About Camden, NJ

Founded in 1828, Camden began as a secondary economic and transportation hub to its larger neighbor across the Delaware River, Philadelphia, PA. Growth of industry and population lead Camden to evolve into a prosperous city in its own right, with a strong manufacturing base and a thriving port. Home to Campbell’s Soup (which still maintains its headquarters in the city), the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, and RCA Victor, for many decades Camden provided economic and cultural opportunity to residents of the city and surrounding areas. Like most American cities, Camden began to suffer from the decline of the manufacturing industry. Hard-hit by decades of plant closures and fiscal mismanagement by the city’s government, today Camden is most well-known for its poverty, crime, and dysfunction.

In the 1900’s:

• Camden was a prosperous industrialized city with over 43,000 manufacturing jobs that included the largest and most productive shipyard in the world, and the world’s larger manufacturer of phonographs and phonograph records.

Today:

• The city of Camden has become the dumping ground for everything that nobody in our society wants: drugs, violence, trash, sewage, jails,

• The median income for households in Camden, New Jersey is $26,105.

• 37.39% Overall poverty rate. 14% Unemployment rate.

Romero Center Ministries is committed to the care and future of Camden and its people. We believe that our lives and journeys are inextricably linked to the lives of those around us, and we are compelled by faith to care for our brothers and sisters. By participating in activities at Romero Center Ministries, you will walk in solidarity with the poor and heed Jesus’ call to serve “the least among us.”