It was a better Christmas than it might otherwise have been for hundreds of homeless people in Newark.
AvaCare Medical of Lakewood delivered some holiday cheer to the homeless, handing out 500 packages of personal care items at the St. James Social Service building. Here’s AvaCare’s Jay Stein.
“There were a lot of people that were getting emotional, praising God, just very excited to get some needed items,” he said.
AvaCare CEO Steven Zeldes said his people were determined to carry out their mission, rain or shine.
“It was cold outside, it was raining, it was horrible weather, they didn’t really care about that, they went out, and they stood in the rain, they stood in the freezing cold for hours on end, handing out these packages to hundreds and hundreds of homeless people,” he said.
Zeldes got this from one of his people at the event.
“There was a lady that came by and told her that it’s been like 2 or 3 weeks since she was able to take a shower, use shampoo, brush her teeth,” he said.
Essex County has the most homeless people of any county in New Jersey, and more than 90% of them are in Newark.