Ocean Homeless Person’s Memorial Day
Homeless Person’s Memorial Day
The First Day of Winter.
The Longest Night of the Year.
December 21, 2009
Homeless people die from illnesses that affect everyone,
frequently without health care.Health care is a human right.
Housing is a human right.
Physical safety is a human right.
Remember our neighbors and friends
who have died without homes.Remember why they died.
Ocean County held their annual Homeless Person’s Memorial Day on December 21 between 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM at Lacey United Methodist Church, 203 Lacey Road, Forked River, N.J. 08731. The Sponsor was Journey To Wellness thru Mental Health Association of N.J.
Robyn Gorman, of the Mental Health Association of NJ, provided us with this update:
George "Ike" Icenhower
Despite the cold and 23 inches of snow, the Memorial Candlelight Vigil for the Homeless took place last night at Lacey United Methodist Church in Ocean County. A wonderful meal was served at 5:30pm, which included pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, buttered rolls and dessert. Dinner was followed by a service given by Pastor Linda Applegate that was dedicated to the homeless. Service programs were entitled, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” ~John I:5.
United Methodist Church runs a homeless outreach project called the “SHALOM Ministry”. SHALOM stands for “Showers, Hot meals, Advocacy, Laundry, Outreach and Ministry”, and is run by George “Ike” Icenhower and his wife of 40 years, Bobbie. They have been extremely successful in the past 2+ years in helping many homeless individuals who were previously living in the woods of Ocean County to find shelter and essential services. As Ike stated, their mission is: “Nobody starves, nobody freezes, nobody is left alone”. Mr. Icenhower spoke at the service about their work, and also performed the song “Light a Candle”.
This Ocean County, NJ vigil, which was initiated by the NJ Advocacy to End Homelessness, was a collaboration between Pastor Applegate, her congregation at Lacey United Methodist Church, the Shalom Ministry, and the Mental Health Association of NJ, Inc.’s Journey To Wellness Self Help Center in Barnegat.
Journey To Wellness staff and family
Michele Green Ferrante, Director of Ocean County Services for MHANJ and former Manager of Journey To Wellness, and Evelyn Labick, a group facilitator at Journey To Wellness, read poems about homelessness during the service. Cyndy Walters, spoke of her own journey from homelessness; she now works at Journey to Wellness and volunteers with the SHALOM Ministries.
Ms. Walters also gave a moving tribute to the homeless individuals in Ocean County who have died in the past year. Pastor Applegate encouraged everyone in attendance to pray for those in Ocean County, throughout NJ, throughout the US and around the world who are without shelter. The service concluded with a candlelight vigil on the church steps and the singing of, “Let It Begin With Me”.
A special thanks to Pastor Linda Applegate, Rose and Howard Furbech, Bobbie and Ike Icenhower, Cyndy Walters, Barbara Reid and everyone who made the evening possible. It strengthened everyone’s commitment to advocating for a society that truly protects and cares for all.
We will be adding additional materials to this page leading up to the Homeless Person’s Memorial Day including photographs.
If you would like to share the name of someone to be remembered click here to send an email [Email address: memorialday #AT# njaneh.org - replace #AT# with @ ]. Please include the county and/or municipality.
To become involved or to find out more click here to send an email [Email address: memorialday #AT# njaneh.org - replace #AT# with @ ].