By EmmaLee Italia | Correspondent

Joe and his family live in the City of Trenton, and are struggling to pay the electric bill, despite working several jobs. Across town, Mary worries that once her rent and taxes are paid, no money will remain for medications, never mind groceries. They have no choice but to seek help.

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With few other options, Joe and Mary each visit the Mount Carmel Guild: a Catholic charitable organization which has served the poor and needy for 95 years. The Guild carries out its ministries supported by grants, fundraisers and contributions from the Diocese of Trenton, its dedicated parishes and individuals.

 Inspired and founded by Msgr. Thomas J. Walsh in 1920, the Guild operates an Emergency Assistance Program, providing immediate relief in the form of food to more than 8,000 families per year, and limited assistance with affording utilities and prescription medications. Additionally the Guild’s Home Health Nursing program provides in-home nursing services to seniors whose Medicare benefits are exhausted, many of whom are home-bound or have limited mobility.

Both programs had been hosted in one building on North Clinton Avenue, giving staff limited room to serve the needs of guests like Mary and Joe. But now, thanks to the generosity of the late Father James McConnell and the Diocese, a bright and cheerful environment awaits them and all who seek the assistance of the Guild.

Honor Well Deserved

The Guild named its newly-renovated building in honor of “Father Jim,” pastor of St. James Parish, Pennington, from 1977-1999, who died in September 2012. Known for his love of the poor, Father McConnell devoted years of service as a member of the Guild’s board of directors, and encouraged a regular outreach of service, food and monetary donations from St. James parishioners.

Opened in September of last year and dedicated April 18 by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., the three-story building, parchment-yellow with red-iron-oxide trim, will house the Guild’s Emergency Assistance Program. One of three adjacent buildings purchased by the Diocese in the 1920s for the Guild’s use, the lovingly dubbed “Father Jim House” is located next to the original Italianate style Guild House and accompanying Carriage House in the Trenton’s North Ward – a neighborhood known for its important architectural and historic sites as well as for its poverty.

The dedication ceremony opened with a welcome from Marie A. Gladney, executive director of the Mount Carmel Guild, and a prayer by Msgr. Michael J. Walsh, episcopal vicar of Mercer County and current pastor of St. James Parish. Dominican Sister Loretta Maggio, Emergency Assistance Program coordinator, read from the Gospel of Matthew (25:35-40), a verse which she said was “dear to Father Jim’s heart ... ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food...’”

St. Joseph Sister Mary McConnell, Father McConnell’s sister, then addressed the gathering.

“Jim would love to know he has a house,” she said, to a round of laughter from the many St. James parishioners in attendance. “But what would really please him most is that this is a sign of what he really believed: that all of us together are God’s holy people – we are the Church, and this is proof.”

On behalf of her brother Charles “Roger” McConnell and the rest of her family, Sister Mary said, “We want to thank the Guild for honoring Jim and naming this house (for him) ... for all of you who loved Jim so much, the family realizes that he was a blessing in our lives, and we do thank God for him, and we thank you for celebrating him.”

Prior to blessing the structure and all who minister within, Bishop O’Connell reflected on Father McConnell’s example of charity and humility.

“Today the focus is on a good priest, a priest that cared deeply for the poor and for the Church,” he said. “It’s in his name that we gather and dedicate and bless this building. But I’m sure he would also say, ‘Don’t put the focus on me. Put the focus on what is possible, put the focus on the future, put the focus on the people whose needs will be served by this great structure.’”

Much Needed Space

“Welcome to Father Jim’s House ... A Very Good Friend of the Guild,” reads a plaque in the vestibule, accompanied by a photograph of the man who referred to himself as “a country priest.”

An accessibility ramp invites clients into a brightly-lit space with white walls, high ceilings, fresh new flooring and large windows. Care was taken to preserve the original character of the building, as evidenced by the presence of original ornate wainscoting, crafted by woodworking artisans of Trenton. It is here that caseworkers are able to sit down with individuals at desks in one of two spacious rooms, while other guests are able to wait comfortably seated and out of the elements, with filtered water and a public restroom easily accessible.

 Food assistance items are brought from storage in the Carriage House behind the parking lot and stored in the new facility’s large kitchen pantry on new shelving and in two large refrigerators, ready to assemble into grocery bags for donation.

“We provide about $30 of groceries per bag,” Gladney said, explaining that the Guild receives an allotment of food at no cost from the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank, grants for purchasing produce, and during the growing season, donations of locally grown produce from Farmers Against Hunger.

The building’s second floor hosts a carpeted office, a conference room for board meetings and additional storage space.

