Serving The Homeless Of Ocean And Atlantic Counties
Posted on March 28, 2021 in articles
UPDATE: 10/1/2021
We just received a huge clothing donation. If you are in need of any clothing, please call us at 609-300-5198 and leave a message stating what you need and how to contact you (phone number, email address) and we will get back to you as soon as possible! You can also email us at outreachservices@havenstreets.org
We desperately need socks. If you can donate socks please email us at the outreach email address above.
Posted on January 9, 2015 in articles
One of the best ways to help a homeless person is to show them respect. As you look into their eyes, talk to them with genuine interest, and recognize their value as an individual, you will give them a sense of dignity that they rarely experience.
Posted on October 1, 2021 in articles
Posted on September 4, 2021 in articles
In addition to helping the poor and the homeless in Ocean and Atlantic Counties, we are expanding our services into Gloucester, Camden and Cape May Counties. These services include our homeless programs, homelessness prevention programs, Veteran services and helping anyone impacted by any natural disaster such as the recent tornadoes that were a result of Hurricane Ida that left so many homeless and without power or food.
Posted on October 10, 2018 in articles
Gloucester County is under a State of Emergency through Friday following a tornado that brought destruction to areas of South Jersey Wednesday night.
Haven-Beat the Street traveled to Gloucester County today 9/2/2021, to help assist those impacted by the tornado. Since so many are without power and unable to leave their neighborhoods because of roads blocked by uprooted trees and live power lines on the ground, we brought food, water and clothes to help those impacted by this devastating storm. Please keep them in your prayers.
Full article on the storm here
Posted on February 8, 2018 in articles
Bill Southrey, President of Haven/Beat the Streets, says his organization has gotten many calls from people seeking shelter. Southrey, who has helped the homeless for nearly four decades, uses his resources to coordinate shelters in Atlantic and Ocean counties.
“We’ll refer them to the shelters and the Rescue Mission, but if people need help, we’ll use funding and put them up in motels in Absecon, Pleasantville and Egg Harbor Township,” said Southrey. “I’m willing to jump in and help any way I can.”
Haven/Beat the Streets is working with two shelters in Ocean County at the First Assembly of God Church in Toms River and the Lakewood Community Center.
“If someone in Atlantic County needed help, we would take them up there,” said Southrey. “My hope is that no one has to go out in the cold again.”
Posted on January 6, 2018 in articles
TOMS RIVER – James Havens lives in a tent in the woods. The 39-year-old has been homeless for years. On Thursday, as the snow fell and the temperature plummeted to arctic levels, he did something rare.
He headed for a shelter.
Taking advantage of the new “Code Blue” law, Havens and 14 others spent the night in a warming center at First Assembly of God Church in Toms River.
Did Ocean County’s homeless total plummet? Advocates doubt it
“If this wasn’t here tonight, there would be a lot of people out there freezing, probably wouldn’t wake up in the morning,” Havens said. “On my way here I stopped at a couple of tent sites and they were collapsed.
Spend some time in the makeshift shelter, which consists of 20 cots, a community room with a TV and a buffet provided by donors, and you’ll glimpse how important Code Blue is – and why it’s just one step in the right direction.
‘I wouldn’t have lasted much longer’
Code Blue, signed by Gov. Chris Christie in May, formalizes a procedure for helping people at risk when the temperature dips below 32 degrees with precipitation or 25 degrees with no precipitation. Such conditions trigger the opening of overnight warming centers powered by volunteers and goodwill organizations – not government funding – and an effort by law enforcement officials to get the homeless there.
In Toms River and surrounding towns, police distributed fliers throughout homeless encampments and, in some cases, drove people to the church.
That’s how 29-year-old Stefani Mitchell got there
Mitchell, who had been hooked on heroin and Ecstasy, said her family “put me out” on Jan. 1. Stafford Township police picked her up and brought her to First Assembly of God
“All my bad choices led me to be here,” she said. “My family’s giving me tough love right now. Being scared and being in the cold, it’s rough. I wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”
Alcohol and drugs are forbidden at the warming center, and it’s not a rehab facility. But Paul Hulse, outreach director of the local nonprofit HAVEN/Beat the Street, which supervises the shelter, got Mitchell enrolled in a 15-month residential addiction program on Long Island. She went there Friday.
