Roxborough Resident Helps Homeless Get Back on Their Feet

Every day Roxborough resident Elizabeth Stamm rides an elevator to her office, and as the doors open she is greeted by children hugging her knees, asking to be picked up or vying for her attention.

For maybe only a few weeks of their entire lives these children will know Stamm, but for those few weeks she is one of the people who help give them what they don’t have—a home.

As Emergency Housing Director at the Salvation Army’s Norristown Family Residence, Stamm oversees the temporary housing of seven families at one time.

The six-week program (which can be extended as long as three months) offers families, mostly single mothers, with children an opportunity to live in a safe place while parents improve their job-seeking, parenting and life skills.

Eighty percent of the adults are women, and many come from domestic violence. Eviction is another way that people find themselves in need of the service.

While the Norristown Family Residence may be a shelter, it is much more than that. Residents must each do two assigned chores a day; parents spend their days working on their budgets, looking for jobs and confronting their emotional issues and life choices.

It’s not just a place to stay. “It’s a commitment they are making,” said Stamm.

The Genesis

Stamm is relatively new at the job. The 1997 alumna studied human rights and immigration and has worked in fair housing.

“Working in fair housing, I got a better understanding what happens when people get sick and how fast they can lose everything in their life,” she said.

What’s more, this position echoes a place she was in her early twenties when her father found himself homeless and she and her brother became advocates for him.

He was educated and had resources, and yet he was in and out of homeless shelters for at least six years before they finally got him settled.

“People who don’t have that advocate for them fall through the cracks really fast,” Stamm said.

So Stamm and the staff of the Norristown Family Residence work to give their families “the best shot at success that we can give them.”

And there are success stories. There are some days when Stamm goes home really excited for some of her clients. And there are the harder days when they have to ask someone to leave, the days when she asks herself, “Are we doing enough? What else can we do?”

“At the end of the day, my heart goes out to every single person here,” she said.

How to help

The Salvation Army’s Norristown Residence provides a room with beds, three meals a day and toiletries and other essentials when their clients first arrive.

The organization gets donations from a variety of groups and also participates in Philabundance. But there’s always a need for more.

Most importantly, fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to come by, Stamm said. And if they can pack an apple in their clients’ brown bag lunches instead of a fruit cup, they prefer to do that.

They also need white sliced bread, white-colored single sheet sets and bath towels; toiletries, diapers, slippers and toothbrushes, for example.

“We’re always in need of everything,” Stamm said.

To donate, contact Stamm by calling (610) 275-4183 x. 211 or email Elizabeth.Stamm@use.salvationarmy.org.

Most important

Stamm now lives in Roxborough with her fiancé Dan. Both are long-distance triathletes and outdoor sporting enthusiasts.

“One of the best things about Philly is the outdoor sports culture," she said. It’s no coincidence that the couple lives where they do, right in between Wissahickon Valley Park and the Schuylkill River Trail.

Stamm earned her M.A. in Latin American studies at University of Chicago. She studied Spanish and Latin American studies at Temple University.  

She said her job as emergency housing director is the perfect combination of her interests and experiences.  

Most important, , she loves what she does.