Keep our Families Fed

THIS PAGE IS UPDATED FREQUENTLY; our list of needed items is current.

COVID-19 is still contributing to food insecurity in our city, evidenced by the fact that more than 90 families are visiting our Food Pantry each week..

This need remains. So we’ll remain ready to serve families in need as they line up every Friday to receive a box of food.

We’re still accepting donations to stock our pantry.

Our Most Vital Needs:

Non-perishables
Pasta, pasta sauce, rice, canned/boxed soups & broths, baked beans, peanut Butter, jelly, cereal, oatmeal, apple juice, tea, coffee, baby food.

Perishables

Meat (chicken; ground beef & turkey; sausage; pork); non-meat proteins such as tofu, lentils, quinoa, etc.; potatoes; onions; carrots, apples, oranges, bananas, lettuce, frozen veggies

Distribution begins around noon-1:00 pm on Fridays.

No-contact drop off of non-perishable goods at 22 Maple Ave, Mondays through Thursdays, 9:00 am to 5:00 p.m. For perishable items, and for food drive deliveries, contact Mark at (203) 748-4764 ext. 208.

Thank you for serving our city's most vulnerable families.

Diaper Drive Underway in Response to Coronavirus Crisis

Jericho is providing diapers to our neighbors in need, so they have one less essential need to worry about during the coronavirus crisis.
You can help by bringing diapers (sized 2-5 are most in need) and pull-ups, and drop them off in the bin located on the blue porch at 13 Maple Avenue (week days until 5:00 pm).
You can also order them online and have them delivered to Jericho Partnership, 22 Maple Ave., Danbury CT 06810.
We’ll be distributing these diapers through our food pantry, in conjunction with other city agencies, and to those in need through our ministry partners.

Addressing Homelessness with Compassion

Having worked for years with men and women struggling with homelessness, I’ve had many conversations with people about the causes of homelessness and why it’s difficult for some homeless people to work their way out of it. Sometimes people wonder aloud if everyone who is homeless wants help - especially those who’ve been homeless for a long time and don’t appear to be trying to improve their situation. 

My response is always the same: Nobody really wants to be homeless. Some people appear to be okay with it, but that’s only because they no longer have hope that their life can be better than it is. They don’t believe things will ever change for them, so they stop trying.

Our intention, when we welcome them into our shelter on a bitter night, is to provide a glimmer of hope that things CAN be better for them, that we care, and that we’ll help. We lead with compassion, because we trust that, by doing so, they’ll trust us to partner with them in their own life transformation.

That’s why I’m blessed to see so many men step up to help our homeless community by volunteering at our overnight shelter this winter. Everyone needs hope, and many of those we serve have the greatest need. There is no hope like Jesus, and we are His hands and feet to combat the hopelessness of the world.

For those of you who have helped at the shelter, and to those who will, we thank you! 

-Mark Grasso, Director of Operations & Adult Ministries, Jericho Partnership

p.s. We are still in need of a few men to volunteer as overnight shelter attendants through early April. Contact volunteer@jerichopartnership.org

Jericho to Reopen Shelter as Overflow, Seasonal Center

We wanted to share an important ministry update concerning Jericho’s compassionate care ministry to the city. 

Jericho will reopen, on Christmas night, our building at 13 Maple Avenue as a seasonal overflow shelter for homeless men in Danbury who need a warm, safe place to sleep.

The Jericho shelter will not have day-time hours or case management services; it WILL provide compassionate emergency shelter for those in need during the harsh winter months. Tentative operation dates are December 25 through the end of March or into April if possible. 

This will be a volunteer-driven initiative and a community collaboration involving both our church partners – who wish to share the love of Christ with those in need - and community providers.  The Community Care Team operating out of Danbury Hospital/Nuvance, will be providing our volunteers with training and support, and others within the community have committed to providing basic toiletry and care items for our guests.

The shelter will be supervised primarily by volunteers, with Harry Pugner, Jericho’s retired facilities director as the shelter leader, supported by Mark Grasso, Jericho’s Director of Operations. 

Coffee with a Purpose; Changing Lives at Discipleship House

Scott adding some pumpkin spice flavoring to newly roasted beans

Some people need coffee in their lives every morning just to shake off the cobwebs. But for a group of men at Jericho’s Discipleship House, coffee does so much more; it helps transform their lives.

Samaritan Coffee Roasters is operated by men who live in Discipleship House, Jericho’s residential program for men transforming their lives after homelessness and addiction. So, in addition to engaging in counseling and other activities to aid in their recovery, they’re also taste-testing coffee blends, adjusting timing and temperature of the roasting machines, and learning about small-scale production and marketing in a work-therapy program.

“They are very passionate about what they’re doing, and take it very seriously,” said Mark Grasso, Jericho’s Director of Operations and supervisor of Discipleship House. “The main benefit, though, is that they’re learning some valuable skills that will position them well when they return to the job market. This will help them get a long-term position, or even open up their own coffee-roasting business.”

