Saint Peter's College

One of the
teams of Saint
Peter’s faculty and
students working
with local social
service agencies.
Through a grant from the
William E. Simon
Foundation, Saint Peter’s
lends a hand to Jersey
City’s neediest.
Early one January morning as the
sun was just coming up over the
horizon, Saint Peter’s College senior
Timothy Sacerdote was already at
work. Bundled up against the 10degree
cold gripping the Northeast,
Sacerdote set out for a three-hour
trek through some of Jersey City’s
grittiest neighborhoods. His mission:
to join a team of Saint Peter’s
students and faculty members counting
the local homeless population.
In their travels along Route 440
and Society Hill, through Lincoln
Park and the Journal Square PATH
station, down West Side Avenue and
around Society Hill, they found just
one person, a woman begging for
change.
“She said she wasn’t homeless, so
I have to take her word for it,” said
Sacerdote, a Sociology major who
noted that many
homeless people
that night sought
relief from the cold
in shelters. “But she
was asking for
change from people.”
Other teams of
Saint Peter’s students
ventured forth other nights to
complete the count, which was conducted
for the Hudson-Bergen
Chapter of the United Way and the
federal Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
Developing an accurate count is
crucial to agencies like the United
17
Way, since funding for programs to
assist the homeless is based on the
total number of homeless people in
the area.
“It’s really important because the
better number they get, the more
accurate the funding they receive
from the government,” said Sacerdote,
a Connecticut native who plans on
pursuing a career in social work after
earning his master’s degree.
Bundled up against the 10-degree cold,
Timothy Sacerdote set out for a three-hour
trek through Jersey City’s grittiest
neighborhoods. His mission: join a team of
Saint Peter’s students and faculty members
counting the homeless population.
Funded by a grant from the
William E. Simon Foundation, the
work of the Saint Peter’s team was
one of several projects designed to
provide crucial assistance to local
social service agencies assisting some
of society’s most vulnerable people
Saint Peter’s College Magazine