Joseph’s House of Camden, a South Jersey homeless shelter committed to providing resources, social and housing services for those in need, on Wednesday said Colandra Coleman has been named executive director, effective April 10.
Coleman is responsible for managing the Joseph’s House staff of 25-30 through daily collaboration to oversee the facility’s day-to-day operations and core goal of serving guests. She will bolster and lead the organization’s development efforts, cultivating new funding sources and maintaining active involvement with existing donors. Coleman will plan and organize Joseph’s House operations and programs; develop and implement consistent financial cost accounting policies, procedures and reporting/metrics; and report all activity to the board, donors and stakeholders.
Coleman possesses over 12 years’ experience working with and leading nonprofits, the majority of which have been focused on helping those experiencing homelessness. She most recently served as the executive director of Ready, Willing & Able Philadelphia, a homeless and recovery shelter. Prior to that, she served as the executive director of Meeting Ground Inc., a homeless shelter in Elkton, Maryland.
Originally from the Philadelphia region, Coleman has an established track record of overseeing day-to-day facility management; implementing policies and procedures; engaging and developing colleagues and community leaders; and working strategically with donors and governments to grow the respective nonprofits.
Early on in life, Coleman knew she wanted to work in public and social services. Over the years, she has advocated for a number of causes that she is passionate about, as well as the organizations that strive to support them. This approach has taught her information about how nonprofits work and enabled her to identify homelessness as the social need she’d focus her career on.
“My primary goal as executive director of JHOC is to ensure our ability to provide a welcoming environment to as many people as possible who are in need of temporary shelter in the Camden and surrounding neighborhoods, and offer them services to transition into permanent housing,” Coleman said. “In order to achieve this objective, it will be necessary to maintain and grow our team, build and solidify relationships with new and existing partners, increase funding, seize new program opportunities and stay current with new trends in homelessness services. I’m excited to get started.”
