“Encountering Mercy” is a series exploring the corporal works of mercy during the Jubilee Year through the lens of the people whose lives exemplify them. In April and May, the Diocese of Camden focuses on “Give Drink to the Thirsty” and “Shelter the Homeless,” respectively. These months’ profiles will highlight examples of those who experience these corporal works of mercy in their daily lives.
On a Friday in March, Janne Dawson and Gary Smith both realized dreams that had been long in coming true. Dawson, a single mother and Army veteran, dreamed of a home to call her own after years of struggling with homelessness. Smith, a local contractor, dreamed of fixing up an abandoned home in Camden and giving it to a deserving family.
Neither could have anticipated they would fulfill each other’s dreams.
Smith, an electrician based in Mullica Hill, had been troubled for years by the number of abandoned and dilapidated homes in Camden.
“Over the years, going down into those streets in Camden occasionally to do work, it seemed like they were forgotten neighborhoods, and I thought, somebody has to do something,” Smith said.
In the fall of 2014 he decided to take “a leap of faith.” He purchased a bank-owned row home in a troubled Camden neighborhood for $8,400 and began work. He reached out to friends in the construction business for volunteers.
The brick row home was falling apart. Covered in graffiti, it would need all new flooring, drywall, roofing, appliances, electric and plumbing. It would have to be gutted down to its brick foundations and rebuilt again from scratch.
The only one who never doubted was his wife, Lisa.
“When he has an idea he doesn’t stop until it’s done,” she said. “We always believed that God would give us enough funds to make this project work. We always looked at it as God’s house. In the same way, we knew God would provide the right family for it.”
As work got started, Smith’s friends and acquaintances in the business took on the project as though it were their own. He was amazed as more people from further afield got involved, some he had never met before, donating time and resources to the project.
“Everybody that set foot in the house was all in,” he said. “They’d say, ‘Let me donate, let me see what I can do.’ These are just normal contractors, they’re not super big companies, maybe four to five employees.”
In the end, Smith estimated that more than 100 volunteers donated some 90 percent of the labor required for the renovation. Busy small-business owners would come to the house after hours and on weekends to volunteer. In a little over a year, with Smith donating all of his spare time and resources to the project, the formerly crumbling house had been completely renovated into a beautiful family home.
The extent of the support of the neighborhood was equally surprising. Smith hadn’t known what to expect in this Camden neighborhood, with its reputation for crime. What he found was supportive neighbors who cared for one another in difficult times. From the moment he went door-to-door explaining the project, the community showed support for the renovation of the house and the family that would one day be its new occupants. Not once was the property broken into or vandalized.
“I’ve gained so much by meeting the people and learning about them and their situations,” Smith said. “I’ll probably never be the same again after this.”
With the house complete, Smith turned to finding a deserving family for the home, and after a few unsuccessful tries, found Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden. Enter Janne Dawson.
A single mother, Dawson found herself homeless after separating from a partner. She had been living in the homes of friends for nearly a year. She was currently working with a case manager from Catholic Charities’ Ready, Vet, Go program, which helps veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless get back on their feet.
When Smith approached Catholic Charities with the offer of a house, the veterans program created an application process for current clients. Dawson soon emerged as the obvious choice.
“She’s highly motivated, and that’s what we were looking for: someone who could be sustainable,” said Mark Taylor, director of Catholic Charities Veteran Services.
Dawson moved into the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with her sister, Gevanna Young, also a single mother who has struggled with homelessness. Young’s daughter, Janyah, attends Brimm Medical Arts High School, not far from the house, and dreams of becoming a surgeon.
“We both want to make a better life for ourselves and our families,” Dawson said of herself and her sister in her application letter. “If we could have something nice to call our own, in a world that is not always such a nice place, it would make a world of difference.”
Through a partnership with Catholic Charities, the Community Asset Preservation Corporation (CAPC) acquired the home and will lease it to the Dawson family, who will be placed on a track to purchase the home in 18-24 months, with the support of the non-profit’s financial guidance for low-income first-time home-owners.
CAPC specializes in acquiring vacant and abandoned properties and rehabilitating them for use as quality, affordable housing. It is a subsidiary of New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC), New Jersey’s leading community development financial institution.
From the moment Smith met Dawson, he knew he had found the perfect occupant for the house.
“We knew at the beginning we were looking for Janne; we just didn’t know her name,” he said.
As he handed over the keys, Dawson grabbed him in a hug, and told him and Lisa to expect an invitation to dinner.
“I can’t really describe how grateful I am,” she said. “I’m just excited and happy all at the same time — ready to move on in my life and cherish this opportunity.”
A before-and-after video of the house renovation and links to media coverage of the Dawson family’s homecoming is available at: CatholicCharitiesCamden.org/Dawson
Written by Joanna Gardner
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The mercy of sheltering the homeless
In 1988, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement addressing the problem of homelessness in America. The statement, entitled Homelessness and Housing: A Human Tragedy, A Moral Challenge, laid out particular policy priorities for the national government in response to the housing crisis and urged people of goodwill to do their part for their homeless brothers and sisters. A excerpt of the statement follows:
As believers, we find our reason and direction for action in the life of Jesus and the teaching of his Church. We are reminded by the gospel that the first human problem Jesus faced on earth was a lack of shelter. There was “no room in the inn” for the Holy Family in Bethlehem. Today, we see in the faces of homeless men, women, and children, the face of Christ. We know that in reaching out to them, standing with them in defending their rights, in working with them and their families for decent housing, we serve the Lord.