Ranks of homeless growing in county
Shelter director cites lack of affordable housing as cause
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH - The number of homeless families in Monmouth County is on the rise, the director of a homeless shelter told a community group meeting in Long Branch last week.

"Things aren't getting better, they are actually getting worse," Bill Davis, of the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), said at the Long Branch Concordance (LBC) March 14 monthly meeting.

Davis was a member of a panel on the homeless, which included Rev. Sue Mamchak, executive director of New Creations in Christ (NCIC), and Ocean-Monmouth Legal Service Attorney Kim Fiero.

Davis explained at the meeting that more families are becoming homeless because rental costs in the state have "skyrocketed" to one of the highest levels in the nation.

According to a report issued by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, New Jersey has the fifth highest rental costs in the country, with the cost of a two-bedroom apartment averaging $1,103 a month, Davis said.

To afford rent, Davis said a family must earn $46,800 a year, which is up $1,480 from last year's statistics, he said.

The IHN is an organization that provides emergency shelter for families in Monmouth County who are suddenly faced with homelessness, Davis explained.

"With rent consuming as much as 90 percent of [Monmouth County residents'] income, many renters live paycheck to paycheck," Davis said in a press release, "often never more than a car breakdown or a health emergency away from sudden bankruptcy and homelessness."

The IHN shelters three to five families at a time and takes in approximately 20 families a year, he said, adding that his organization is forced to turn away almost 10 families a week.

One of the reasons families are being turned away, Davis said, is because families are staying in the shelters for longer periods of time.

"Some are staying for a year or so," Davis said, "and that is because there is no affordable housing."

The IHN was established in 2001 as a nonprofit organization to provide shelter, food and services to homeless families in the county, according to Davis.

To accomplish its mission, the organization uses existing community resources, including the facilities and volunteers of 12 faith congregations, according to Davis.

Each host congregation provides overnight lodging and meals to families for one week on a 12-week rotating cycle, he said, adding that an additional 21 support congregations provide volunteers and financial support to assist the host congregations.

"We are turning more and more families away," he said at the meeting.

In order to attempt to assist more needy families, the IHN has set a goal for this year to recruit more congregations and expand services to take in six to 12 families at time, Davis said.

"Homelessness is the result of the real problem," he said, "a lack of affordable housing."

Mamchak added at the meeting, that her organization is a supportive organization rather than a direct-help group such as the IHN.

"We make people aware that there is a problem of a lack of affordable housing," Mamchak said.

Fiero said her agency offers free legal representation to people who qualify for its services.

"Our clientele was once Social Security or welfare issues," she said, "but now we have working middle class that qualifies."

Although Legal Services represents clients in various civil matters, Fiero said one of the firm's top priorities is people served with eviction complaints.

"Within housing, we see many, many clients a year," she said. "Getting the tenants housing is the biggest problem we are facing."

The LBC is a consortium of groups providing referrals and resources for health care, housing needs, at-risk youth, rent and utilities, job development, language skills, domestic violence and several other areas.

The LBC hosts monthly meetings to bring local, regional, county-wide and faith-based organizations together to network resources that address the needs facing the communities.

The LBC's partnerships and collaborators include - among many others - The Long Branch Rotary Club, Long Branch School Based Youth Services, the Long Branch Public Library, Monmouth County Board of Social Services, NJ Division of Youth and Family Services, Meal at Noon and the Monmouth Health Care Center.

The next meeting is scheduled for April 11. For more information, call (732) 571-1670.