Sr. Mary Elizabeth began the Joseph House as a layperson in 1965.
The roots of the Joseph House are in the inner-city of Baltimore. This front-page story is from 1966.
A free Montessori school was one of the early projects. The Joseph House also had a prison program to help inmates transition back to society. Other ministries included a gift shop, tutoring, family counseling, and emergency social services for people in crisis.
Sr. Mary Elizabeth began the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary with Pat Guidera in 1974. They relocated to the Eastern Shore of Maryland shortly thereafter and continued the Joseph House ministry.
A house for a convent was purchased in Salisbury in 1978.
At first, the Little Sisters went out to visit people in the countryside, bringing food, clothing, and other necessities.
To better accommodate the needs of the poor, the Joseph House Crisis Center opened in 1984. It has a Financial Assistance program for emergencies, a Soup Kitchen, and a Food Pantry. This is how the Crisis Center looked when it opened. A Hospitality Room for the Homeless was added in 1998.
Volunteers are essential to every aspect of the Joseph House.
For many years, the Joseph House operated a book and gift store in Ocean City, Maryland. The store closed in 2011.
Joseph House Village opened in 1991 to provide transitional housing for low-income families.
In 2000, the Village became autonomous and was renamed The Village of Hope.
Around the same time, Mountaire Farms donated a warehouse to the Joseph House to be used in a project to help the homeless. In 2001, Dave Pogge, CEO of Mountaire, presented the deed to Sr. Mary Elizabeth. The property was developed into the Joseph House Workshop.
The Workshop opened in 2005. It gives homeless men a place to live for up to two years as they acquire the skills needed for employment and other personal goals.
Sr. Mary Elizabeth passed away on October 27, 2004. The example she left us will always be the guiding light of the Joseph House.
