County reaches out to connect with homeless

Official: Survey numbers lower, but homeless population rising

BY KENNYWALTER Staff Writer

 Monmouth County Freeholder Amy Mallet helps a man choose a warm coat at the A.M.E Zion Church in Red Bank during Project Homeless Connect on Jan. 26. Monmouth County Freeholder Amy Mallet helps a man choose a warm coat at the A.M.E Zion Church in Red Bank during Project Homeless Connect on Jan. 26. Based on the raw numbers, there are fewer homeless people in Monmouth County in 2011 than 2010, but an official said last week the count is misleading.

Jeffrey Schwartz, director of the Division of Planning and Contracting for the Monmouth County Department of Human Services in Freehold, said that the Jan. 26 count of the county’s homeless population was heavily impacted by the snowstorm.

“A day like yesterday with the snow, people stay in whatever warm place they’ve been staying,” Schwartz said in an interview Jan. 27. “Homeless folks are like everybody else; they stay out of the weather.

“It hurts us because we get less of a number. If we did the homeless count in July, we’d get a much larger number.”

While the survey was under way, the county sponsored Project Homeless Connect, during which homeless people could go to one of three central locations to learn more about county services, nonprofit services and receive donations and a hot meal as well. The three sites selected in 2011 were the A.M.E. Zion Church, Red Bank; Atonement Lutheran Church, Asbury Park; and New Beginnings Agape Christian Center, Freehold.

“At the site we bring as many services as we can; we bring social services in,” Schwartz said. “We bring nurses to provide for some medical screening; we provide flu shots.

“We also collect coats and distribute warm clothing,” he added. “We get donations of blankets and … warm clothing items.”

Monmouth County Public Information Officer Laura Kirkpatrick described the help the homeless received at the three sites.

“They came in and filled out a short questionnaire that provided the social service workers with some basic information about the individual,” she said. “Then the clients had the opportunity to have a health screening, get a bag of toiletries, a warm coat, blankets and food as well.”

“They had an opportunity to apply for food stamps and [various] services,” she added. “There were employment counselors there to assist individuals who may be looking for a job.”

Schwartz said Holiday Express, a Tinton Falls-based nonprofit, donated 600 new blankets to distribute. More than 100 nonprofits and government agencies donated time and materials, including The Arc of Monmouth, Affordable Housing Alliance, Brookdale Community College, Family & Children’s Services, Family Promise of Monmouth County, HABcore, Meridian Health, 180 Turning Lives Around.

Also, LADACIN Network, Lunch Break, Monmouth University, One Warm Coat, Pilgrim Baptist Church, The Community YMCA and VNA of Central New Jersey.

The count, called the Point in Time survey, is conducted in each county in the state and is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Schwartz explained the purpose of the Jan. 26 survey.

“It is a… 24-hour snapshot of the homeless,” he said. “In that 24-hour period how many people can we find that are considered homeless?

“We have teams out in the field in areas where we believe homeless people might be congregating, like the Henry Hudson Trail, tent cities, near the railroad tracks in certain places,” he added. He estimated that hundreds of volunteers and county workers donated their time in the days leading up to the count and on the day of the actual count.

Schwartz said that the preliminary count for 2011 is 291; last year the count turned up well over 300 homeless in the county.

However, he said the lower number is misleading because of the effect of the weather, adding that the homeless problem isn’t going away.

“We know that the weather had a big impact yesterday because the homeless numbers are rising,” Schwartz said.

He explained that after the count, the numbers are analyzed and sent to HUD, which uses them to administer funds for homeless prevention as part of a program titled Continuum of Care.

“That number is totaled, the information is analyzed and ultimately used in applications that we make to the federal government,” Schwartz said.

He said last year the county received $2.5 million through the program, funds that are then partially distributed to nonprofit agencies to help with prevention of homelessness and homeless services.

The survey also allows the county to get more information on the homeless problem in the area.

“We go and try to get just a head count and some information,” Schwartz said. “It is anonymous, but we do get some specifics, so we know what is going on.”

Schwartz said the number of homeless counted is not representative of the homeless population in the county.

“We know we do not see everybody,” he said. “We can’t because they don’t come to us and we just can’t find them.”

Schwartz also described the full-on approach the county takes toward advertising the survey and the on-site services provided.

“We advertise as much as we can. We put out fliers in English and Spanish that go out through the nonprofit communities,” he said. “We go around and put up signs and posters.”

He also said that the county also puts the word out through press releases to the media and posts information on its website, www.visitmonmouth.com.

He said the surveys are difficult because the homeless are not necessarily easily identified.

“It is hard to do because the homeless are a little bit of an anonymous group; they stay to themselves,” Schwartz said. “We try to get the word out as best we can.”

Contact Kenny Walter at [email protected].