Project Helps Homeless
Get lives back on track
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
Mary [email protected]
For more than 10 years, the parish has been a visible presence in the City of Trenton through its Lord’s Table Ministry, a two-pronged effort to help people in need. On the fourth Sunday of the month, the ministry prepares and serves hot meals to the homeless and on the third Tuesday of the month, the ministry opens its food pantry and distributes bags of nonperishable and frozen food items.
The parish recently had an opportunity to expand its outreach horizons by serving for the first time as the host site for the eighth biannual Project Homeless Connect, a one-day service fair that provides various health and human services for some 400 homeless Mercer County residents or those who are in danger of becoming homeless.
Sacred Heart Parish came to be the location of the Jan. 24 project through a collaborative effort it had formed with other community agencies, including Catholic Charities’ El Centro de Recursos Para Familias (Family Resource Center), whose offices are located on the parish grounds, and the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, which organized the event.
Roberto Hernandez, program director of El Centro, and Herb Levine, executive director of MAEH, explained that the day featured a number of social service and faith-based organizations which provided the guests with pertinent information and resources on emergency shelters, legal issues, counseling services, child care support, welfare and general assistance, employment, job training, education, identification cards and other avenues that might help them to get their lives back on track.
Levine explained that MAEH has sponsored Project Homeless Connect twice a year for the past four years and prevails upon various churches to serve as host sites. The Jan. 24 project was not only the first time Project Homeless Connect was held in Sacred Heart, it was the first time it was held in a Catholic parish, he said.
In addition to providing the homeless with services, Levine said that another goal of Project Homeless Connect is for MAEH to get a more accurate picture of the actual number of people who experience homelessness in the area. He noted that last year’s homeless population count – including adults and children – was 900, but it was still too soon to determine the count for 2011 since not all homeless attend the Project Homeless Connect.
“We have found Project Homeless Connect is a very valuable tool for getting the public focused on the homeless and serving those who are currently homeless,” he said, then added that one of the MAEH’s main advocacy goals is to “get people housed.”
Other perks of the day included offering the guests an opportunity to get a meal, warm clothing and even reading glasses, or to take advantage of the health screenings that were available, such as blood pressure checks and acupuncture treatment, and even get a haircut.
Hernandez, who manned a table with information about the array of services that El Centro provides for Latino families – including women’s and men’s support groups, adult basic education, medical services, youth programs and groups to help victims of domestic violence or deal with anger management issues – said this marked the second year for El Centro to participate in Project Homeless Connect.
“We try to get involved any way we can to help people in the community,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez said that while Project Homeless Connect was geared to assist people in need, the day also proved to be particularly meaningful for those who organized it and the throng of volunteers who sacrificed their time and talent to help make the day a success.
“As representatives of Christ here on earth, we are called to help out those who are most vulnerable and in some way lift up their spirits,” he said.
Volunteer Terri Riley, who helped with serving food in Sacred Heart, said she saw Project Homeless Connect as being a “valuable way” of helping the homeless by giving them tangible things they need on a day-to-day basis.
“I see it as helping to meet both immediate and long-term needs in a very compassionate way,” said Riley, who also enjoys participating in volunteer opportunities in her workplace as well as in her parish, St. George, Titusville, where she is a member of the social concerns committee.
“Today was a very compassionate experience where you are making personal connections with people and reaching out in a more personal way rather than just making a donation,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]
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For more than 10 years, the parish has been a visible presence in the City of Trenton through its Lord’s Table Ministry, a two-pronged effort to help people in need. On the fourth Sunday of the month, the ministry prepares and serves hot meals to the homeless and on the third Tuesday of the month, the ministry opens its food pantry and distributes bags of nonperishable and frozen food items.
The parish recently had an opportunity to expand its outreach horizons by serving for the first time as the host site for the eighth biannual Project Homeless Connect, a one-day service fair that provides various health and human services for some 400 homeless Mercer County residents or those who are in danger of becoming homeless.
Sacred Heart Parish came to be the location of the Jan. 24 project through a collaborative effort it had formed with other community agencies, including Catholic Charities’ El Centro de Recursos Para Familias (Family Resource Center), whose offices are located on the parish grounds, and the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, which organized the event.
Roberto Hernandez, program director of El Centro, and Herb Levine, executive director of MAEH, explained that the day featured a number of social service and faith-based organizations which provided the guests with pertinent information and resources on emergency shelters, legal issues, counseling services, child care support, welfare and general assistance, employment, job training, education, identification cards and other avenues that might help them to get their lives back on track.
Levine explained that MAEH has sponsored Project Homeless Connect twice a year for the past four years and prevails upon various churches to serve as host sites. The Jan. 24 project was not only the first time Project Homeless Connect was held in Sacred Heart, it was the first time it was held in a Catholic parish, he said.
In addition to providing the homeless with services, Levine said that another goal of Project Homeless Connect is for MAEH to get a more accurate picture of the actual number of people who experience homelessness in the area. He noted that last year’s homeless population count – including adults and children – was 900, but it was still too soon to determine the count for 2011 since not all homeless attend the Project Homeless Connect.
“We have found Project Homeless Connect is a very valuable tool for getting the public focused on the homeless and serving those who are currently homeless,” he said, then added that one of the MAEH’s main advocacy goals is to “get people housed.”
Other perks of the day included offering the guests an opportunity to get a meal, warm clothing and even reading glasses, or to take advantage of the health screenings that were available, such as blood pressure checks and acupuncture treatment, and even get a haircut.
Hernandez, who manned a table with information about the array of services that El Centro provides for Latino families – including women’s and men’s support groups, adult basic education, medical services, youth programs and groups to help victims of domestic violence or deal with anger management issues – said this marked the second year for El Centro to participate in Project Homeless Connect.
“We try to get involved any way we can to help people in the community,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez said that while Project Homeless Connect was geared to assist people in need, the day also proved to be particularly meaningful for those who organized it and the throng of volunteers who sacrificed their time and talent to help make the day a success.
“As representatives of Christ here on earth, we are called to help out those who are most vulnerable and in some way lift up their spirits,” he said.
Volunteer Terri Riley, who helped with serving food in Sacred Heart, said she saw Project Homeless Connect as being a “valuable way” of helping the homeless by giving them tangible things they need on a day-to-day basis.
“I see it as helping to meet both immediate and long-term needs in a very compassionate way,” said Riley, who also enjoys participating in volunteer opportunities in her workplace as well as in her parish, St. George, Titusville, where she is a member of the social concerns committee.
“Today was a very compassionate experience where you are making personal connections with people and reaching out in a more personal way rather than just making a donation,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]
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