Former Methodist church campus becomes central home for county health and human services programs
SHARPTOWN — Standing in the shade of a building that generations of Sharptown residents once knew as their church’s fellowship hall, Salem County officials, staff and seniors gathered Wednesday morning to cut the ribbon on the new Salem County Senior Center.
The facility, on the grounds of the former Sharptown United Methodist Church, gives the county Department of Health and Human Services a central location for programs that had been scattered across multiple sites. Commissioner Director Ben Laury called it a center for everyone “from Pennsville to Elmer,” and said it will serve not only as a senior center but as a community center for county events and elections.
“This building is for you,” Health and Human Services Director June Sieber told the crowd.
A vision since 2020
Sieber, who took over as director in 2020, said one of her first goals was to find a place where the department could bring its programs together under one roof.
The building will host CPR, first aid and ServSafe training, blood pressure screenings, vaccinations and mental health resources, she said. Through the Office on Aging and Disabilities, the county’s congregate nutrition program currently serves balanced meals to approximately 250 seniors and individuals with disabilities — a program that now has a permanent home in the center’s event hall, where Wednesday’s August luncheon followed the ceremony.
Sieber said the work isn’t finished. A trailer behind the building is slated to become a nursing, vaccination and clinic space, and a new LED sign will be installed in the coming weeks.
She thanked past and present county commissioners for “backing me on every wild goose chase I take them on,” along with the New Jersey Departments of Health and Human Services, the county maintenance team, sheriff’s department, road department and community partners. She reserved her warmest words for her staff, her family and her late father, who was with her when the project began.
“I wish more than anything he could be here today to see this building,” she said. “But I know he’s looking down, and I know he’s extremely proud.”
From open field to church to county center
The site carries a long local history. Surrogate Dr. Mickey Ostrum, a former commissioner who helped shepherd the purchase, recalled when the property was an open field and the church’s social hall sat on the next street. The pastor at the time, Jack Hamilton, struck a deal with neighborhood kids: show up for Sunday school and he’d play football with them on Saturdays.
Ostrum said that in his three terms as commissioner, the project “ranks as the proudest contribution this board has made” to the well-being of county residents.
Laury said the county had earlier pursued a senior center site between the hospital and Salem, but that plan fell through. When the Methodist conference closed the Sharptown congregation the building became available. The deal went through “peaks and valleys,” Laury said, with the county signing as quickly as it could once the sale was finalized.
Assemblyman Dave Bailey Jr., whose family has ties to the church, said he remembers Saturday morning phone calls with Ostrum and church contacts in the early stages of the conversation. “Some would say this is holy ground,” Bailey said, adding that the building is now being “repurposed for new ways of impacting our community.”
Speaking on behalf of Sen. John Burzichelli and Assemblywoman Heather Simmons, Bailey presented Sieber with a citation from the Third Legislative District commemorating the opening.
‘Seniors deserve a space this beautiful’
Commissioner Paul Collier, chair of the board’s health and human services committee, said the center reflects the county’s commitment to the health and connection of every resident. He credited Sieber’s team, county maintenance staff and contractors for the transformation, noting that the department “solves problems for the county before anyone even realizes there was a problem.”
Commissioners Paul Collier, Ed Ramsay and Deputy Director Cordy Taylor also attended.
After the ribbon cutting — performed by Sieber alongside Office on Aging and Disabilities Director Victoria Maurizio and planner April Friant — guests toured the building, which includes a commercial kitchen, a large event room, gymnasium, nursing space, activity rooms and a planned library. Each Health and Human Services division staffed an information table, from public health nursing screenings to NJSave benefits counseling and CPR certification.
Staff said the indoor space will also let the department’s weekly walking program continue through winter and summer heat.
“This center represents exactly what we believe our seniors deserve,” Sieber said. “To live healthy, active lives, to remain independent for as long as possible, and most importantly, to have a place where they can come together, socialize, learn and feel connected.”
