Winter is a tough season for those struggling with homelessness, and with COVID-19 continuing to rage and forcing changes to all aspects of daily life, organizations that aid those in need are pivoting on both fronts.
Two organizations in Trenton did this by collaborating on a new warming center, where people can, as the name says, warm up, but also seek the social services they need.
To Joseph Volk, though, it’s much more.
He called it a sanctuary, a place that, if not available to him and others, would lead to people dying.
“It’s a mercy of God, it’s a blessing, it’s a lifesaver,” Volk told NJ Advance Media at the center, in the Rescue Mission of Trenton, as he candidly described his struggles with mental illness and drug use.
“I probably would be dead if it wasn’t for the help of the people here,” Volk said.
Joseph Volk at the warming center.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The center is a collaboration with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, known as TASK, has a capacity of 60 people and will be in operation around the clock until April 10. It’s physically located in the Rescue Mission’s thrift store, on Carroll Street, which has downsized its space and hours to make room.
“We knew we had to do something different this year,” Mary Gay Abbott-Young, the mission’s CEO, said.
Traditionally, she explained, those experiencing homelessness would come to the Mission for a meal and warmth in their day center, then spend the day or night, or go to TASK where they could eat, then linger and shelter themselves from the weather. Both locations offer social services, too.
With COVID-19, though, serving those in need became a numbers game, Abbott-Young said.
The Mission can now only host 50 people in its day center, versus 80 before the pandemic. And at night, the number they can accommodate overnight is down from 200 to 75. (There remain 23 beds in separate rooms for the most vulnerable individuals.)
Meanwhile, TASK is preparing twice as many emergency meals and switched from sit-down dining to serving meals to-go from their front doors, Abbot-Young said.
So, the day warming center was born.
The Rescue Mission of Trenton and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) have partnered to create the Warming Center, in space at the Rescue Mission on Carroll Street in Trenton.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Joyce Campbell, TASK’s executive director said the organizations have always had a strong link, and planning started in the summer, “for what we knew was inevitably around the corner.”
“Together, we gained strength. And created possibilities. Fortunately, The Mission has the space, and we have the food. We knew the need. We just had to start planning. And hope to find the funding,” Campbell said.
A large portion of funding came from the Princeton Area Community Foundation COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund and more came from individual donations and promised partnerships with Mercer County.
“This project started with recognizing the essential need. Then, by collaborating, we were able to create a solution. Still, of course, it is only occurring because of the compassion and generosity of our community,” Abbott-Young said.
The Point-In-Time Count of the Homeless from January 28, 2020 revealed Mercer County had 556 homeless individuals, with 105 of them being unsheltered.
“Behind each of those numbers is a personal story,” Abbott-Young added. “And that, of course, was before the onslaught of the pandemic and our current economic crisis.”
Tyrell Wilson at the warming center.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
They are stories like Tyrell Wilson, and Barbara Sincak.
Wilson, who was born in Panama and used to live in New York City, is in Trenton to be near his kids - a situation with which the Mission is assisting him. He’s trying to see them, but needs housing. He survives on construction day jobs, and volunteers with the Shelter, too.
Sincak, a Trenton native, is close to getting housing through HomeFront. That’s the key, she said.
“I want to go back to work,” she said.
She lost her warehouse job during the pandemic, has no transportation, and the Mission is assisting her with those needs. The warming center allows her to stay healthy so she can run errands during the day.
Volk summed it up this way: The warming center allows people a stepping stone for their struggles so they can get help and hopefully become assets in their community.
Without it, “I’d really be lost.”
Barbara Sincak outside the warming center.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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Michael Mancuso may be reached at mmancuso@njadvancemedia.com
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