On August 22, 2018 I made a trip to Haddonfield, NJ to learn about the Interfaith Homeless Outreach Council (IHOC) program for homeless men in Camden County. It was presented by WNET in their program “Chasing the Dream” which concentrates on poverty and opportunity. They look for reasons why these things happen and answers to them. IHOC concentrates on quality over quantity.
With that said, there are over one million people experiencing homelessness in the US. These people suffer from drug abuse, alcoholism, prostitution, and physical and sexual abuse.
This is a 28-week program lasting from October to May for 12 selected men. Participants are chosen from the streets of Camden, and they are lodged in participating congregations which provide them with meals and a warm, secure place to sleep. The program provides addiction recovery counseling, life skills training, resume writing, mock interviews, computer skills training, transportation, and regular attendance at AA meetings. But the statistics on success are very low. My comment is: Don’t give up on these guys in their hour of need.
As one of the graduates of the program said, “Nobody gets out of homelessness by themselves.”