Thieves ransack NJ shelter for homeless families

GLASSBORO, N.J. (WPVI) -- Thieves ransacked a shelter in South Jersey that helps families in need.

Overnight they broke into the Family Promise Day Center on Ellis Street in Glassboro.

Right now, the renovated home serves as home base during the day for four homeless families with young children.

At night, they sleep in area churches.

On Wednesday morning, the families arrived first and found the place had been ransacked.

"It was scary. It's not a place where you think something like that would happen," homeless shelter resident Erin Springer said.

The staff arrived next and saw items strewn everywhere, personal belongings pulled from dresser drawers.

A white dusty substance from a fire extinguisher covered the surfaces on the second floor.

"They took it off the wall and spayed the whole upstairs," executive director Victoria Peters said.

Then, they found a computer broken, a bible damaged, and belongings stolen including cash saved for an apartment and things that meant so much to these kids.

"He took some of our movies and my brother's backpack was gone and his money was in it for his book fair," young resident Shea Killian said.

"You're not coming here with a lot in the first place so for someone to come and take that, it's despicable," board president Rosemarie Parker said.

Today, they changed the locks and called the police.

They are hoping police find whoever took what little these families had as they do all they can to get back on their feet.

"Hopefully, they do catch them," Peters said.

Family Promise is taking donations to help these families. You can bring items to their location on Ellis Street or make a monetary donation on their website.

LINK: http://www.familypromisegc.org/