Causes: Community & Neighborhood Development, Economic Development, Food, Food Banks & Pantries, Homeless & Housing, Homeless Shelters, Human Services

Mission: The mission of St. Paul's Community Development Corporation is to serve as an agent of hope, partnering with others to provide need driven services that improve the quality of life and encourage greater self-sufficiency.

Results: In 2013, the SPCDC Food Pantry served 9,571 unduplicated beneficiaries. This number encompasses 4,573 Heads of Households and 4,998 dependents (i.e. adults and K-12), equating to 513,600 meals distributed. All Food Pantry clients are monitored using the agency’s Efforts to Outcomes Data Management System (ETO, Social Solutions, Inc.). In 2013, the Emergency Men’s Shelter served 81 men, providing 6,883 bed nights and 30,600 meals. SPCDC currently has 50 Volunteers that cook and serve dinner 365 days of the year. Volunteers serve a balanced dinner every evening. Through our case management process, Shelter residents were able to access 1,880 hours of counseling and supportive services. Our Next Step Workforce Development program served 526 clients between July 2012 and September 2013. It divided their client population across six program areas: Preakness Healthcare, Pre-Occupational Retail, Pre-Occupational Customer Service, Adult Basic Education - Low Literacy, Adult Basic Education/ESL - Passaic, and Adult Basic Education/ESL - Paterson. SPCDC AmeriCorps Members build capacity for future growth and work day to day to accomplish the objectives of the agency. In 2013, our AmeriCorps program hired 34 members who provided 40,696 hours of community service time with SPCDC and our 6 non-profit partner agencies. Our Passaic YouthBuild (PYB) Program is working with youth and young adults 16-24 years of age on making positive gains in their life and the life of their family and community. PYB students participate in educational instruction in the core subject areas of Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts, with a goal of sitting for and successfully passing the General Equivalency Exam (GED). PYB students are also trained in construction fundamentals, learning carpentry skills and building techniques with a goal of National Center for Construction Education and Research Certification (NCCER). At the end of the 2012 program cycle, PYB successfully aided 15 students with acquiring their GED and 27 students with acquiring NCCER credentialing. In addition, 12 completed the AmeriCorps Program making them eligible for an educational scholarship of $1,441.00 each, and 5 participants are now enrolled in college. As Lead Agency, SPCDC has overseen the implementation of extended-day and extended-year programming that has served 1,300 Paterson school children at two school locations: New Roberto Clemente FSCS and PS#15 FSCS. SPCDC fosters that growth by providing comprehensive, developmentally appropriate, extended day/year academic enrichment, mentoring and community service opportunities for students and their families.

Target demographics: alleviate the conditions of hunger, homelessness, unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and illiteracy throughout the city.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 7,000 clients through our various programs and services.

Geographic areas served: Paterson, NJ

Programs: emergency shelter, food pantry services, workforce development, and access to job training.