Alyssa Ki | The Jersey Journal

Men at Downtown Jersey City?s Franciska Residence, a transitional home for homeless men with HIV, find a caring place to put their lives back together as they hope one day of having a home again.

?When I was a lot younger I used to (do) burglaries and drugs and crack,? said Jose, 51, who didn't give his last name. ?It was one of those things where you would chase it. I lied to get money ... go to churches and make up stories saying there was no milk for the baby, whatever.

"Through the years I been getting locked, up getting locked up, in an out. I spend about nine years in prison.?

The Franciska Residence is one of four housing services associated with St. Lucy's Shelter in Jersey City that is funded and operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark. The others are St. Jude's Oasis, Canaan House and the Hope House.

An annual count of the homeless in January reported that the total in Hudson County is just over 800, but some homeless advocates say the number could be anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000.

Jose didn't get here, or homeless, on purpose. He says his mom was an alcoholic and abusive. She was 38 when she died. Jose had a father, but the man was certainly not a "dad," he says. Jose was put in a foster home while his father lived with another woman and her children.

More