer that stability by creating round-the-clock services.
“I would walk to the reflection pond and was shocked by the number of homeless and veterans encamped there,” she added. “I needed to do something.”
Coleman was the director of Ready, Willing and Able in Philadelphia – a transitional housing agency – for five years before joining JHOC two years ago. The new hours are a lifeline for 80 to as many as 100 guests during Code Blue freezing temperatures and they fulfill a long-standing goal to provide continuous, reliable support to individuals experiencing homelessness, not just a place to sleep, but ongoing access to shelter services and hope.
JHOC has addiction and financial literacy programs, AA and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and social services that enable guests to get help from government organizations such as the VA.
“We are non-secular,” Coleman emphasized. “We take folks that others won’t, the most vulnerable active in their addiction. Sometimes they come in high. Our guests need stability, and by staying open 24/7, we can be there for them every hour of every day,.”
JHOC addresses problems like addiction before placing guests in housing or employment. Three staff members are from Maryville Addiction Services and a doctor from that facility comes to JHOC once a week, according to Coleman.
To accommodate the round-the-clock operations, she and JHOC leadership implemented several changes to the schedule, staffing and human-resource protocols, including hiring eight full- and part-time employees, moving from a two-shift, day-and-night structure to a three-shift structure, and introducing new meal times better suited to a 24/7 operation.
“Our staff shows up every day,” Coleman stated, addig that employees and guests have mutual dignity and respect for each other. “Without them, we don’t operate. It’s because of the staff that we have so many success stories, which keeps the staff motivated.”
Future plans include a mobile outreach program that can get directly to people on the streets or in encampments.
The origin of St. Joseph’s House dates back to 2010, when the late Msgr. Robert McDermott was pastor of St. Joseph’s Pro-Cathedral Church in downtown Camden. Known affectionately as “Father Bob,” he had to step over people sleeping on the porch of his office. He set up a small café in the rectory to feed them, and it evolved into a larger café at a Stevens Street building.
With the help of TD Bank, the JBJ Soul and Connelly foundations, the Camden mayor and council and the Camden County Commissioners, JHOC bought a building at 555 Atlantic Ave. in August of 2013 and undertook a five-month renovation. It reopened in January of 2014.
To help, donations can be mailed to Joseph’s House of Camden, P.O. Box 555, Camden, or online at https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E356988&id=10.
