Group to host memorial service for local homeless who have died

HUDSON COUNTY– On Monday, Dec. 21st — first day of winter and the longest night of the year — a coalition led by Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation and the Church of the Incarnation will host Hudson County’s first interfaith Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. The service will be held at the Church of the Incarnation at 68 Storms Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306 at 1 p.m.
This memorial service will remember friends and loved ones who have passed away from causes related to homelessness and raise awareness that people are still living and dying on the street.
There are many ways to participate in the service. People are invited to submit the names of deceased homeless persons, invite homeless clients to attend, and contribute or solicit contributions of socks, hats, gloves and scarves. The items will be distributed to homeless guests at the service.
The ceremony will also include a tribute to the late Deacon Joe Del Monte, who fed countless homeless people on the streets of Jersey City every week. Del Monte was the founder of St. Francis Workshop, a program that provides food and clothing to the less fortunate out of a storefront in the Lafayette section of the city. Del Monte was the first recipient of The Jersey Journal’s Betty Foley Memorial Everyday Hero Award. In remembering him, we remember all who work to end homelessness.
To drop off donations or for further information, please contact them at hudson.homeless.memorial@gmail.com or call 201-604-2600 x. 209.
If your agency would like co-sponsor the service, please let them know before Wednesday, December 16.
For more on this topic, please see page 3 of this weekend’s upcoming Hoboken Reporter newspaper.

© 2000, Newspaper Media Group