How To Help The Hoboken Homeless Shelter This Holiday Season

HOBOKEN, NJ — Even with social distancing, Hoboken's homeless shelter on Third Street, founded in 1982, has kept serving its vulnerable population and found ways to incorporate volunteers from the community.

The building still provides shelter to 50 overnight guests each evening, serves 500 meals daily to those who need them, and provides 1,000 showers each week, both to guests and non-guests (animation with statistics here).

"Historically, many people like to come in to the shelter during the holidays to volunteer," said a representative this week. "With social distancing precautions we put in place, we’ve reduced the amount of people per meal shifts we are allowing in. If anyone would like to sign up for a shift, they MUST sign up through the Hoboken CharityQuest app. All volunteers must be 18+ at this time."

The shelter has also released information about how to volunteer or contribute from home:

• People can make sandwiches at home, several hundred of which are served at the shelter each day. The shelter notes that it's a great way to get kids involved. People can drop off sandwiches daily between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• See the shelter's Amazon Wishlist to find out which supplies are needed at the Shelter. (Link here)
• They also need cleaning supplies of all kinds. Drop them off or send a financial donation via PayPal and they can purchase in bulk.
• They've also started a program where people can donate meals to the shelter from local restaurants, a great way to help local businesses and allow people in need to enjoy something different and delicious.

"We saw many of the local restaurants who have always been friends of the shelter start to close to the public," said a representative. "We’ve encouraged residents to buy meals from the restaurant, and then the restaurant coordinates with us and our meal calendar to deliver 300 donated meals at once. For this holiday season, I’d love to again get food donated to the shelter and get local restaurants' business."

Since 1982, the shelter has served over 2.5 million meals and provided overnight stays to over 500,000 men and women. It has also referred people to permanent housing, other support, and alcohol and drug treatment programs.

In 2019, they helped 146 men and women move to their own homes.

Find out more here.

Are you having trouble paying rent? City Hall may know of a number or programs to help during the pandemic. Also see this story about eviction and rent help in Hoboken.

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources. If you know of a local organization that should be profiled, contact caren.lissner@patch.com.

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