Mercer gets aid to help homeless
Thursday, July 08, 2010

Meir Rinde
STAFF WRITER

TRENTON -- Mercer County's effort to end homelessness by putting people in permanent housing has gotten a $950,020 boost from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

One award of $400,000 will help the Rescue Mission shelter on Carroll Street create 15 studio apartments for homeless individuals in a Perry Street building, said Herb Levine, executive director of the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness.

"That's very exciting, because the whole Mercer plan to end homelessness is focusing on permanent housing, and shifting the focus away from shelters," he said.

The other $550,020 will go toward the Housing First project overseen by the Mercer Alliance, the county, the city and other agencies, Levine said.

"It will put 10 people who have been chronically homeless, living on the streets, in apartments," Levine said. "It will actually go to pay landlords for five years."

Greater Trenton Behavioral Health will provide a range of supportive services to help the residents stay in their homes, using funding from the state and other sources, Levine said.

Housing First began housing individuals in April 2008 and now serves about 90 people, including 45 single people and 10 families, he said. When the two newly funded projects begin operating, the number will increase to about 115.

The county counted more than 1,000 homeless people within its borders last year, and more than 1,500 used emergency shelters or lived on the street at some point in 2009, according to the Mercer Alliance.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said yesterday that the agency awarded $190 million in new grants nationwide as part of its Continuum of Care program, including $13.5 million in New Jersey.

The funding supports the Obama administration's larger plan to end homelessness, Donovan said in a press release. A consortium of 19 federal agencies last month released a strategy called "Opening Doors" to end chronic and veteran homelessness by 2015, and homelessness among children, families and youth by 2020.

"President Obama is the first president who has even mentioned homelessness in public, at a press conference," Levine said. "It's very significant that the federal government has made a commitment and will put resources behind the commitment."

In addition to funding housing, some of the Continuum of Care grants pay for job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, child care, street outreach and assessment programs, HUD said.