Tom O’Leary is the Founding Executive Director of the Samaritan Homeless Interim Program (SHIP). He has been an active advocate for the homeless, persons in recovery from addictions and persons with HIV/AIDS at the local, state and national levels, since 1978. He brings to the field the first-hand practical wisdom that he has gained through both personal and professional experience.
Tom and his family became homeless in 1981. They lived in the back of their 1970 Chevy pick-up truck. Tom and his wife both lost their jobs because of federal budget cuts in funding to the programs where they worked. He was an Alcoholism Counselor and she was a provider of childcare services. It would be six months before they were able to save enough money to rent a home in Somerset County . The struggle to regain self-sufficiency and the experiences that accompanied it proved to be valuable tools in his striving to assist others who experienced the same torments. Tom and his wife were divorced in 1992.
CEO & Executive Director, Tom O’Leary
In 1983, Tom started working as a Youth Counselor in Somerset County while continuing his efforts to become a Certified Alcoholism Counselor (CAC). He completed this in 1984 and has since upgraded his certifications to include International Certified Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (ICADC), Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor (CCDC), Master Addictions Counselor Endorsement (MACe) and Certified Criminal Justice Specialist (CCJS).
Tom joined a group of advocates who were attempting to open a shelter for homeless men in Paterson , New Jersey . He became the founding Executive Director of Saint Paul ’s Ecumenical Shelter for inner-city men. Within a few months he worked with others to create Eva’s Shelter, the first homeless shelter for women in Paterson and served as founding Executive Director. At that period of time his programs operated 10% of all homeless beds available in the state.
He is a founder of SHIP, and has served as its Executive Director since 1984. He develops, organizes and implements SHIP’s programs. He has freely shared his experience with other organizations seeking to establish programs for the hungry and homeless in our region, state and nation. He volunteers and serves on numerous committees and sub-committees throughout the county and state in his efforts to secure better and more humane services for the less fortunate among us.
Holiday Meals Volunteer Information:
- Each Holiday Meal requires 60 volunteers
- Volunteers must register in advance to participate
- Volunteers are scheduled to begin service at 11:00am and be ready to depart by 2:30pm
- The Holiday Meals are served at the United Reformed Church, 100 West Main Street, in Somerville.
Serving the community since 1984
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Safe Harbor - Port of Refuge
Emergency Housing
Substance Abuse
Anti-Hunger Programs
Outreach Programs
About SHIP
At SHIP we create programs and services that increase the Somerset County and surrounding regions capacity to respond to the needs of the poor and working poor.
Since March 5, 1984 We have served over 150,000 people.
Community Service Projects
Medical Services
