The affordable housing advocates who met in Lawrence last week for a homeless summit say they are unsure of the role their Mercer County towns should play in providing transitional housing.
By: Lea Kahn
Affordable housing advocates have invited Dennis Micai, the director of welfare for Mercer County, to outline the extent of homelessness in the county, following last week’s joint meeting of four affordable housing boards.
The joint meeting between the affordable housing boards of Lawrence, Princeton, Washington and West Windsor townships grew out of Lawrence’s plan to purchase and close the Trent Motel on Brunswick Pike which will force the relocation of about two dozen homeless families that have been placed at the motel by Mercer County.
The Lawrence Township Affordable Housing Board realizes there is a need for housing for the homeless and initiated last week’s meeting, but the representatives from the other three townships are not as knowledgeable, which is why Mr. Micai has been invited to the group’s next meeting, set for Nov. 8.
Mr. Micai said Tuesday that he would be happy to meet with the group. He pointed out why he believes affordable housing boards are unsure of the role they must play in transitional housing.
"I’m not sure that that’s their mandate," he said.
The West Windsor Township Affordable Housing Committee has not come across any requests for housing for the homeless, said committee Chairman Morad Abou-Sade. West Windsor does not have hotels that are used to house the homeless, he said.
The committee deals with affordable housing units those for rent and those for sale that have been included in housing subdivisions, he said.
There is a stigma attached to being homeless, Mr. Abou-Sade said. If it is a temporary situation, such as being the victim of a fire or other special circumstances, it might be possible for West Windsor to provide a few "floating" units within a housing development to take care of that problem, he said. If there were 100 affordable units in a development, perhaps five could be set aside for emergencies, he said.
West Windsor Township officials don’t know how many homeless families may be living in the township, said affordable housing committee member Richard Watkins. The committee needs to know whether there are homeless families in the township, he said, adding that more information is needed.
Susan Molnar, Washington Township’s Community Services director, said her township’s affordable housing board only discusses affordable housing units built by developers in new housing subdivisions. Although she is aware of the need for housing for the homeless, the board is more interested in the for-sale affordable housing units, she said.
Mrs. Molnar said she does not know how many homeless families or county welfare clients live in Washington Township. There are three motels on Route 130 in Washington that are used by the county for the homeless, she said.
Princeton Township also is concerned with meeting its state-required quota of affordable housing units, said Marion Epstein, chairman of that township’s affordable housing committee. There is a need for low-income rental housing, but there is not much available land left on which to build, she said.
Princeton Township is interested in providing transitional housing for families who could eventually move into affordable rental housing, but affordable housing advocates can’t decide how to go about it, said Christy Peacock. She is Princeton Township affordable housing coordinator.
Mr. Micai said he is not surprised that the municipalities are concentrating on providing affordable housing units which is the next step up from transitional housing.
Mercer County does not expect the municipalities to provide emergency housing, he said. That job is handled by the county, in conjunction with nonprofit groups such as Catholic Charities and HomeFront, he said.
Municipalities can be most effective in battling the transitional housing crunch by creating more affordable housing units, Mr. Micai said. If towns create more affordable housing units, it would help to move people out of transitional housing and into a more stable housing situation. This would free up spaces in transitional housing, thus reducing the demand for emergency shelter, he said.
Transitional housing units are intended to help formerly homeless families learn how to live in apartments or houses. It is one step up the ladder from sheltered housing, in which homeless families are taught life skills such as how to find and keep a job.
"The root of homelessness is life skills," said Councilman Mark Holmes, who attended the meeting. "You need to have a life skills training center. You don’t want to put a family three months here and three months there. You have to help them get into the rental cycle."
In Memphis, Tenn., churches and other groups organized a life skills center to teach the families how to budget its money and how a family works as a unit, Mr. Holmes said. The families also were given help in finding housing, he said.
Mayor Pam Mount said she did not know how to get Mercer County, the city of Trenton and other towns in the county to move on the homeless problem. Children deserve a stable, secure place to live, she said.
"We don’t have enough information … what the scope of the problem is," Mayor Mount said. "We can start small to solve problems. We can make a little headway, but sometimes you can plan yourself to death."
Dana Irlbacher, chairwoman of Lawrence’s affordable housing board, suggested inviting Mr. Micai to the joint affordable housing boards’ next meeting to help the members focus on homelessness. He could provide specific information on the situation in Princeton, Washington and West Windsor townships, she said.

