DCA Video Demonstrates Department’s Efforts at Preventing Homelessness and Swiftly Sheltering Families When It Does Occur

• Posted on: 05/21/2024

DCA’s Nonprofit Service Provider Network Is Integral to Uplifting At-Risk Families

TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) today released a video featuring Angela Fields, Executive Director of Family Promise of Hunterdon County, one of more than 70 nonprofit organizations that comprise the DCA network of service providers for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in New Jersey. DCA’s Division of Housing and Community Resources, Office of Homelessness Prevention, coordinates and administers these homelessness prevention programs among state and local government agencies, and private organizations.

The Family Promise of Hunterdon County video highlights the important work being done to assist at-risk residents by the DCA service provider network. “Our programs coordinate efforts to prevent homelessness by finding practical and creative ways to keep people in their homes whenever possible and to quickly shelter people should they become homeless,” said DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “Partnering with community-based organizations statewide is highly effective in preventing families from experiencing the distress of unsheltered homelessness.”

“People that become homeless often run out of people to assist them during times of crisis,” said Angela Fields, Executive Director of Family Promise of Hunterdon County, a nonprofit, residential support center that provides services to the at-risk population in Hunterdon County, a rural suburb of New Jersey. Homelessness in rural communities often goes unnoticed due to the vast landscape of the communities. “We are here to walk beside families, and guide them, because it could be anybody in this situation.”

“DCA believes that by working together, stakeholders such as local governments, nonprofit groups, residents, and businesses can help ensure that people, regardless of life circumstances, have safe, secure, and sanitary housing,” said DCA Assistant Commissioner Janel Winter, who leads the Division of Housing and Community Resources. “We look forward to continuing to build these collaborative networks and strengthen existing ones so that we can better address homelessness and its underlying causes.”

The Office of Homelessness Prevention (OHP) recently awarded more than $7.1 million in funding to nonprofit organizations across the state, including Family Promise of Hunterdon County, through the Homelessness Diversion Pilot Program and the Homelessness Prevention Program. Through the Office of Eviction Prevention, DCA is investing more than $7.2 million and partnering with 16 legal and community-based organizations to provide legal services, supportive services, and flexible financial assistance to households facing eviction. Since FY23, the program has served approximately 10,685 eligible households at risk of eviction to prevent lockouts and stabilize housing for those tenants.

The Department has been increasingly effective at preventing homelessness, and when homelessness does occur, providing shelter and services to keep people safe despite ongoing, unprecedented challenges in the housing market.

Through its Data-Driven Decision-Making program, the OHP has also supported local Continuums of Care, which are county or regional systems whose goal is to end homelessness in their area, with technical and financial assistance to help them understand their homeless populations so that they may better serve their needs.

In addition to the programs mentioned, OHP administers numerous other programs including Rural and Suburban Street Outreach, Rapid Re-Housing, Integrated Homelessness Prevention and Services, Document Assistance and Support for Housing (DASH), and a spectrum of other initiatives to help meet the evolving needs of people in New Jersey who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. For details about the OHP programs visit: https://www.nj.gov/dca/dhcr/offices/dhcrohp.shtml.

The Office of Homelessness Prevention is within the Division of Housing and Community Resources, which has the mission of strengthening and revitalizing communities through the delivery of affordable housing, supportive services, and financial and technical assistance to local governments and community-based organizations.

DCA offers a wide range of programs and services, including local government management and finance, affordable housing production, fire safety, building safety, community planning and development, disaster recovery and mitigation, historic preservation, and information privacy.

For more information about DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/ or follow the Department on social media: