March 2016 e-newsletter

Greetings from Joseph's House!

March has been an exciting month at Joseph's House, and we all welcome the arrival of Spring. This month, we celebrated our first ever Feast Day of Saint Joseph at 555 Atlantic Avenue. With Joseph as our Patron Saint, this day has special meaning for us. Joseph reminds us of our mission to care for our homeless brothers and sisters with kindness, dignity, and generosity.

Guests, volunteers, and staff celebrated Mass and enjoyed a delicious three course meal, topped off with the traditional St. Joseph pastry for dessert. The entire meal was generously prepared and donated by a local chef.

New Washer and Dryer

Thanks to the generosity of the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust, Joseph's House has a brand new industrial washer and dryer set. We're so grateful to the foundation for their support. Our new washer uses HE detergent ONLY, and we've been advised that the pre-measured detergent "pods" provide the perfect amount of detergent to keep our new washer running smoothly. If you plan on donating laundry detergent please make sure it is HE. Thank you!

Community Life Corner

10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Homeless Vets....

The estimated number has decreased more than 30% over the last 5 years.
Most are male but about 8% are female.
Forty percent are African American or Hispanic.
Forty percent are between the ages of 31 and 50.
One-third were stationed in war zones and 2/3 served for at least 3 years.
Lack of support and housing puts about 1.4 million at risk for homelessness.
More than 40,000 receive some form of compensation benefits that are insufficient to cover affordable housing.
They are twice as likely to become chronically homeless than other Americans.
More than 50% suffer from disabilities and 2/3 have substance abuse issues.
They are homeless on average for more than 6 years.

Our mailing address is:
Joseph's House of Camden
555 Atlantic Avenue
Camden, NJ 08104