Millville anti-hunger center grows from pandemic aid to daily meals
Trinity First Hope Center now serves 80 full-course meals a day, up from a dozen people who came for water and PB&J in 2020. Its growth reflects rising hunger and housing strain in Millville.
A dozen people once stopped by Trinity First Hope Center in Millville for bottled water and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Six years later, the South Second Street ministry was serving full-course meals to 80 people every day, a sign that the need that surged during COVID never really went away.
What began in 2020 as a fast response to pandemic disruption has become a larger anti-hunger and support hub for Cumberland County residents facing food insecurity, homelessness, addiction and job instability. Trinity First Hope Center says it received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status after opening, and it now operates as a mission of First United Methodist Church in Millville, with support from other churches and denominations in and around the community.
Donna Stiles, who leads the center, said the work grew out of the crisis that hit poor and unhoused residents especially hard when businesses closed and daily routines disappeared. That early emergency has evolved into a steady stream of need. The center’s own service model now reaches beyond meals, with volunteers working alongside Rutgers University, Veterans Affairs, Oaks Integrated Care and other partners to provide clothing, workforce training, counseling, addiction-recovery support and mail handling.
The center’s footprint also reflects how local institutions are trying to fill gaps that people cannot manage on their own. Oaks Integrated Care provides mental health, addiction and developmental-disability services across New Jersey, while Rutgers Health has programs focused on integrated care and substance-use treatment. At Trinity First Hope, those partnerships are being used to connect guests to practical help while keeping the food line moving.
The broader pressure behind that growth is clear in the numbers. Community FoodBank of New Jersey says nearly 1 million people in New Jersey are food insecure, and Feeding America’s county-level data shows Cumberland County has the state’s highest food insecurity rate at 13.1 percent. In that context, Trinity First Hope has become more than a place to eat. It is part of the county’s emergency support system.
The center is listed at 100 S. 2nd St. in Millville and, under NJ 211, is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a main phone number of 856-825-0076. In 2022, Stiles said a shower program there would be “life changing” for homeless guests, a description that now fits the center’s broader mission as well: meeting immediate needs while treating every guest as a person with a name and a story.
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