Network offers hand
to needy in Monmouth
Churches provide beds,
meals to help homeless
Interfaith Hospitality
Network offers hand
to needy in Monmouth
By linda denicola
Staff Writer
This is not the best of times for families that are tottering on the precipice of poverty. The loss of a paycheck, an illness, or just a large bill for something can pitch them into a downward spiral that eventually results in homelessness. But homeless families in Monmouth County have an ally called the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Monmouth County (IHN-of-MC).
A volunteer organization, it is made up of a variety of religious congregations that provide safe havens and meals, plus a host of services all geared toward helping working families get back on a homeward bound track. Often it means providing housing within the congregational buildings while the parents save the money needed to put down a security deposit on an apartment and clean up the credit card debt that prevents them from qualifying for a lease.
Linda Stahl, director of IHN-of-MC, located in Keansburg, said it is difficult to count the number of homeless families in the county because they are sometimes living with others, "but I can tell you that we’ve served 20 families and 66 individuals.
"There are a number of reasons why people need temporary help to get on their feet," she said. "Ninety percent are working but can’t afford the rents, or have lost their home because they were not making enough to keep it. Or they lost their job or moved here from another state."
As an example, she told the story of one woman who had taken care of her sick mother for two years.
"She had no idea of what her mother’s finances were like and when her mother passed away the house was sold to pay off bills and the daughter was evicted," Stahl said. "She was working, but not making enough to pay the high rents in Monmouth County. She thought she would be living in her mother’s house.
"Another one of our clients put down the first and last months’ rent for an apartment and found out it was a scam. She lost all the money she had," Stahl said.
The nationwide organization was founded in 1988 and has been operating in Monmouth County since July 2002. The Monmouth County group was begun by a couple of ministers and an attorney who got the idea from another county and went around to see if other churches and synagogues would be interested, Stahl said.
She explained that there are two components of IHN; host congregations and support congregations.
"A team from national came and explained that we would have to have at least nine congregations that would be able to host people for one week. We have 11 host congregations and we can only serve 14 people at a time.
"Ideally, we would like to have 12 host congregations so that each one would only have to do it four times a year. Every 12th week it starts over again. During the month of October we had 40 individuals that we had to turn away. During the holiday months, November and December, families try to accommodate people and when it’s really cold people help a little bit more. But we’re full almost all of the time."
The First Presbyterian Church on Main Street in Freehold Borough was one of the first host congregations to sign up with the organization. They have hosted six or seven times now, said David Bowman, co-pastor.
He explained that the church turns four classrooms into guest rooms for the week that families are sleeping there.
"We also use fellowship hall and the kitchen. The organization supplies beds and linens and some people from our church have given things like lamps so that we don’t have to use the overhead lights. Sometimes the kids from the Sunday school make pictures that are hung on the walls," Bowman said.
The church tries to make the families comfortable by providing a television with videos and a video game.
"Every evening there are hosts that come in. Sometimes it is people who come in to help with homework and sometimes there is someone from church who comes in to cut hair," Bowman said.
The pastor said the families the church has housed are diverse in nature. Sometimes it is a two-parent family and sometimes just one parent.
"Generally there’s three to four in a family. Every time we’ve hosted, more than half the adults are employed," he added.
Bowman said participation in the organization has been a wonderful opportunity for his congregation because it puts a totally different face on homelessness.
"They are families who fall through the cracks. I think they are called the working poor. It’s a real stark reminder how close to the edge some people live," he said, adding, "The good thing about the program is that they help them progress toward returning to a home."
Stahl said the goal is to help the families get back into shape to get housing.
"We help with repairing credit and saving money. We also have real estate agents that help us look for housing for them and we provide transportation to go look at apartments. We also have Internet access and we work with the Monmouth Housing Alliance," she explained.
Stahl added that the organization recently got enough donations to give one family a no-interest loan to buy a trailer. The family moved in on Jan. 10 after being homeless for almost six months, she said, explaining that the family stayed in Monmouth County, but noting that if a family has an opportunity for a job outside of the county, IHN-of-MC will help them, too.
"We’ve had four families move out of state with the money they’ve saved here," she said.