“I’ve gotten more help here than anywhere else,” said Mitchell, one of three women who stayed overnight Thursday in separate quarters within the church. “I came here and knew nobody, but I’ve been surprisingly comfortable, not nervous. It’s a start for me.”
Showing value
Hulse and Paul Gifford, Assembly of God’s pastor, have been helping the area’s homeless for several years. They jumped at the opportunity to open the warming center. By showing its value for someone like Mitchell, they hope this is a step toward a permanent homeless shelter opening somewhere in Ocean County
“Everything has to move in moderation,” Hulse said. “The key piece is showing not just that we need something, but that there’s a solution behind that need.”
On Thursday, both Gifford and Hulse slept over at the warming center. The atmosphere was low-key but collegial. A handful of residents watched a big-screen TV while others chatted over coffee or tea. Most were asleep by 9 p.m.
Code Blue NJ: Cold and homeless in Monmouth County? You may stay that way.
“So far we’ve had no problems, no issues,” Gifford said. “Our residents have been great. They help clean up in the morning, mop the floors, take out the trash.”
Hulse said the vibe is similar at the Lakewood Community Center, a Code Blue station that housed 32 people Thursday. The initiative shows what’s possible when everyone – politicians, law enforcement and concerned citizens – pulls in the same direction.
“It’s been a great collaboration,” Hulse said. “We’re getting them inside, keeping them warm, keeping them safe and hooking them into resources, which is even better.”
Finding acceptance
Thursday was a breakthrough of sorts for Havens, who left his tent out of necessity but found camaraderie at the warming center. More than a decade of homelessness had left him aloof, distrustful.
“It’s a struggle,” he said. “People look at us as bums or drug addicts. Some look at us, shrug their shoulders and hold on to their purse or wallet tight. I like to keep to myself, but there’s a bunch of good people here.”
As the temperature outside dipped below 10 degrees, with more than a foot of snow surrounding the church, Havens took a long swig of his coffee. He wore a knitted hat indoors, his face weathered from years of living in the elements.
There have been mornings in the woods, he said, when he found bodies of acquaintances who didn’t survive the night.
“It’s horrible out there,” he said. “They’re doing a good thing here. I figured I’d come out here tonight and give it a shot.”
The staff is hoping he sticks around.
“You just want to open up that reservoir of hope inside people,” said Martha Barnhill, a volunteer who spent Thursday night in the women’s quarters. “You want to let them know: They do mean something. They are important.”
Posted on September 4, 2017 in articles
Posted on April 10, 2016 in articles
ABSECON – A man who spent the past four decades by seemingly giving all he had to those with nothing to offer in return has been named this year’s recipient of the Absecon Republican Club’s Citizen of the Year.
Former Atlantic City Rescue Mission CEO Bill Southrey will be honored as the 2015 Citizen of the Year during a dinner and celebration in his honor 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26 at the Inn of Smithville.
The reward has been given annually to an Absecon resident, regardless of party affiliation, who has given tirelessly to others without the thought of personal gain. Previous Citizen of the Year award winners choose each future winner.
Southrey has spent most of his lifetime providing for others, especially the homeless of Atlantic County. Even back in the 1970s, Southrey and his wife, Debra, provided food and shelter to homeless people in their one-bedroom apartment in Pleasantville, according to club members.
Southrey began volunteering at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission after he witnessed more than 100 people camped out for or the safety and warmth of the old abandoned Atlantic City Railroad Station on a cold and rainy night. He became an Atlantic City Rescue Mission paid staff member in 1981 and served as CEO from 2000-2013.
After Southrey left the Rescue Mission, he became president of Haven, an Atlantic City organization that helps find safe, secure and affordable housing for the homeless.
Southrey and his wife live in Absecon and have three grown children, Sarai, Andrew and Caitlin.
Posted on January 9, 2015 in articles
We are mentioned in the Article for a Warming center in Ocean County. Just to give a glance of what we are doing to make Ocean County a better place.