What does this building look like to you? An old firehouse.
What does this building look like to me? Dad's House -- FACE's shelter for men and children.
It would have a supervised parenting time (visitation) room and a neutral parenting time drop-off facility downstairs where the fire trucks once were, temporary emergency living accommodations with a communal dining/community room upstairs where the firefighters once slept, a mediation/counseling facility and FACE's headquarters office in the rear where there are now underused fire department offices, and a large parking area across the street where the volunteers once parked their cars.
This is the Good Intent fire station, at the corner of Garden and Buttonwood Streets in Mount Holly. A news article about three years ago reported that Mount Holly was decommissioning it, and it's equipment and personnel were being transferred to other nearby more modern facilities. FACE made initial inquiries then, but Mount Holly was not inclined to welcome any more shelters or nonprofits into the community.
Is Dad's House needed? Parents are ordered to have supervised parenting time with their children, but court supervision is only available during business hours when the courthouse is open and when the parents also have to work. Other parents need a safe place where children can be exchanged for parenting time, but doing this at a police station has a negative impact on the children and the parent-child relationship. Women commit at least fifty percent of the acts defined in New Jersey's laws as domestic abuse, but there are no abused men's shelters in New Jersey. The largest demographic groups of abused children are those that either live only with their mothers, or with their mothers and the mothers' boyfriends, yet there are no emergency living facilities for fathers and children. Men are ejected from their homes every day on false or questionable accusations of domestic violence, but they have nowhere to go. Dad's House would address all of these problems.
In preliminary inquiries during a recent trip to Mount Holly, I found that this building is now being used only as storage for one fire truck and one ambulance. It was never really fully "decommissioned." Their plan is that, if there is a very large fire, personnel will be dispatched from another fire station a quarter mile away to get this truck. The ambulance can't be used for an emergency because the fire truck would first have to be moved out of the way. This equipment hasn't been used for any emergencies in years. It could be used more efficiently if it were located at or nearer to another fire station.
FACE wants this building. It is in good condition. The present floor plan will make it easy to convert to our purposes. It is located in a residential neighborhood of mostly large middle-class homes, with schools and shopping within walking distance. It is two blocks from the Burlington County Courthouse, and an easy drive to the county courthouses in Camden (west on Route 38), Mercer (north on I-295), Gloucester (south on I-295), and Monmouth (east on Route 537).
How do we get it? That's where you come in.
First, we need FACE members and supporters in Burlington County, and particularly in and near Mount Holly, to contact their elected officials and let them know of the need for Dad's House, and that FACE is in a position to develop this facility. We'll help you with who to contact and what to propose to them.
Second, we need volunteers to help renovate the building. Among FACE members, there are carpenters, electricians, plumbers, HVAC mechanics, roofers, home remodelers, and all the other skills that will be needed. We can also use our business contacts to get materials donated and get the work done for which we don't have the skills.
Third, we need people to write grant applications and help us get corporate sponsorships. The New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts has received "access and visitation" grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Child Support Enforcement, but there are no neutral programs in New Jersey for them to fund. Corporate philanthropic programs have lots of money for "politically correct" women's shelters, but there are no programs for men and children. By donating to Dad's House, they will demonstrate that they do not discriminate based on gender. If you have grant-writing experience or are an employee or stockholder of a major corporation, we need you.
And last, we need people who will volunteer their time to help us operate Dad's House. FACE members already informally provide training in parenting skills. Some FACE members are already qualified as mediators. FACE members already assist parents in how to prove their case in court. We will need all of these people to staff Dad's House, plus parenting time supervisors, exchange monitors, cooks, housekeepers, and round-the-clock "house fathers."
Once we have all of these people in place, we will be able to show Mount Holly officials and funding providers that we will be able to operate Dad's House as we propose to.
What will you do? Let FACE know by calling 856-786-FACE, or emailing info@facenj.org.
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