Spring House will add transitional apartments
Borough donates $250K of affordable housing trust funds

Spring House

EATONTOWN - Spring House, which provides housing for single women with children, plans to expand its facility to include transitional housing apartments.

The apartments would house women who need more time in the program before transitioning to independent living.

"This apartment complex will be for the women who aren't quite ready to be on their own," Spring House Executive Director Eileen Higgins said.

The Borough Council approved a resolution Sept. 5 authorizing the contribution of $250,000 from the borough's Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the expansion as part of the borough's affordable housing plan.

The new facility will be a one-story, ranch-style structure containing eight apartments and will be located on Spring Street behind Spring House.

According to Higgins, it will include seven one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit.

Each unit will have a living room, kitchen, eating area and full-bath.

Higgins explained that the one-bedroom units would have double beds, so a mother and her child can share the room.

"A woman with a child under the age of 10 years only qualifies for a one-bedroom unit, but if the child is older and of the opposite sex, they would qualify for the two-bedroom unit," she said.

Higgins noted that the apartment building would also include a laundry room, a staff office and a graduate center for continuinglife skills classes.

The project, which is pending final Planning Board approval, is estimated to cost anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million.

"We're still trying to figure out the total cost, and that is just the range we're assuming it will be in," said Higgins.

She noted that aside from the $250,000 contribution from the borough, Spring House would need to obtain the rest of the funding through grants and fundraising.

"Most of it is going to be through grant writing, and the Affordable Housing Alliance will be helping us write all the grants to find the money," she said.

The Planning Board recently amended the master plan to lay the foundation for a zoning change to facilitate the apartment project.

"We're making it a special zone for homeless housing in the borough, and we're designating it as such on our zoning map," Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said.

"This way, whenever Spring House comes to us to modify the facility, they don't have to go through the process of getting a special use permit for the project because it will already be zoned for that purpose," he said.

In order for the women to qualify for an apartment in the new complex, Higgins said they must first graduate from Spring House's 12-month program.

"We will recommend the apartment option if we feel certain women aren't demonstrating enough self-sufficient traits or if they feel they are personally not ready. It's our way of making sure that they will be able to make it on their own once they do get out," she said.

Spring House shelters a total of nine families and, according to Higgins, the women who enter the program are getting younger as the years go by.

"This first began with 26-27-year-olds with basic to moderate skills, who were one paycheck away from losing their housing, and we were there to help them fill in the gaps," she said.

"Now we're getting much younger women ranging from 18-21 who have no skills and really need more guidance," she said.

Higgins noted that initially all the women are introduced into a generic program.

"We wait and see more of what their individual needs are because they are all coming from different experiences and situations," she said.

Higgins said that the program exposes the women to everything they need in order to live in the real world.

"We will tell them how to do something, but they have to do all the work. We want to provide services to them so that they can take advantage of boosting their independence and selfawareness," she said.

According to Higgins, Spring House imposes a very tight regimen on the women and their children, and the initial part of the program can be difficult.

"We are really involved in knowing what they are doing all day long, and most of these women haven't had a lot of exposure to that," she said.

Traditionally, the program offers general life-skills classes such as job search and career planning, budgeting, parenting, how to find and keep safe apartments upon completion of the program, working with a credit counselor, nutrition and cooking.

"During the day, some of the women spend their time completing their GEDs or attending classes at Brookdale Community College. The classes that are offered here are usually held during the latter part of the afternoon when they get back to the house," she said.

Higgins said that the children are on a strict schedule as well.

"The kids are in their rooms by 8 p.m. so the women can do their chores and do their homework," she said.

While the women are in the program, Higgins said that they can only receive federal funding for 12 months, and those who transition into the apartments would then be given housing vouchers through the Monmouth County Division of Social Services.

"The county provides these women with housing vouchers for two years after they graduate from this program, so those who will be living in the apartment complex will use their vouchers to pay their rent and utilities," she said.

While in the apartment, the women will learn more about credit management and the additional financial skills they will need to live independently.

"They are able to live in the apartment for longer than a year if they want to, but they will still be responsible for meeting with their case manager for the following two years after graduating from the program," Higgins said.

Spring House case manager Natile Reevey said that her daily responsibilities with the women are making sure they get the services they need to graduate from the program.

"I come in and make sure their rooms are clean and that they're at their sites [school or job training] and I make sure that outside agencies such as dental and vision care are available to them and their children," she said.

Of the women who are in the program for more than two months, Higgins said that about 90 percent of them make it out of the program successfully.