Housing Initiatives of Princeton (HIP) is helping families avoid eviction through the organization’s transitional housing and emergency rental assistance program.
The program is set to receive a financial boost this weekend when the organization will be the host to its annual Rent Party on Oct. 19.
“What I am seeing is a lack of affordable housing, generally in the area. You are seeing more need for housing for working people,” HIP Board Chair Carol Golden said. “Some of the people, the ones who do not have housing are looking for the transitional housing and wrap around services that we provide. We can only help a handful of families in that respect.”
HIP provides transitional housing to low-income working families and individuals for 12-24 months. The organization provides a place to stay in one of two Princeton townhouses the organization owns or in units leased by HIP from Princeton’s municipality.
HIP’s rental assistance program helps low-income families with security deposit assistance, eviction prevention or emergency rent payment.
“The rental assistance program is helping keep people in the houses they have. The demand for the program has been increasing,” Golden said. “The demand is increasing from folks mostly in Trenton. This is the area we are seeing the increase in need.”
HIP has budgeted $20,000 in 2019 just for the rental assistance program.
“We have already provided $10,000 in assistance and our fiscal year just started on July 1. This weekend’s event is key to our raising a significant number [of funds],” Golden said. “We would like to raise an additional $10,000 more. We want to put that money right to the rental assistance program. We need find a way to help these people.”
The organization’s emergency rental assistance this year has already helped nine families in the Mercer County-area. There are promissory letters out now for four families, according to officials.
“Working families are struggling,” Golden said. “There is a population of low-wage earners who are struggling to make ends meet and take care of their families on the income that they make. Once you have an eviction on your record everything goes down from there. So we try to keep people in the homes they have.”
She said this weekend’s event is one of HIP’s biggest fundraisers of the year.
“We have a number we want to hit to be able to do all of our work,” she said. “We want people to enjoy themselves this weekend. We want want people to understand how others find themselves in these difficult predicaments. That there are others with different socio-economic backgrounds and are really living pay check to pay check. We want people who come to our event to know that there are individuals in our area that need our help.”
For more information on Housing Initiatives of Princeton and this weekend’s event, visit www.housinginitiativesofprinceton.org.