Janet Foy
Proponents of opening a year-round shelter in Peekskill had a purpose but needed support. 

Janet Foy, one of the drum majors for the idea, was at the forefront of the effort in the late 1980s to sway hesitant public officials and to convince churches and civic organizations to support the idea. 

“She would show up at town council meetings and speak to the issue; she would speak to people individually; she’d have lunch with somebody and talk about it,” Lynda Spring said. “She really garnered a lot of support in the community.” 

The campaign’s fruit was the opening of Jan Peek House in 1988.

The creation of Jan Peek and Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill over three decades ago is being remembered as local supporters of the shelter and CHHOP react to Foy’s death. The longtime Peekskill resident died of breast cancer on Feb. 23 in Danville, Vermont. 

Her death has highlighted a life filled with volunteering and activism of the behalf of homeless families and individuals, and others in need. 

Foy, a longtime family and marriage counselor in Peekskill, also organized a chaplain’s program at New York-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital; successfully lobbied the state Legislature to license family therapy to improve access to mental-health treatment; counseled missionaries returning to Mary Knoll Fathers and Brothers of Ossining; and counseled Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.
“She was a force,” said Spring, who joined CHHOP’s board a year after the shelter opened. “She was the spirit behind that shelter being located in Peekskill.” 

Foy was a board member of the Peekskill Area Pastor’ Association when a man living in a car during winter had to have a frostbitten leg amputated. Foy, PAPA members and others angered by the incident, and the lack of a shelter in northern Westchester, launched a campaign to open a shelter in Peekskill. 

Confronting them were some age-old prejudices, according to Spring. Some people believed the shelter would draw addicts and pedophiles. Others wanted to limit the shelter’s occupants to Peekskill residents. 

Foy’s public and one-to-one lobbying on behalf of the shelter, with the help of Graymoor and PAPA, quelled people’s fears, Spring said. Foy also recruited churches and other organizations and individuals to support the program after it opened, Spring said. 

“Janet encouraged people to come to the shelter and bring meals and volunteer and be supportive in any number of ways,” she said. 
The fruit of her efforts can be seen in the hundreds of formerly homeless men and women who have found new beginnings at Jan Peek, arriving broken and leaving for new permanent residences and new lives. 

Foy’s efforts are also reflected in Caring for the Hungry and Homeless’ expanded services. What began as a refuge from the cold now includes programs for veterans and domestic violence victims, and a food pantry whose volunteers distribute meals for roughly 400 people each Saturday.  

“Janet represents a life well-lived,” said Cynthia Knox, CEO and president for CHHOP. “Our existence is rooted in her efforts, and so are the successes of everyone who has gone on to better things after arriving at Jan Peek House.” 

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