Area houses of worship provide overnight shelter
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Those who need the warmth of shelter and a hot meal will be graciously welcomed through the efforts of the Freehold Clergy Association and area houses of worship.

Once again, volunteers under the direction of Stan Rosenthal will provide overnight lodging for men who may be forced by circumstance to spend their days and nights living in makeshift shelters outdoors.

Rosenthal co-founded Freehold Borough's Open Door hot lunch program.

The overnight program, which will host overnight guests for the fourth consecutive winter, began this month and will run through the end of March.

Last year's program provided food and shelter more than 350 times (some people come more than once).

The following houses of worship are participating in the shelter program on a rotating basis this winter: St. Veronica's Roman Catholic Church, Howell; United Jerseyville Methodist Church, Howell; Hope Lutheran Church, Freehold Township; Temple Shaari Emeth, Manalapan; First Church of Christ, Scientist, Freehold Borough; and St. Robert Bellarmine Roman Catholic Church, Freehold Township.

Men who are admitted to the overnight lodging will need to go through a screening program to make certain no one is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

After the screening process is completed, each guest will receive a pass and be met by a program volunteer at 6 p.m. and taken to that night's shelter.

According to Rosenthal, volunteers supervise the overnight stay.

Rosenthal said the men are given a hot meal that has been prepared by congregants of that particular house of worship and have access to television and games during the evening. A light breakfast is provided the next morning.

The ideal situation, according to Rosenthal, would be to have all of the overnight shelters within walking distance for the men, but to date it has not worked out that way.

Some of the overnight shelters provide volunteers to transport the men to and from Freehold Borough, but additional volunteers to transport the men are always needed.

Volunteers are also needed to supervise program participants overnight from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. the next day.

"It has been my experience that most people really do want to help, but many times they just don't know how," Rosenthal said. "If you ask someone to help, to do something small, they usually will. If everyone does something little, it all comes together."