Our Mission Statement

To empower homeless families and individuals to recover from crisis situations and return to being self-supporting, productive, and independent members of our community.

To accomplish this we:

1. Provide free crisis housing for families and individuals
2. Operate affordable preschool for at-risk four-year-olds and an after-school program for at-risk school aged children
3. Offer free adult classes in GED preparedness, debt reduction and budgeting
4. Provide referrals to drug/alcohol rehabilitation programs focusing on mental, physical, and spiritual health
5. Provide employment assistance and on-the-job training
6. Provide legal assistance
7. Move recovered families and individuals into affordable housing to live independently
8. Serve a free, healthy meal once a day all year round for our residents and for any of our neighbors in need.

The JCOC staff. Check out the JCOC Family page for individual staff bios

We focus on three areas in our approach to homelessness:

Prevention: Feeding the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless a free, wholesome meal once a day year-round. This allows those who are not homeless to save on food expenses, therefore helping them to keep from becoming homeless; it also allows those who are homeless access to good food.

Crisis Management: Providing shelter for those in crisis who wish to change their homeless lifestyle and become productive citizens.

Empowerment: Providing vocational, educational, nutrition and life skills to help prepare families and individuals to improve their income-producing skills and achieve greater self-sufficiency so they can live independently.  

Community Partner

In addition to our housing program, one of our objectives is to be a good community partner. We are dedicated to feeding the indigent a good wholesome meal once a day. This allows those who are low income, but not homeless to save on food expenses, thus helping them to avoid becoming homeless. Our Dining Hall serves more than 35,000 meals annually to both non-residents and residents at a cost of approximately $2.00 per meal. Meals are prepared for and served to the homeless and hungry every weekday evening at 6 PM and every Saturday and Sunday at 3 PM. Each mealtime, one of our more than 100 volunteer member churches and organizations prepares and serves the food. They take great pride in their food preparation, preparing meals with as much care as they would at home for their loved ones.