55 Years of DPD

The Department for Persons with Disabilities
Providing Help and Creating Hope for 55 Years
 

 

 

An Interview with our Founder

 

55 years ago, Father Jack Wehrlen was appointed as the Director of   Special Education in the Diocese of Paterson and our Department was founded. Monsignor Wehrlen is a true pioneer and the “Father” of DPD. 
 
Tell us a little about your early life, what motivated you to become a priest?
At an early age, I was driven towards priesthood.  My grandmother’s brother was a priest and a great influence in my life. I had a very typical childhood. I went to St. Joseph’s Grammar School and St. Peter’s Prep High School in Jersey City.  The sisters and clergy there were very supportive and also helped prepare me for a life dedicated to the church.
 
You were in your early 30’s when you were appointed Executive Director of DPD (then known as the Department of Special Education).  What led you to want to help those with disabilities?
Quite simply, no one was doing anything for them.  The Catholic Church should always be there to help the most vulnerable in our society. Our Church, should be an all-inclusive church.  It all began very innocently.  Our earliest program was a nursery school in Paterson filling the gap in services for 3 and 4 year olds with developmental disabilities prior to NJ mandating public school education young children with special needs.  It was called Gruenert Nursery in honor of William Paterson University special ed professor Marietta Gruenert, who was one of my professors at the time.  Later we started a catechetical program for children with special needs at St. Phillips Church in Clifton where I was stationed at the time. 
 
Were there any families or individuals from your parish who were instrumental in those early days? 
Yes, actually one of the most defining moments in my life and the one that really motivated me to jumpstart the Department occurred in the early 1960’s.   I was stationed at St. Phillip’s from 1959-1967, though it seems like just yesterday.  One evening, I heard a knock at the back door of the rectory and to my surprise it was a detective from the Clifton Police Department.  He said “we need a priest.”  The officer didn't give me any details and I had no clue what it was about.   I soon found out that a tragedy occurred that we may have been able to prevent.
 
One of our parishioners, Lucia, had a young son with a neurological impairment. She didn't have any help with taking care of him and there were no services offered back then.  She was a single mother of three, whose husband had left her to fend for herself emotionally and financially.  She felt alone, overwhelmed and isolated.  Her third young child, an infant at the time, was also believed to have a developmental disability.  That evening, she put her three children in her Volvo Sedan, put a vacuum cleaner hose through the tailpipe and the other end into the backseat of her car, and took the lives of herself and her three children. That was a very poignant wake up call for me.  Many of the young parents of children with disabilities needed support and the church was just not giving it to them.  Lucia’s story motivated me to do more for those in need. 

After Lucia, how did you formally institute the Department?   How did you help it grow into what it is today?
One day out of the blue, I received a letter from Bishop Navagh appointing me head of the Department of Special Education.  I called him and said “what do I do?”  He simply responded by saying “help the disabled,” so I did.  I suppose that he heard of the catechetical program, but I never advertised it or sought publicity.  I am glad that he also saw the need for more services.
 
We started with a preschool program at St. Phillips - 597 Valley Road was the address, I remember it clear as day. Instrumental in those early days were Mary Winberry and Mary McKiernan, who were parishioners.  From the nursery, we developed a summer camp in West Milford.  We realized that we were capable of taking care of people with disabilities overnight and could provide a long term solution and from there the Murray House came to be.
 
Jimmie Murray had died shortly before the Murray House opened.  There was an     abandoned building in downtown Paterson that the Diocese controlled. It had been used by the Franciscans and was the Paterson Catholic Community Center. It wasn’t pretty, but it was much better than institutionalization or being forgotten!   We were one of the pioneers in New Jersey to provide community integration and inclusion for people with special needs. Murray House is now the longest running group home in the state of New Jersey for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 
 
In our early days, it was all volunteer work and fundraising.  Kind local parishioners often held card parties, tricky trays and garage sales to help with funding.  We scrimped and saved and did what we could to make it all work.  God bless our benefactors!
 
I earned a degree in Special Education and taught at William Paterson University.  This helped me connect with the Special Ed. community and learn more about how to serve our population. I also was able to connect to many college students, who in turn volunteered at our camps, nursery and Murray House.
 
I never took a salary from DPD.  I lived at the group home.  We didn't have any money in the beginning.  We literally lived from hand to mouth.  It was all made possible through volunteer work and there is some beauty in that. 
 
We took risks in those early days. I asked Bishop Casey for 100 acres of prime land in Morris County - and he gave it to me!  God bless him!  In retrospect, I don’t think I would have done that today; ah, to be young!

How did you find the first people to move into Murray House?
We didn't find them, they found us!  Before the days of the internet or even before any kind of a formal referral process through the state, it was all word of mouth.  There was such a great need and so few community based services, we were in high demand.  I remember one of our first residents, Claire Reilly, who is still with DPD today.  Her family came all the way from Smithtown, Long Island.  I don’t know how she heard about us, but it certainly wasn’t Google! 
 
Is their a religious passage that resonates with you when reflecting on your mission?
I would say, Matthew 19:14 when Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  Though not all of the people we served were children, many of them had child-like innocence and purity.  Jesus had time for children and the most vulnerable of his time and there is room in God’s House for everybody.
 
Can you share an early story with us?
Every year we would celebrate Christmas at Murray House and would invite all of our friends.  The current President of Catholic Charities in the Diocese,  Joe Duffy would dress as Santa at our Christmas parties.  Elford Jennings, was one of the early Murray House residents and was reliant on crutches to get around.  Whenever we would go out, he was always the one who lagged far behind and every one of his movements were methodical.  Joe was upstairs in his Santa costume and I said to the group “I think I hear Santa Claus rustling around above us.”  Low and behold, it was Elford who threw his crutches aside and was the first up the flight of steps to greet Santa!  I see similar scenarios today, at the annual Murray House Dinner Dance, when the individuals with advanced physical           disabilities run up to the podium to receive their achievement awards.  Joy and exuberance can truly be curative! 
 
Is there anything you would like to say to our current leadership team, board members and benefactors?
I’m proud of you! I salute you!  You are   carrying on the tradition we tried to establish over 55 years ago.  Scratch that, not “carrying on” - but enhancing.  Every time I visit DPD, I marvel in how far we have come.  Keep up the good work!  We are truly blessed!