With the assistance of a friend from the local charter school, Jen Giattino, councilwoman for the 6th Ward in Hoboken, struggled up Second Street carrying three shopping bags filled with pre-made meals.
As is her routine on Tuesdays, Giattino was delivering meals she and other parents made for distribution at the Hoboken Homeless Shelter.
“I started coming to the shelter about eight years ago,” she said, “long before I became a council person or politics even entered my head.”
The shelter at Bloomfield and Third streets resides in the heart of one of the more affluent parts of the city. A good portion of Bloomfield Street is made up of old brownstones converted over the years into condominiums.
The shelter at St. John’s Lutheran Baptist Church provides services during the day ranging from educational programs to free meals.
The location is only blocks from public transportation, so it sometimes draws people from nearby towns. Some people walk from St. Lucy’s Shelter in Jersey City when it closes its doors for the day each morning.
Giattino said she gravitated towards the place about eight years ago, and was stunned at the work the shelter did.
Feeding the homeless is a huge part of the shelter’s activities. Giattino and other parents of kids in local schools discovered that they could help offset some of the burden by providing lunches.
Calling the program LOTS (Lunch on Tuesdays,) parents made extra lunches to be donated to the shelter for the population there.
“Since we already make lunch for our own kids, this wasn’t a big deal.” – Jen Giattino
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But the three shopping bags of lunches she carried on this Tuesday morning in late April weren’t only made by her and other parents at the charter school.
One of the parents also works at Weehawken High School, where she started a lunch program as well. That parent dropped off the extra lunches for Giattino to bring to the shelter when it opened.
Lunch on Tuesdays is something of a misnomer, since a number of other local schools have picked up on it, and they often bring lunches on other days, Giattino said.
She said the LOTS program is only part of the contribution.
“I donate our old clothing here, too,” she said. “It amazes me when I donate something my husband owned to see someone walking around wearing them later.”
A chef’s work is never done
When she arrived with her bags just after the doors opened for the day, the shelter was already abuzz with activity as a line of men and women who had waited outside for an hour made their way inside. At the same time, a truck had arrived with a food delivery from the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
The shelter gets a significant amount of food from the FoodBank and Table to Table, a clearing house for food from grocery stores and restaurants throughout the area.
“We order on line and they deliver,” said Tyrone Marshall, chef for the shelter.
Marshall is a former resident of the shelter who successful completed a culinary arts program offered by the Food Bank in 2011. He not only oversees food prep at the shelter, but also works part time at the upscale Amanda’s restaurant in Hoboken.
“I used to be a resident here in 2010,” he said. “I finished culinary program with top grades.”
The Community Food Bank collects donations from many of the major food store chains.
“Some of these are close to expiration, but still good to eat,” he said.
The shelter serves more than 500 meals a day.
Food comes from a number of sources, especially from local businesses, donut and coffee shops.
But the shelter is more than just a place for free food. It serves as a community center for the neediest in the county.
As the only shelter open during daylight hours, St. John’s provides a place for people to shower, study, rest, and hang out. Workshops include everything from learning good healthy habits to how to find a job. There is even a small workshop on computer skills held in a small room off the chapel upstairs.
A work in progress
The shelter has become a community project in a number of ways, drawing in people like Giattino who donate food, clothing, and time, to some local merchants from Hoboken and around Hudson County.
Gary the Plumber, a well-known Hoboken plumbing service, helped install a warm and cold water dispenser. Eastern Mill Works, a prestigious high tech cabinet design company in Jersey City, recently installed some cabinets.
The shelter remains a work in process. The kitchen was recently rebuilt with new refrigerators and freezers installed. Other work is underway. Some of the upgrades were covered by grants from the State Department of Community Affairs. But many things come as a result of local people donating services and such.
This is considered a small shelter. But every nook and cranny is used. Depending on the time of day, the main room downstairs is use for breakfast, lunch, study and such, and then after hours, the cots are unpacked from storage and it becomes a place for people to sleep.
The shelter provides workshops of various kinds on finance, health, job seeking
A man named Brian volunteers after having been helped by the shelter. Currently a resident at group home in Jersey City, he spent a number of years in and out of the shelter.
Originally a resident of Guttenberg, he said, he wound up destitute and came here off and on over a 10-year period.
“Now I come back to help when I can,” he said.
The shelter also manages 22 apartments funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development around Hudson County.
Volunteers are welcome from noon to 8 p.m., and should call and register to participate at (201) 656-5069.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.