St. Matthew’s House

Specialties

St. Matthew’s House is a part of recovery, not a permanent place to live.

Our goal is to prepare each person to leave St. Matthew’s House equipped to transition from a homeless and hurting lifestyle to self-​sufficiency.

Our services include Emergency/​Transitional Housing, a Feeding Ministry, and drug and alcohol rehab program known as Justin’s Place Recovery Program for men, women, and women with children.

Clientele meet weekly with a case manager to set goals and a plan of action. They also must attend daily meetings seven days a week to assist them on their road to self-​sufficiency.

History

Established in 1986.

Late 1980’s:

Naples is a sleepy town on the idyllic Florida southwest coast. Mostly retirees and locals make up the population. Underneath the picturesque vista, however, is a forgotten group of homeless people. Desperate and starving, they have no hope until the day a group of parishioners study the book of Matthew in the Bible, where Jesus explains to his disciples about how taking care of the needy is as important, if not more so, than taking care of Him.

November 15^th, 1988:

Within a few days of this Bible study, an article appears in the Naples Daily News about the homeless population living in the woods. The scripture fresh in their minds, the parishioners, dubbing themselves, «The Task Force for the Homeless», begin taking soup out to these forgotten souls. The first Thanksgiving Day meal is served to the homeless and hungry a couple weeks later.

Meet the Manager

Vann E.

Manager

Vann R. Ellison is President and CEO of St. Matthew’s House. He is responsible for the successful operations of all of St. Matthew’s House efforts including Programs and Ministries, Fundraising and Development, Business and Organization Practices, Budgets, Capital and Asset Protection and Board Liaison. Mr. Ellison leads the organization in meeting the annual goals and objectives as approved by the Chairman and the Board of Directors.

Immediately prior to St. Matthew’s House, Mr. Ellison’s Naples experience includes Senior Chaplain at the Collier County Sheriff’s Office; Director of Marketing, ManorCare; Executive Director, The Assembly Center, First Assembly of God; and Program Director at The Willough at Naples. Before coming to Naples, Mr. Ellison

was Director of The Willough at Huntsville; Counselor and Assistant Director of Outpatient Care at Palmview HMA Hospital in Lakeland and Youth Pastor at Mt. Zion Assembly of God Church in Plant City.