Donations of personal and clothing items are sought by Jan. 25. They will be included in packages that will be distributed Jan. 30 when the county conducts its annual Point-in-Time survey of homeless individuals and families in Somerset County.
Requested personal items include shampoo, conditioner, soap, body wash, deodorant, lotion and feminine-hygiene products, as well as new blankets and towels. Clothing items include new hats, scarves and gloves or mittens; new socks, underwear, T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants. Other items include bottled water and juice boxes, as well as individually wrapped snacks such as granola bars, snack crackers, nuts and trail mix.
Donations may be dropped off before Friday, Jan. 25, at the Somerset County Community Development Office, located on the fourth floor of the Human Services Building at 27 Warren St., Somerville, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office will be closed Monday, Jan. 21, for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Point-in-Time volunteers will interview the homeless as part of Project Homeless Connect, which will be hosted on the same day as the survey, at the Samaritan Homeless Interim Program (SHIP), located at 87 E. High St. Social service organizations will be on hand to screen clients for relevant services and to distribute donated items.
The survey is part of a statewide effort to obtain an accurate snapshot of New Jersey’s homeless population in response to a directive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The data also is used by the county and local non-profit agencies when applying for grants to assist the homeless population.
Collecting baseline data is essential to understanding the causes of homelessness and designing effective responses. Somerset County is required to report the number of people who are homeless at particular intervals in order to apply for HUD Continuum-of-Care funding, which is a discretionary grant that provides housing and supportive services to people with special needs. Data collection at regular intervals also helps track progress toward reducing homelessness.
