Social services are any provided services intended to aid disadvantaged, distressed, or vulnerable persons or groups. These are services that no one thought they might need, but which thankfully have been provided for many years in Hamilton.
There are a few places in Hamilton that offer social services on an ongoing basis and offer support for people in need. The longest social services center in Hamilton is the John O. Wilson Hamilton Neighborhood Center, located on 169 Wilfred Ave.,off Cedar Lane.
“We look after the forgotten people.” Say Wilson Center’s director, Laurethea Kidd. “Yes there are forgotten people right here in Hamilton. The young, the single moms, the sick, the old and those with dementia. It is my life mission and in my make up to help them.”
The Wilson Center was a vision that originated from the late Rev. Dr. John O. Wilson, who wished to establish a program to assist children of low income families in Hamilton. The program began in the basement of St. Phillips Baptist Church on Parkinson Avenue in Hamilton.
The program became Mercer County Head Start of Hamilton. Head Start programs try to ensure the school readiness of infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children from low-income families.
Growing out of the St. Phillips church basement a new facility was built on Wilfred Avenue with federal Housing and Urban development funds and dedicated by then Mayor John Rafferty in 1978. The center was named after its founder, Rev. Wilson.
The mission of the Wilson Center is to strengthen individuals, support families and build thriving communities in Hamilton. Half of the Wilson Center facility is occupied by Gateway Head Start Mercer County and ushers in 85 pre-school age kids every weekday morning. This is one facet of the Center, which has six pre-school classrooms.
The other main focus of the Center is a food pantry, and homeless prevention services which can be rent and utility assistance. There are also many senior services such as administering the Mercer County Senior Nutrition Program, meaning hot meals at a much reduced price for our seniors.
Alongside the lunches there is a computer lab where those who need emailing, copying or printing are free to do so. There are also monthly Lunch-and-Learn meetings that provide lunch and discussion of finance, health, exercise and other topics.
Nestled in what is known as White City and built two blocks from the original center at St. Phillips Church, the Wilson Center is a mainstay of the neighborhood. Director Kidd puts her arms out in a hugging motion and says, “The neighbors and neighborhood embrace this center. They are participants, stakeholders, originators. They are happy that we are here.”
Kidd, who is originally from Linden, earned her bachelor’s degree in law and criminal justice from Rowan University and her master’s degree in public administration from Kean University in Union. She has been the director since 2018, and has seen the center’s budget increase by 70% since her start.
“We are getting the word out and we are helping people. The more requests and services we provide the more budget is needed and the more we can provide. The help is truly needed.”
With a staff of four, volunteers as needed, and a nine-person board of directors at the Wilson Center does a lot.
The Food Pantry, which is open Thursdays by appointment, provided food for more than 800 individual visits last year. The pantry provides both nonperishable foods and fresh produce boxes. The nonperishable being canned goods, cereal, and pasta. The produce boxes provided in season and as possible, provide fresh vegetables so sorely lacking for some families in need. There were also more than 300 Thanksgiving and Christmas meal boxes provided.
The volunteers who provide hands on assistance to the Center, Kidd says, include Women Who Move Mercer, a group of realtors from ReMax, The Eastern Stars from the Masonic Temple, and a group from the Bahai Faith Church. “We also get student volunteers from Hamilton High West. They are especially helpful with our bilingual needs, which are a lot,” Kidd says.
On the current board of directors are Dr. Joseph Woods, the pastor of Saint Phillips Baptist Church; Liz Campbell, who works in Human Resources as a talent development director; Dr. Michael Fox, with the New Jersey Chiropractic Company; Mercer County Commissioner Nina Melker; Louis Samuels, retired from the Trenton Board of Education; and Mittie White, a social worker from the Trenton Board of Education.
The liaison to the Hamilton Township Council and administration is council president Nancy Phillips.
“I think the Wilson Center does a wonderful job serving the residents of Hamilton,” Phillips says. “They have been essential especially during the pandemic in connecting our residents to rental assistance and food assistance. They are a great resource to our seniors for both nutrition and community activities. There are many ways Hamiltonians can help. Many local organizations already partner with the center but the more partnerships we can establish the better the community can be served.
“Our funding since the beginning is from town, county and the state. We have steady budget support and we fill a large need. We are consistently writing grants and actively seeking corporate and foundation sponsorship. We are looking to have fundraising events in the future. The pandemic has severely limited our fundraising at same time the people we serve have the same or more needs.
“We do have openings on our board for individuals with nonprofit skills and who can contribute to our vision and mission. We have actively begun advertising on social media and we are getting a steady uptick in response. What separates us is that we offer case management, which is really life management. Navigating these social services is not easy, we can assist people in their search to get what they need.”
Another critical need that the Wilson Center addresses is in Homelessness Prevention. Many families are one rent payment away from being homeless. Or they may be one utility payment short of having their heat or power turned off. The Wilson Center provides funding for emergency rent and utility assistance. In the space of one year a qualified applicant can be assisted on one rent payment and one utility monthly bill. This program assisted about 100 individuals and families in 2021.
Although very intermingled there are also youth services provided. Winter coat, hat and gloves giveaway, school backpack disbursal and YMCA Summer Camp at Sawmill tuition and transportation for some of the children are provided.
“We have a bus take the kids to Sawmill Camp for four weeks in the summer. They love it. As Sawmill does not provide lunches, we distribute supermarket gift cards to the families to help offset the bag lunch at camp costs. What most people don’t think about such as paying for a kid’s lunch, sadly may be a deal breaker for others.”
Though Covid has prevented gatherings, the Wilson Center has a large hall that seats 75. This, in normal times, is the lunch and multipurpose room. The center also provides meeting space for Narcotics Anonymous, Golden Agers of Hamilton, Phi Delta Kappa and Excellence through Education.
While the immediate neighborhood may be changing from long time African American population to Latino, the needs seem to remain the same. “Our clients are mostly female, with needs for children, rent and utility assistance. To many people not in need, it is hard to understand, in this job market, they say “Why don’t people just get a job?” Kidd says. “There are a multitude of reasons; language barrier, needs for childcare, and a lack of reliable transportation.
“We are trying to get the word out that we are here to help and it is working. Being tucked into the neighborhood is good and bad. We are immersed with people who need our help, but not always visible to the people outside the neighborhood who may need us.
”The Hamilton government has been so supportive form the beginning. There has always been a Councilperson on our board. The Mayor visits often. Along with the Hamilton Senior Center and the Bromley Center, we are the social services in town. They get it. There are needs in this town and we are doing are best to service them.”
When asked how the public can help Kidd responds, “Follow us on social media, see what we are doing. We obviously take monetary and food donations, but we need volunteers and wish to enlarge our services. We want to provide more hunger assistance, rent relief, utility assistance, youth and senior services. The Hamilton administration and government get it. These social services are needed. We need to take care of the forgotten people. This is our purpose, our mission.”
John O. Wilson Hamilton Neighborhood Center. 169 Wilfred Ave, Hamilton, NJ 08610. Phone: (609) 393-6480. Fax: (609) 393-1230. Email: info@jowilsoncenter.org. Web: facebook.com/JohnOWilsonCenter. Instagram: instagram.com/johnowilsoncenter.
Hamilton High School West football players volunteer at the John O. Wilson Hamilton Neighborhood Center.,