For Scott Eggen, who’s been a resident of Discipleship House for nearly a year, roasting coffee has given him another skill to put on his resume, which already includes heating & air conditioning and electrician.

“If my heat, air and electrical business ever fails, I can do coffee roasting,” he said with a laugh. “Being part of this process, though, it gives you accountability. And it’s something else to learn, so I am bettering myself. It builds skills not just in making coffee but in being a productive member of society. And I just love doing it.”

Samaritan Coffee Roasters has another purpose too, and that is to help fund Discipleship House, which houses up to 15 men at a time in a long-term, faith-based recovery program. Because the business is still new, it has generated only limited revenue, but the plan is to continue marketing the product to local retailers and eateries.

The buzz it’s creating is sure to help their cause; Samaritan Coffee Roaster was recently featured in Connecticut Magazine.

Today, Samaritan Coffee Roasters’ House Roast (a medium roast) and its pumpkin spice seasonal blend are on sale at three Danbury locations - Beautiful News bookstore, Hustle Hard Nutrition, and Rumors European Café - as well as at its office at 22 Maple Avenue, Danbury.  You can also order online through its Facebook page: facebook.com/samaritanroasters/

President's Corner: "God is on the Move"

God is on the move. There no questioning the way He’s been leading and guiding me and Jericho’s leaders over the past year. At times it’s been exhilarating and wonderful; other times exhausting and difficult. But always, it’s encouraging to know that we are in God’s will, doing what He alone has called us to do - and that is to serve Danbury youth at risk and, by extension, their families.

With your volunteer and financial support, we’re more than ready to expand our reach and increase our impact in the city of Danbury.  

This doesn’t signal that what we’ve done before – like operate a school or a homeless shelter – was wrong or misguided. It wasn’t; it was good, and lives have been transformed. But what Jericho 2.0 is about is God calling us back to the heart of our mission. It’s about “you can’t stay where you are and go with God.” God is moving! And He’s saying, “Are you going to keep up?” Our answer is “yes!”

God never released us from the original call to serve youth. We branched out from that in many ways; and some of those ways didn’t serve our community most effectively. Bigger doesn’t always mean better.

So, we’re recalibrating. Today, Jericho stands ready to close the achievement gap among youth in Danbury, via academic support and healthcare. We stand ready to enter Danbury public schools, invited by administrators to come alongside even more youth - before they fall behind - with Reading Buddy programs. We stand ready to invite those same kids to Jericho for even more tutoring, mentoring, and faith-growing programs.

By extension, we stand ready to serve the parents and families of our youth with services directed at food security, addiction recovery, and equipping the homeless - because kids can’t succeed in families that are broken.

Together, we stand ready for such a time as this. Your partnership will change lives, and it will transform the heart of our city. We’re honored and humbled to do what God has called us to do.

I pray you’re with us for this journey. With your support – financially and/or by volunteering as a Reading Buddy, mentor, or tutor – we’ll be positioned to transform a city, one person at a time.

To learn more about Jericho 2.0 and give a gift in support of our new focus, visit: jerichopartnership.org/jericho-20

To volunteer as a Reading Buddy, mentor, or tutor, contact volunteer@jerichopartnership.org

Jericho Announces Shelter Closure

The homeless shelter at 13 Maple Avenue in Danbury, operated by Good Samaritan Mission, will close permanently in two stages this summer.

The day-time engagement shelter will end operations on Friday, August 2; the 14-bed overnight shelter’s last night will be Saturday, August 31.

The closure stems from Jericho’s mission realignment and renewed focus to serve Danbury’s at-risk youth and, by extension, their families.

Jericho will continue to serve the homeless population in Danbury in two ways: 1) CleanStart, a program where homeless men and women receive job training/experience by engaging in projects organized by the city of Danbury and led by Jericho volunteers, and 2) Discipleship House, a Jericho-run residential program for homeless and addicted men located at 22 Maple Ave. (This program had been operated by Jericho Ministry Partner Good Samaritan Mission until its recent consolidation with Jericho.)

“We are still called to provide life-transformational services and programs for Danbury’s homeless, but our Executive Board and I have determined – after much due diligence and prayer – that the programs that truly lead to life-change are CleanStart and Discipleship House, and not the shelter itself,” said Jericho President Carrie L. Amos. “At a time when excellent stewardship of our resources and adherence to our mission are both vital, we must allocate our time, talent and treasure to the programs that are proven paths to authentic transformation for homeless and addicted people. We had to make a difficult decision.”

Jericho staff is working to place our regular guests in other local or regional shelters; a small number of them will be invited to move into Discipleship House and engage in the long-term addiction recovery program there.

For more information, contact Mark Grasso at (203) 748-4764 or Michael Ronan or Lisa Siedlecki at Jericho at (203) 791-1180.