March 12, 2025 at 9:51 a.m.
A SAFE PLACE
It’s no secret when Chuck walks into the room.
Standing around 6 feet tall, with a booming voice and joyous laugh, Chuck makes his way to the back room where Sister Peggy Hoerburger, CSJ, hops up from her rocking chair. A giddy grin on his face, he turns to the table of guests sipping coffee and says, “Watch this.”
Sister Peggy and Chuck roll their hands in a circle, performing a synchronized handshake the two came up with when Chuck started coming to St. Joseph’s Place in Schenectady. The special shake always ends in a hug, him bending down to meet her, and the two laughing when they pull away.
Across the room, John, another regular of St. Joseph’s Place, is filling up his coffee cup from the back counter. Natalie Diaz pulls out her phone and calls over to Sister Cathy Kruegler, CSJ, pulling up photos of her kids. “I’ve been meaning to show you these,” she says, zooming in on her son, the littlest, who is trying to turn around in his chair. “He’s trouble.”
The front room is packed with guests, everyone chatting and eating cookies, maybe dropping the occasional coin in the swear jar that sits in the center of the table. It’s a busy Friday morning and that is nothing out of the ordinary.
Since 2014, St. Joseph’s Place has been a haven for Schenectady residents. Open four days a week from 9 a.m.-12 p.m., the center is open to anyone in need, offering food and coffee, a bathroom, and a place to sit inside. Deeper than that, the drop-in center is a place of friendship and guidance, led by the pillars of the place: the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Sister Linda Neil, CSJ, practices her signature handshake with center guest Chuck, who also has a special handshake with Sister Peggy Hoerburger, CSJ. (Emily Benson photo)
“Hospitality is at the core of St. Joseph’s Place,” said Sister Peggy. “To be here to listen and have people feel like they’re cared for and valued.”
“My kids start at 3 a.m., and I got the dogs. I gotta take the dogs out, feed the kids; my routine is crazy,” Diaz said. “So this helps me because I get to come here and get coffee or crackers and rejuvenate and then go back to do what I have to do for them. It does help me and it gives me a break before I start my full morning with the kids.”
Thanks to the sisters, St. Joseph’s Place has grown into a popular stopping spot on Hamilton Hill, the section of Schenectady plagued by food and housing insecurity and substance abuse.
On average, the center sees between 30-to-40 guests daily.
“I think it’s rare we don’t have at least 20-to-25,” said Sister Peggy.
Some guests are homeless; others are struggling from the hard economic times. Some are in drug treatment; others are still high. There’s no intense vetting process for who can and cannot come in. As long as you’re not combative, you’re welcome inside.
Sister Linda Neil, CSJ, and Sister Cathy are co-directors of the center and a huge draw for regulars. The sisters sit with guests as they come in and ask them about their week, their lives. Every guest of the center has to sign in, but there are seldom people the women don’t know by name.
“Some are new faces and some have been coming for 10 years,” said Sister Cathy.
The center shares building space with the Sycamore Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that runs a large food pantry and supports other faith-based organizations to combat food insecurity and improve the health of local residents.
Aldo R. Juarez-Romero, the deputy director and COO of Sycamore Collaborative, said the sisters are well respected by guests. It’s something earned, and the mission of helping locals wouldn’t be effective without it.
“This is a safe space where people can engage with each other and engage with the sisters, but they’re very good at managing difficult situations,” said Juarez-Romero. “Every once in a while, there might be someone who steps out of line a little bit, and they are very good at handling that. They have the authority to tell people to cool down.”
The late Father Michael Hogan, then pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Schenectady, was inspired to create a Catholic presence on Hamilton Hill after Sacred Heart-St. Columba’s Church — a few blocks from the center — closed in 2008. He recruited Sister Linda and Sister Ann Christi Brink, CSJ, to open a place where Catholics could serve the needs of the community.
Before opening, the sisters went around to local food pantries and shelters, volunteering and talking with leaders about what gaps they could help fill.
“They were told we can provide services for people, but we don’t have time to listen to them,” said Sister Peggy.
It’s why hospitality is at the core of the center: being an ear to listen to or a place to sit somewhere warm is sometimes seldom found.
Sister Cathy said she is moved daily by some of the stories she hears from guests.
“Some mornings, we come before 8:30 a.m., and there are people lined up with their blankets wrapped around their shoulders from the nighttime, and we let them in early, but they’ve been on the streets all night,” she said.
Sister Cathy Kruegler, CSJ, holds a memorial sign for her uncle, who is part of a display on the center’s chapel wall. (Emily Benson photo)
In the back of the center is a small chapel space where guests can sit quietly or pray. The chapel’s corner holds a memorial wall of friends and family who have passed away, a chance for regulars — or even the sisters — to visit loved ones.
Sister Ann, who died in 2023, is on the wall. Chuck’s mom, who he stops in to visit when he can, is also there. Some guests on the memorial never got sober from drug or alcohol abuse, but a number of photos are of friends, family or guests who passed from health problems.
“When you live in a neighborhood like ours all your life, you are bound to get something,” said Sister Linda. “The environmental impact on folks — moldy places, chemicals, all that stuff — it impacts your health, especially if you don’t get good health care.”
A few years ago, Sycamore Collaborative started bringing in staff from Ellis Medicine every Friday so guests could get free checkups. Sister Linda, who gets her blood pressure taken by Ellis every Friday, said it’s another way the neighborhood helps each other out.
“Not just the Catholic churches but St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church comes in once a month with sandwiches. St. Kateri (Tekakwitha Church), they’re really good supporters and come in once a month with sandwiches.”
At its heart, St. Joseph’s Church is the main support of the center, which pays the rent and utilities of the place: “This work is Gospel work, and it wouldn’t be happening without St. Joseph’s people … the people are sacrificing big time to keep the doors open,” said Sister Cathy.
Toward the end of the day, the sisters start rounding up coffee cups and tidying things as they prepare to close. As he heads to leave, Chuck turns and yells to Sister Peggy, “Love you later.”
He never liked saying goodbyes, Sister Peggy explained, so Chuck came up with a better farewell. “We don’t say goodbye,” she said. “We say, ‘Love you later.’ ”
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