Another Winter in the Books
By Albert B. Kelly
In doing the people’s business at the state and federal
level, I have been known to introduce myself in the White House, the Statehouse,
and everywhere in between as the mayor of the “Great City of Bridgeton”.
While some think it a little corny, I do this because I
believe in my community and I want those who are engaging with us to know and
understand my confidence in our past, present, but mostly in our future.
I am realistic enough to know that we are not what we once were,
but I’m also confident in the fact that our best days are not behind us, but
yet to come. It looks a lot different than the past and I know this because
I’ve glimpsed it on a few cold nights.
These were some of my thoughts we were putting the finishing
touches on winter and closing down our Code Blue efforts for the year. Needless
to say, I’m grateful for the hard work of some amazing people in Code Blue over
the course of a long winter.
If you’re not familiar with Code Blue, it’s a program that
provides our homeless population with a warm place to sleep during the
overnight hours in the winter months when temperatures become dangerously cold
or we’re expecting sleet or snow.
Code Blue utilizes several local churches around the
community that open their doors and serve as warming centers when a Code Blue
has been called. The trigger for a Code Blue is when temps hit 32 degrees with
precipitation or 25 degrees without.
I know there’s not much difference between 27 degrees and 25
degrees when you’re out in it, but short of a full time shelter and staff, we
have to start somewhere.
When a Code Blue is called, the hours run from 6:00pm in the
evening until 6:00am the following morning. The most amazing part of it all is
the wonderful volunteers that work in the warming centers all night long.
As to the program itself, climate change notwithstanding, between
December 9th and March 22nd, Code Blue was activated a total of 33 times-
this represented a 7% increase in the number of Code Blue events from the
previous year ,even as we had one of our warmest February’s on record.
On average over this season, Code Blue served an average of 19
individuals per night at whichever church served as the designated warming
center. Along with a warm and safe place to sleep on these coldest nights, the Code
Blue program provided over 1,500 meals to those in need of a hot meal, but not
a bed overnight.
Code Blue was most certainly a group effort. In our fourth
year of doing Code Blue, we had several congregations in the greater Bridgeton
area step forward to offer their facilities as warming centers and this helped
enormously.
These same congregations helped staff the program with roughly
200 volunteers who did everything from setting up cots and distributing meals,
to handing out toiletries and giving out donated clothing. It worked and it
worked well, but it took a village as most things like this do.
While Code Blue was started here in our Great City of
Bridgeton, it was roughly three years ago that our sister cities of Vineland
and Millville began their own Code Blue efforts to provide for their homeless citizens
and together, we’ve created a strong model that should be a source of pride.
I say that because our collective efforts have gotten
traction around the state and Code Blue is becoming a formal program,
recognized in statutes, in all 21 counties in New Jersey and while each program
is unique, they all help their homeless on the coldest of nights.
In Matthew’s 14th chapter, we see Jesus moved by compassion
when he looked upon the multitudes that had been with him all day and were
hungry as evening came. So moved, he feed 5000 people with some loaves of bread
and a couple of fish.
In much the same way, Code Blue works because the compassion
of a few moves them to help many in our community. And while it’s not loaves
and fishes on a Judean hillside, it’s a hot meal, a warm cot, and some clean
linen in a church basement.
To all who, moved by compassion, gave of their time, money,
and resources, I want to say thank you for making Code Blue successful this
past winter season.