Depending on what hour of the day you arrive, the Hoboken Shelter could be a drop-in center, soup kitchen, classroom, or dormitory. Like the city it proudly serves, the shelter strives to satisfy every need in the smallest possible space. And so the room that was filled with at least 50 people eagerly awaiting lunch on a recent Thursday afternoon would, by 9 p.m., be filled with cots.
Operating out of the basement level of the St. John the Baptist Lutheran Church at Third and Bloomfield streets, the Hoboken Shelter provides an impressive raft of services to homeless individuals and families in Hudson County—beds for 50 every night, meals for 500 every day, showers for 1,000 every week. Still, its staff is painfully aware that the problem it faces is much larger than it can address alone.
On Oct. 8, 2014, the organization served its two millionth meal—baked chicken with yellow rice and salad. The milestone was bittersweet for Hoboken Shelter Executive Director Jaclyn Cherubini. Opened in 1982, the shelter took 22 years to serve its first million meals but only 10 to serve its second million.
Positive national economic growth has been slow to trickle down to Hudson County, where Cherubini said the homeless population numbers 5,000 and has yet to fall back to pre-recession levels. In 2003, the Hoboken Shelter helped 125 people in its job and life skills program. Last year, it helped 66,000.
In 2003, the Hoboken Shelter helped 125 people in its job and life skills program. Last year, it helped 66,000.
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Plates full of hope
Food is fundamental to the mission of the Hoboken Shelter, the only organization in the city that serves free breakfast, lunch, and dinner 365 days a year. Cherubini likes to say that the first step off the streets has to be a warm meal.
Even those individuals who the shelter has helped place in housing—145 last year, for example—are encouraged to come back and eat. Cherubini said she never wants an individual or family to be forced to choose between food and rent.
Every meal that the Hoboken Shelter serves is donated. Most of it comes from food drives and regular donations from restaurants and individuals in the community. For example, breakfast is often day-old donuts and pastries donated by Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and other establishments in town.
On the second Wednesday of every month for the past 30 years, a group of Hoboken residents serves a chicken dinner at the shelter.
The Hoboken Shelter also relies on the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and Table to Table, a clearinghouse for unsellable food from restaurants and grocery stores in New Jersey, for fresh produce and other items.
Even the shelter’s kitchen was a donation. The outdated space recently received a complete remodel, with cabinets from carpenter Andrew Campbell and design help from Hoboken architect John Nastasi and DIY Network star Jason Cameron. Fifty thousand dollars’ worth of plumbing and electrical work was covered by the state Department of Community Affairs, and another $50,000 from individuals bought five-star refrigerators and freezers.
Other services
Between meals and sleep, the Hoboken Shelter provides a full day of services for its guests. In the morning, Case Manager Keith Jackson and other staff members field any questions guests may have. The early afternoon is given over to workshops on financial literacy, health and hygiene, and job-seeking skills. A vocational specialist meets with guests from Monday to Wednesday, and laptops are available for job applications and the like.
The shelter also manages 22 apartments funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development around Hudson County.
Kevin Watson knows how crucial the services of the Hoboken Shelter can be. Homeless for the last 45 days, he has been coming to the shelter to get clothing, food, and a hot shower during the day and sleeping nights at a shelter in Kearny.
Watson said the Hoboken Shelter has already taught him social skills and helped in his search for a job. Though hampered by a recent identity theft, Watson is confident that he can make it off the streets—he said his only other spell of homelessness lasted 90 days.
Watson was raised in Jersey City, but said he comes to the Hoboken Shelter because its resources and camaraderie are out of proportion to its size.
Helping out
Cherubini said the holiday season is the perfect time to get involved with the shelter. On Christmas, it will serve a special lunch and dinner accompanied by treats, refreshments, board games, and socializing.
Volunteers are welcome from noon to 8 p.m., and should call and register to participate at 201-656-5069.
However, the Hoboken Shelter’s need for donations and volunteers goes year-round.
Supplies are always in demand, given how much food the shelter serves— plates, cups, napkins, plastic utensils, laundry detergent, dish detergent, toilet paper, and 55-gallon garbage bags.
Food is also needed—in particular, milk, coffee, sugar, cereal, juice, frozen meat, instant potatoes, marinara sauce, sandwiches and fruit. Leftover food from large events is also gladly accepted. Guests appreciate $5 McDonalds Gift Cards & socks as gifts.
The Shelter can accept donations from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Volunteers are welcome to stop by any day from 6 to 8 p.m., to prepare and serve dinner, sort and distribute canned goods and clothes, clean the facility and grounds, fold sheets and towels, and inventory and stock the supplies. You don’t have to call ahead if you are alone or in a group of up to 3.
More information about volunteering can be found at hobokenshelter.org/volunteering and about donating at hobokenshelter.org/items-needed.
The Hoboken Shelter will also be hosting a dance performance benefit by the Every Little Movement Academy of the Arts upstairs at the shelter this coming Saturday, Dec. 20 at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and free for kids. Doors open at 6 p.m.
For more information, call 201-656-5069 or email Executive.Director@hobokenshelter.org.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.