Herb Levine of the Mercer County Alliance to End Homelessness believes that “dignity begins with having a roof over your head.”
Levine presented his philosophy with a group of other community partners at a conference sponsored by Georgian Court University, Lakewood. The conference was titled “Places Called Home.”
The conference featured several advocacy and outreach programs in Ocean County, including the Rev. Steve Brigham of the Lakewood Outreach Ministry; Stacey Kindt of the Redeem-Her nonprofit; Steve Heisman of HABcore; Colin Lewis of the Oxford/Community Compass transitional home; John Kulesa of Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey; and MaryAnn Sorensen Allacci of the Lakewood based homeless advocacy group Mi Casa.
The representatives of those agencies discussed the different types of housing models that can be used to house the homeless. However, Levine suggested that his model — known as Housing First — would eliminate the problem, not manage it.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness Internet Web site, “Housing First is an approach to ending homelessness that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly and then providing services as needed. What differentiates a Housing First approach from traditional emergency shelter or transitional housing approaches is that it is ‘housing-based,’ with an immediate and primary focus on helping individuals and families quickly access and sustain permanent housing.”
Levine said, “Our mission is to end homelessness. Unless we provide housing, we’re managing homelessness and not ending it. We can do better than tent camps and emergency shelters. If you don’t have your own place to call home, then you can’t have a dignified life. This is about policy and advocacy. We have to follow the money.”
Levine said he conducted a point-in-time count of Ocean County’s homeless individuals.
“Out of 285 homeless people, 163 were staying at motels provided by social services agencies at a rate of $50 a night, totaling $8,150 for one night. In 365 days Ocean County would have spent almost $3 million. Ocean County is spending $3 million to put people in motels so they don’t have to pay attention to the homeless. We can do better,” Levine said.
“The Mercer County Alliance to End Homelessness is twisting the arms of the state to spend the money differently. We need to provide housing and case management, a rapid re-housing model. The money could be spent far better,” Levine told those in attendance.
For almost a decade, the Rev. Steve Brigham of the Lakewood Outreach Ministry has been caring for the homeless, many of whom live in what have come to be known as tent camps on the outskirts of Lakewood. Brigham receives no federal funding for his efforts. His operation is primarily funded through private donations.
Brigham said he is trying to do his best to meet the basic needs of all the people he serves. He said more must be done to supply something that brings homeless individuals more dignity.
The something Brigham wants to see is a shelter in Ocean County. Brigham said many of Lakewood’s homeless individuals are often transported to a rescue mission about an hour south of Lakewood in Atlantic City. He said Lakewood’s homeless people want to be in a place they know. He said people have told him about problems they have encountered at the Atlantic City rescue mission.
Stacey Kindt, the director of the Redeem Her transitional housing model, started the organization when she was incarcerated.
According to the organization’s Internet Web site, “Redeem-Her, a nonprofit, is an inmate- and ex-offender-directed self-help service organization. Redeem-Her has its roots inside the confines of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey.”
Redeem-Her houses are in Roebling (Burlington County) and in Toms River. They mirror the Oxford House housing model as facilities that are run by the residents.
Kindt said returning back to society after a period of incarceration can be a difficult transition for many women. The transition begins with housing and if the housing needs of an individual are not met, then nothing else matters, she said.
Steve Heisman of HABcore, a not-forprofit corporation in Monmouth County that is devoted to providing housing and supportive services in a family-like setting to low-income persons and those who are homeless, disabled or unable to care for themselves, highlighted housing options offered by the agency.
According to Heisman, HABcore offers boarding homes and an independent living program.
The boarding homes serve 49 people in Red Bank andAsbury Park. Each home fosters a family-like atmosphere with communal dining and a residents’ council, according to information provided on the agency’s Internet Web site.
In addition to housing, residents of a HABcore boarding home are educated in daily living tasks, job search skills and computer training. Each resident is expected to participate in outside activities such as volunteering, a job, a rehabilitation program,
and/or enrollment in school, according to the Web site. The independent living program is offered at HABcore apartments in Red Bank and Keansburg. It is also available through a rent subsidy apartment program in sites throughout Monmouth County. These are “graduate” facilities for
former boarding home residents and other qualified candidates, according to the Web site.
John Kulesa presented information about Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey, a private, not-for-profit organization directed, managed and staffed through the collaborative efforts of mental health consumers, survivors and non-consumers.
This housing model provides services through the creation and administration of self-help centers, supportive housing, advocacy and entrepreneurial programs for adults with mental health issues and other special needs, according to the program’s Internet Web site.
According to Kulesa, “Supportive housing is cheaper than putting people in a shelter.”
Colin Lewis of the Community Compass housing model, a not-for-profit community development corporation affiliated with The Church of Grace and Peace and serving the residents of Ocean County, said the issue of homelessness “will not be solved by the government, but by people who stand up, and stand strong to change the character of the nation.”
He said regular people with extraordinary gifts can make a difference.
The housing model he represents is also self-run by residents.
Community Compass meets the basic needs of its residents by providing food, clothing, shelter and spiritual guidance.
While there are measures in place to help mitigate chronic homelessness, it was stated during the conference that the number of homeless people in the next two years will increase as a direct result of the nation’s economy in recession.
Contact Toynett Hall at [email protected]