Understanding the profile of the homeless population — the number of men, women and children who lack a place to call home — is the first step in guiding services and programs that will begin to eradicate homelessness, according to an advocate.
“I think a big part of what this is about is knowing that we can’t end homelessness until we have an idea of who is homeless and what their conditions are,” said Richard Brown, executive director of Monarch Housing, a homeless advocacy nonprofit.
Monarch Housing participated in the county’s 2014 Project Homeless Connect event. It was held Jan. 29 in conjunction with the national Point in Time survey, an outreach effort to identify the number of homeless men, women and children.
The information about homeless and atrisk individuals is used to establish ways in which social service and nonprofit agencies can help each individual.
Brown said that although the event was just a “snapshot of one night,” the results provide a “clear idea” of what the needs of the homeless are.
“We now know how many homeless children there are, how many adults and how many families,” he said. “We know how long they’ve been homeless, too.”
The survey was conducted in 15 of 21 New Jersey counties to determine how many people are without permanent housing, how they became homeless and how long they had been homeless.
Monarch Housing aims to eradicate homelessness by expanding the availability of affordable housing, advocating for planning and partnerships that benefit the homeless, and influencing public policy that expands the supply of supportive housing.
“Everybody in this state — and, really, everywhere — should have access to affordable housing of their own,” said Jay Everett, an associate on Monarch Housing’s Ending Homelessness Team.
According to Everett and Brown, the Point in Time survey is an important step toward eradicating homelessness in New Jersey, where the lack of a place to call home often goes unnoticed by the public and underappreciated by legislators.
“This survey is an opportunity to paint a picture that shows that these are real people, real families,” Brown said. “The homeless are no different than you or I.”
According to the survey, statewide homelessness is up approximately 16 percent over last year.
However, there is encouraging news out of Mercer County: The individual length of homelessness has been trending downward.
The trend is a result of the county’s progressive homeless assistance programs, Brown said.
Across the state, about 24 percent of the homeless individuals surveyed said they had been homeless for more than a year. In Mercer County only 6.4 percent of individuals said they had been homeless for more than a year, and 70 percent said they had been homeless for less than three months, according to Everett.
“It shows us that what Mercer County has been doing — implementing and focusing on community housing, and using strategies that rapidly re-house families — is working,” he said.
Brown said other counties are following suit, which provides hope for the future.
“Middlesex has had a plan for several years and has been actively working on it,” he said. “Monmouth is about to release theirs. Both of those are going to help continue the downward trend.”
The trend depends heavily on public support for the homeless and the programs that work toward providing housing for them, Everett said.
“This report is not made just for the sake of reporting to someone in the government; it’s to report to the community so the community can engage in the continuum of care,” he said.
“I think that’s kind of the aim — getting some people to see these reports so that they can be aware and become more engaged in finding solutions to homelessness.”
Homeless people in New Jersey are representative of the state’s population at large — men and women of all ages and backgrounds, and even a large number of children were experiencing homelessness when the survey was conducted.
“Keep in mind that three in 10 people counted were children. I don’t think people often think of it that way. We like to have a stereotyped view of what homelessness is like,” Brown said.
If the stereotypical image of homelessness involves people sleeping on the street, then the image is inaccurate, according to the report.
Of 632 homeless individuals counted during the point-in-time survey in Monmouth County — a number that declined by 286 from the previous year, attributable to formerly homeless victims of superstorm Sandy finding permanent housing, Everett said — only 12 were living completely unsheltered.
“Unsheltered folks are anyone who is living in a place that’s not meant for human habitation,” Everett said. Four hundred thirty-six homeless individuals in Monmouth County — a large majority of the total homeless population — were living in emergency shelters, and an additional 184 were living in transitional housing, the report concluded.
Of 1,405 homeless individuals in Middlesex County — 374 more than the previous tally and more than double the amount of homeless in Monmouth County — 102 individuals were living without shelter.
A large majority of the homeless population — 1,135 individuals — were living in emergency shelters in Middlesex County when the survey was conducted and 168 individuals were living in transitional housing.
“Even though they may be sheltered, people can still be considered homeless,” Everett said. “These individuals are counted according to HUD’s [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] definition.
Someone who’s sheltered would be homeless if they’re living in a publicly or privately operated shelter that’s designed to shelter someone who’s homeless.”
Approximately a third of all homeless individuals in both counties were disabled, the survey said.
In Middlesex County, 135 individuals were physically disabled; 214 were facing mental health issues; 148 were suffering from a substance abuse disorder; and 121 were afflicted with a chronic health condition.
In Monmouth County, 73 individuals were physically disabled; 37 were developmentally disabled; 126 people were facing mental health issues; 111 were suffering from a substance abuse disorder; and 75 were afflicted with a chronic health condition.
According to Brown, the annual survey is instrumental in raising awareness of local homelessness and the plight of the homeless, who are “invisible.”
“It’s part of the process of realization that we’re all in this together and we need to help our neighbors. We need to keep looking for the solutions that are necessary to get us to the point where we don’t have our neighbors out there without a home, where we have an opportunity to celebrate that everyone has a home,” Brown said.