Stories

Meet Janaye Sims, Program Director at Eleanor Corbett House (ECH). As one of VOADV's three family shelters, ECH is the home to multiple school-aged children. Through Ms. Sims dedication to her clients and the support of Operation Backpack, these students are ready for the school year ahead.

Operation Backpack collects school supplies for students of all ages that are then put together grade-specific kits so that these students can focus on their education, and not their pencils. Operation Backpack is the bridge between the work our case managers do in helping their clients navigate the educational system and the tools these clients need to achieve success once they’re there.

Learn more about a unique partnership between VOADV's Regan Center and the Camden County Sustainability Building. With the support of the county's sustainability program, our clients are learning about gardening, food composting and planting important seeds for the future.

Some of our Hope Hall residents are developing their skills and setting themselves up for success through Cathedral Kitchen's Culinary Employment Training Course.

Meet Kaitlyn Friess, the Regional Director of Safe Return/Navigator for the Tri-County region, which encompasses Gloucester, Cumberland, and Salem Counties.

We are honored to have hosted Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta for part of his visit to New Jersey to meet with public health providers and learn about our work in reentry and addiction treatment.

The work we do at VOADV would not be possible without the support and generosity of our community partners. Some of our longest standing support comes from People For The Poor, a South Jersey based charity that raises money for local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Meet Nilda Natal - a valued member of the VOADV team since 2018 and the Director of Substance Abuse Counseling at our outpatient Addiction Treatment Program. Read her story to learn more about how she overcame her own struggles with addiction to now helping others on their own journey everyday.

Meet Jared Bard – a veteran Air Force air traffic controller of 8 years, a father, an electrician in training and a resident at our Home For The Brave shelter who has turned his life around and is working hard towards a successful, independent future.

The clients at our Aletha R. Wright “Vision of Hope” Center have a lot to think about – finding employment, obtaining identification and more. Their physical health can often be an afterthought. However, D’Yani Kelly, the facility’s Community Health Worker, and Nichole Phillips, the Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, are there to make sure that is not the case.