Judy O’Keefe is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County in Middletown’s Lincroft section, one of the 14 support congregations.
O’Keefe said as a support congregation they have about 20 people who have provided dinners for 18 families.
"We’re partners with St. Luke’s in Long Branch. They have seven nights where they have to provide food and shelter every 11 weeks. Our congregation goes in on Tuesday and Thursday nights and provides the dinners," she said.
O’Keefe explained that when host congregations have people stay over, the support congregation has to provide two people to sleep in the building. Those people are responsible for securing the building and making sure that everyone is in.
"You never know what might happen during the night. Right now we have a pregnant woman in the network," O’Keefe said.
She, along with her husband Peter Bellincampi, has been involved with the organization for 18 months.
"The UU congregation has been involved since January 2002. We just finished a one-year cycle. Besides providing dinners and sleepover people, we have three congregation members, Mike Patten, Corey Hoffman and Anne Sterling, who are working on a nutrition video [that guests may watch when they stay at the host congregation]. They are working for nothing and spending hours and hours."
O’Keefe said she has developed a credit manual.
"I’ve worked out a way that people can either help themselves with the use of the manual or sit down with me and I will guide them toward cleaning up their credit. Sometimes they’ve saved the money for the security deposit and first month’s rent, but they are thrown out when the credit check is done," she said. "Most of them are living on the edge and use their credit cards to make ends meet. I didn’t know zip about credit, but I went to Barnes and Noble, bought a book, broke it down and figured out how to clean up credit," she said.
In addition, her husband is on the Board of Trustees of IHN-of-MC and works on fund raising, she said.
O’Keefe said of the network, "In the year and a half since we’ve been involved, they have done wonderful things. I’m really excited about it."
Stahl explained that support congregations fill in with whatever the host congregations need. "For example, we may have a whole Girl Scout troop cook dinner and set the table, then they leave and others come in and eat dinner with the families and then two other people come in to stay overnight," she said. According to Stahl, volunteer involvement not only significantly reduces program expenses, but it helps volunteers understand the causes and the human nature of homelessness.
Although the endeavor involves a large number of volunteers, there are three staff members. Along with Stahl, who is the director, there is a transportation person and a general assistant who helps to input data.
"This semester, I have three Monmouth University students that are training in social work. Coordination is a multi-level function. I work with the coordinator from each host congregation. Each coordinator has other coordinators under them within the church. I also do training, community education and case management. It’s a whole lot of people each doing a little bit of the whole operation," Stahl said. IHN also has a day center, donated through St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Keansburg. Each evening, guests are transported by van from the day center to the host congregation. Dinner is provided and two volunteer hosts remain at the host site overnight with the families. Guests get up at 6 a.m., have breakfast and at 7 a.m. they are taken by van back to the day center where they can shower and go to work or school, or interact with the network director/case manager to pursue employment and housing leads.
About 5:30 p.m., they are transported to the host center for dinner and relaxation. Stahl said they can come and go but there is a 10 p.m. curfew. Besides one more host church, the organization can use additional volunteers and funds.
"We do not get any government funding, so we do appreciate regular financial support," Stahl explained.
Right now the host congregations are Christ Episcopal Church, Middletown; First Baptist, Long Branch; Grace Christian, Tinton Falls; First Presbyterian, Freehold; First Presbyterian, Rumson; St. George’s by the River, Rumson; St. Anselm’s, Wayside; St. Luke’s Methodist, Long Branch; United Methodist, Middletown; First United Methodist, Keansburg; and St. John’s Methodist, Hazlet.
Supporting congregations are St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church, Keansburg; All Saints Episcopal, Navesink; Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls; Monmouth Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Lincroft; St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church, Lincroft; Middletown Reformed Church, Middletown; St. Agnes Catholic Church, Atlantic Highlands; Westminster Presbyterian Church, Middletown; Holmdel Community Church, Holmdel; Lincroft Presbyterian Church, Lincroft; St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Keansburg; Good Shepherd Lutheran, Holmdel; Lutheran Church of the Reformation, West Long Branch; and Colts Neck Reformed Church, Colts Neck. Additional information can be found on the Web site: www.ihn-of-mc.org or by calling (732) 495-1050.