Originally personal residences, the three structures on the corner of Monmouth Street and North Clinton Avenue were purchased by the Diocese in the 1920s for the Guild’s use. The Guild House was the site for most of the organization’s programs beginning in 1921, and will continue to host its Home Health Nursing program; the Carriage House provides the bulk of the food donation storage, which includes walk-in freezers.

Father Jim’s House, however, has worn many hats during its Guild tenure. Gladney said that upwards of 26 Guild-run programs operated out of its doors, including donations of clothing, furniture, linens, hot soup, even an occasional shelter.

“It was designed to serve the needs of those who worked nearby,” she explained. “Many European immigrants worked in the factories in wire, steel, pottery … they didn’t make much money.” Churches, bakeries, markets – all were in close proximity because “people would walk (everywhere). No one could afford vehicles.”

Over the years the building fell out of use. Its most recent function as a preschool ended about seven years ago. The structure needed to be brought up to code before the Guild could hope to use it – a job that took nearly four years.

The approximately $90,000 renovation was funded by a combination of the Guild’s own funds and contributions from the Diocese and Father McConnell, who had named Mount Carmel Guild in his will.

“The balance of the funds (from Father McConnell’s estate) will be used for painting the exterior of all three buildings,” Gladney said.

Gladney also expressed gratitude to Dave Nevius, former executive vice president at NERC, Inc. – a corporation in Plainsboro which moved its executive offices to Atlanta, Georgia – who was responsible for donating his company’s office furniture, cubicles and file cabinets to help furnish Father Jim’s House.

Daughter of Charity Sister Joanne Dress, the Diocese’s executive director of Catholic social services, appreciates how clients are served by the new location.

“’Father Jim’s House’ is a wonderful addition to the Mount Carmel Guild,” she said. “It provides a welcoming space for those seeking assistance, and shows the respect and dignity with which they approach each person.”

Father Jim’s Legacy

Most of the people attending the dedication had known Father McConnell personally, many of them parishioners of St. James while he was pastor.

“In Father Jim’s church there were five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and community. And he preached them all equally,” said longtime St. James parishioner Ernie Curran. “He was very instrumental in everything that was Mount Carmel. Everybody liked him, man, woman and child – he was non-assuming ... a very spiritual person.”

St. James parishioner Mary Baird echoed Curran’s praise, noting that “he was very easygoing, and very humble. I liked his homilies – they were really more like reflections.”

Nancy Lucash, religious education director in St. James, said that Father McConnell had been instrumental in making the Mount Carmel Guild “the ‘go-to’ ministry in our parish.”

“It makes me miss Father Jim, just being here,” she added.

Msgr. Walsh has continued to encourage the ministry that Father McConnell began; a regular group of St. James volunteers collect food donations, and the parish tithes fiscally to the Guild.

“We were buddies,” said Msgr. Walsh. “I always admired his very down-to-earth style; he was a real go-getter. (He’d say) ‘the need is there, let’s do something.’”

During the dedication, Frank McKittrick – a former member of the Guild’s board of trustees and a St. James parishioner – explained how Father McConnell was instrumental in his becoming a lifetime supporter of the Guild.

“Shortly after I retired, Father Jim invited me to lunch, and I experienced ‘the McConnell effect,’” he said, as his fellow parishioners laughed. “With his irresistible persuasion, he said, ‘Frank, you’re going to have a lot of free time on your hands now, and I have an idea for you...’”

“Father Jim was more than just a master recruiter,” McKittrick continued. “(He) was committed to the Gospel, to social justice, and to caring for his flock.”

McKittrick described Father McConnell’s initiation of a program in cooperation a local market, in which parishioners could purchase SCRIP cards to spend at the store, which would donate five percent of the purchases made to Mount Carmel Guild. He also recalled how bags and boxes of food for the Guild regularly overflowed in the church gathering area. McKittrick mentioned that Father McConnell not only urged parishioners to give regularly, he also contributed monthly to the Guild himself.

Bishop O’Connell thanked Gladney, Sister Loretta, Msgr. Walsh, Sister Joanne, and McKittrick, as well as all who came to witness the dedication.

“It’s a beautiful testimony of faith, hope and love,” he said, “and in the end, isn’t that what it’s all about?”

“God is good, and he’s good all the time,” Gladney said. “We are blessed here at Mount Carmel Guild. Money is tight a lot of the time, but oftentimes we can take a dollar bill and make it stretch very far – and it’s because of the staff and the board of directors that this happens.”

The Mount Carmel Guild is located at at 73 N. Clinton Ave., Trenton. For more information about the Guild’s ministries and how to help, visit mtcarmelguild.org, email [email protected] or call 609-392-5159.