The Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness held a very well attended benefit on Sunday September 24, 2006. Attendees were excited to discuss the need to further address ending homelessness in Mercer County and across the nation. The Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness was applauded for the work that they have already done in Mercer County including their work with the Greater Trenton Earned Income Tax Credit and Asset Building Coalition, which brought $4 million additional dollars into the County. The Alliance, in partnership with state and local government agencies, the United Way of Greater Mercer County, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), and Monarch Housing, among others, is currently working on a Housing First demonstration initiative that will house 20% of the Chronically Homeless population in Mercer County.

Timothy Andrews, host of the Mercer Alliance benefit; Shirley M. Tilghman, President of Princeton University; and Governor Jon S. Corzine

The New Jersey Alliance for the Homeless and Monarch Housing are moving forward with efforts to encourage statewide participation in a Project Homeless Connect on the same day as the HUD mandated Point in Time Count, January 25, 2007.

Many CoC’s in New Jersey feel that their last PIT Counts represent an undercount of the true population, as it is difficult to access enough volunteers to count all possible locations in their jurisdiction. It has also been difficult to find the harder to reach homeless, and to gather enough incentive items for volunteers to bring with them when they do the street count. Project Homeless Connect will allow CoC’s statewide to reach out to and survey more of the homeless people in their communities, and will also allow the CoC to provide those people with much needed services.

The Interagency Council on Homelessness has been encouraging communities nationwide to plan a Project Homeless Connect (PHC) day. They support New Jersey’s efforts to plan a PHC on the same day as the required Point in Time count, as they recognize the significant impact that New Jersey can have by performing the very first statewide Project Homeless Connect day. The ICH will work with New Jersey to provide technical assistance, and coordinate conference calls amongst various CoC representatives to better organize the event. If you are interested in contacting Samuel Miller, New Jersey’s ICH representative, about the Statewide Project Homeless Connect please click here.

The New Jersey Alliance for the Homeless (NJAH) has reached out to Governor Jon Corzine in an effort to secure his support for a statewide PHC, and will also work to make the newly appointed Director of Human Services, Clarke Bruno, aware of the statewide project Homeless Connect. The Alliance expects that the State will support the initiative for a statewide Project Homeless Connect and the opportunity to be a part of the first statewide Project Homeless Connect.

Planning for this event should begin immediately. The NJAH will need a key contact for every CoC in the state to assure that everyone moves ahead with the planning process. The NJAH has broken the state into three regions (north, central, south), each with their own coordinator who will be responsible for making sure that the CoC’s in their region remain on track. Currently, about half of the CoC’s statewide have identified Key Contacts, if your CoC has yet to do so please contact Randi Moore.

Click here to view the event flyer.

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