ened and don’t want to be told what to do. “If they come from a home where there [are] no rules, it’s a challenge sometimes,” Graham said. On a typical weekday, the children come in aſter
school, do their homework and use the computers. Tey also wash their clothes and clean their rooms. Te staff make meals and take the youth grocery shopping. Graham does their hair. “Helping them makes me feel
better,” she said. Weekends are a time for outings. Graham said many
have never eaten in a restaurant, adding, “We show them things they haven’t seen before.” “When I first started, it was a 90-day program for 7- to
12-year-olds,” Graham said. Tree or four years ago, it was cut to 30 days due to a law restricting the time chil- dren can spend in a shelter. Te youth are also older now. Occasionally the kids act out. Tey may not want to
follow the rules or they get into arguments with fellow residents. “All they have known is instability—it’s hard to break
that cycle,” said Beth Eichfeld, LSMNJ associate vice president. “We have a limited window of time to make an impact on these kids.” Eichfeld would like to see the stays extended. “I think
More than neighbors T
he Lutheran Home for Children is the incarnation of the Waisen- heimat Zum Kinderfreund
(Orphans’ Home of the Children’s Friend) of 1904-1945, which gave birth to what would become Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey. St. Paul Lutheran Church, about a
mile from Ellis Island in Jersey City, N.J., includes 10 descendants of its founding German families, as well as members from India, the Philippines, the Caribbean, Guyana, Colombia, Ghana and Iceland. Te relationship between the
two neighbors makes sense, said Beth Gebhart, executive director of fund development and the LSMNJ Foundation. “Churches and LSMNJ go hand-in-hand. By partnering and sharing resources, we can reach more
it’s an environment of change that gets disrupted,” she said, while acknowledging that “it’s a policy decision.” Graham made a similar observation: “We don’t get a
chance to do too much. Tey get to know us and then they have to leave.” What happens when they leave? Some are reunited
with their families. Others go to foster homes or a treat- ment home. Some return to the streets. “We have a couple residents who come back and visit
us. … Quite a few stay in contact,” Graham said. “Some of them don’t want to leave—we had a resident who refused to go to another placement.” Graham enjoys working with the teens. “I like to
show them there’s more out there,” she said. “I tell them [not to] think: ‘I’m in [child protection] and it’s a bad thing.’ ” She encourages them to consider what’s pos- sible—like going to college and living independently. Te Lutheran Home for
Children gives teens “a sense that there are people out there who care about them,” Graham said.
Author bio: Dollard is a free- lance writer living in Chicago.
people,” she added. Tere is a daily, quiet connection
between this diverse congregation and the home. Children work in the community garden. On occasion, children and staff worship at St. Paul. Tere can be limited interaction between the children and parishio- ners as long as staff is present. How did the children’s home
come to be housed in the parsonage? In the ’70s and ’80s, the area around the church saw a surge in homeless- ness, as well as crime due to drug addiction. Tere were frequent late- night knocks on the pastor’s door by people asking for food or a place to sleep. Eventually the parsonage was moved blocks away so the pastor’s family could have some peace. St. Paul began housing social
service programs on its premises, including the children’s home. Activi- ties located in its basement include: the Hudson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) program, which provides trained volunteer advocates for children in foster care; and Te Sharing Place, the county’s largest food pantry serv- ing 1,500 people a month, including families whose children have been served at the children’s home. “Te real benefit [of hosting the
programs] is [that instead of] closing down this church has been in the process of opening up for 25 years,” said Christopher Greene, executive director of St. Paul’s Center of Car- ing, an independent nonprofit that manages the congregation’s relation- ships with organizations like LSMNJ.
June 2014 31
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