Joseph's House providing a hand up to the homeless

CAMDEN, N.J. (WTXF) - Joseph's house is not about changing someone's life for a day, it's about celebrating what happens when you can change an entire life story.

That is what people like Jeffrey Grant know firsthand being a product of the touching influence of the people at the Joseph house.

"Starting the path through the process to get to my own place, which is a profound thing when you've been homeless," said Grant.

A free meal, fellowship and a cot to rest on aren't unusual at Joseph's house in Camden but on this day at a celebration, people weren't just there to eat. Many were there as inspirational stories of people like Daryl Thomas, who climbed out of homelessness, to those still in it.

"I lost my house once the business closed and then I tried to live off the credit cards once the credit cards were exhausted it was over and I ended up at Joseph's house," said Thomas.

Thomas shared that he lost everything when a change in the law made his bail bonds business obsolete.

"I use to have rental properties too and I saw some of the people I use to rent to here in the shelter and they're looking at me like what in the world are you doing here in the shelter," he said.

Jeffrey Grant or Pops, as they call him, is another one who came back to share his story of like many looking down on the homeless until he was one of them.

"When you're in the middle income, upper middle, it's hard not to look down on people like that when you have no idea the how, when or why that got them there," said Grant.

Sponsors served food, students came to support and the people at Joseph's house hammered home the message that they are not only offering a meal and a cot, they offer resources and sometimes tough guidance to help people get back on their feet.

John Klein of Joseph's House says that the process can be tough but it's borne out of love and respect.

"I wouldn't say its tough love but its honesty, its candor, its real issues," said Klien.

It is because of the brutal honesty that keeps the people in Joseph's House motivated. People like Klein do it because it produces results.

"I'm back on my feet and the Lord has blessed me to be able to help other people and to be able to realize that this was just a chapter in my life, it wasn't the book," said Thomas.

Joseph's House gave them a hand up and so they came back and extended the same hand to others who may need it, for goodness sake.

For more info on Joseph's House, visit their website.