Free Winter Suppers Will Be Offered On Tuesdays In Freehold

FREEHOLD, NJ — A weekly free supper program has begun for those in need in the Freehold area, and advocates hope it will help fill the loss this year of a men's winter overnight program offered for 19 years.

The Emergency Housing and Advocacy Program, in conjunction with local congregations, will host the free Tuesday night suppers this winter, which began Jan. 16, at St. Peter’s Church.

The meals are no cost and open to men or women. They will be served at 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays, through March 27 at St. Peter’s Crossroads Building, 33 Throckmorton St.

EHAP, a Freehold-based nonprofit organization that helps stabilize those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, decided to host the Tuesday night suppers while on hiatus from its Winter Overnight Program.

That hospitality program offered a warm bed and hot meal to homeless men on winter nights at local houses of worship on a rotating basis. The program, which ran from December through March, is paused this season due to a funding setback, EHAP officials said.

“Everyone involved in the overnight program was so disappointed that we couldn’t raise enough funds to house the men this winter,” Joan Mandel, executive director of EHAP and a licensed social worker, said. It would have been the program’s 20th season.

“Many of the same volunteers who cooked dinner and supplied breakfast for the men in the overnight program are now cooking for the whole community. It’s a great way for us to stay connected to our mission,” she said.

The supper program will be run by Michael Holzer of Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan and Harry Domke of Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine in Freehold Township. Both are longtime overnight program coordinators for their respective congregations.

“EHAP has made great strides in helping homeless men get off the streets and into a place of their own over the past 19 years,” Holzer said. “This supper program will keep us near the folks we serve and remind us how hard we need to work to raise the money to bring back the overnight program.”

The overnight program costs roughly $75,000 to run annually. That figure includes costs for social workers who provide intense casework services for the men, as well as a program coordinator, transportation and security guards.

The program has yet to secure more funding and was forced to suspend the program this year. But it is working to try to restore it, EHAP has said.

St. Peter’s Church served as a nightly intake center and hosted the men once a week. Five other congregations helped to split up the week.

“I worry about what will happen to the men who have nowhere to go,” Domke said. “There is no shelter in western Monmouth County, and many can’t get to the county shelter in Eatontown or the men’s shelter in Asbury Park. The women have even fewer options. At least we can give them a good meal once a week until we figure out our next move.”

The participating congregations for the suppers include St. Robert’s, Temple Shaari Emeth, First United Methodist Church of Freehold, and Hope Lutheran Church and Foundational Truth Bible Studies Ministries, both of Freehold Township.

St. Peter’s has a long history of providing community meals. The church is still hosting no-cost suppers on the second and fourth Friday of each month. They are hosted in the dining hall on the second floor of the Crossroads building. Dinner is served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. On-street parking is available on Throckmorton Street , opposite the church.

Parking is also available in the Broad Street parking lot located behind the church. Please take note of posted restrictions in the Broad Street parking lot, especially spots that require a permit.

For more information, visit www.ehapinc.org. Follow EHAP on X @EHAPinFreehold or on Facebook @EHAPFreehold.