For Immediate Release:
January 20, 2010
County to participate in Project Homeless Connect
Staff and volunteers will offer meals and services
FREEHOLD, NJ – Monmouth County's 2010 Project Homeless Connect, a one-stop shop of health and human services for homeless residents, will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at the Atonement Lutheran Church, 308 First Ave. in Asbury Park and New Beginnings Agape Christian Center, 133 Throckmorton St. in Freehold.
The goal of the event is to collect information from individuals and families in need of housing and social services to help them move off the streets and into permanent housing.
"We will offer a warm meal, a warm coat and friendly services to people," said Freeholder Amy A. Mallet, liaison to the county Human Services Department. "Project Homeless Connect is working to end homelessness throughout America, but our county volunteers and staff are making a difference right now.
"We are connecting with people by offering them help through many county and not-for-profit service providers," Mallet continued. "Food and coats are a great start, but we want to make sure that each person who needs and wants assistance is being helped."
Anyone without a permanent residence or who is at risk of being homeless is encouraged to participate in Project Homeless Connect. Those who participate will be asked to fill out a survey form and be provided food, clothing and various services, including free health screenings and employment services.
The county's event is part of the statewide effort to gather information about individuals who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Project Homeless Connect event is a targeted effort that accomplishs in one day what normally might take months to reach people.
"This is a unified effort to reach people without permanent shelter," said Charles Brown III, director of the county's Department of Human Services. "While county staff gathers information at the Asbury and Freehold locations, other workers will be collecting information about people housed at emergency and transitional housing agencies and coordinating efforts with municipal representatives to locate unsheltered individuals."
A goal of Project Homeless Connect is to gain an accurate picture of the number of people who experience homelessness and to work toward providing them with the needed services, Brown said.
The Jan. 27 Project Homeless Connect event was a part of an annual point-in-time survey of the homeless population in the New Jersey. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that such a count of the homeless be done every two years.
"Several business and not-for profit groups will be making considerable donations to this year's Project Homeless Connect event," Freeholder Mallet said. "I thank them all for helping to reach people in need and for contributing to our caring community."
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