Services for the homeless...

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YouTube Description: Lisa Voyticki from WMBC interviews Julia Orlando, Director of the Bergen County Homeless Shelter in Hackensack and Rose Inguanti from the County Executive's office to discuss the increasing number of homeless in Bergen County.

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Volunteers conduct annual homeless count in Bergen County
Last updated: Wednesday January 25, 2012, 6:25 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record

The man on the park bench in a Hackensack had bundled up against the morning chill so that only his eyes were visible.


CARMINE GALASSO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Robert Gordon, 27, had been evicted from an apartment in August and lived on the streets until Oct. 7, when he arrived at the shelter.

When three volunteers approached him Wednesday morning, he tugged down his scarf a bit to talk.

Yes, he was homeless, the man said. And yes, he’d be willing to talk with them. But someone else from the same survey had already gotten to him.

That’s how things went for dozens of volunteers who fanned out across Bergen County at dawn, scouring parks, riverbanks, bridges and food pantries to conduct the annual Point-in-Time homelessness survey. The survey is conducted nationwide every two years to create a one-day snapshot of homelessness in the United States. Bergen County conducts the survey every year.

Canvassers found 1,524 homeless Bergen County residents last year, about one-third of them children, said Bari-Lynne Schwartz, planning officer for the Bergen County Department of Human Services.

That figure included about 25 people who — like the man in the park — were classified as “unsheltered” homeless, meaning they were living in cars or on the streets, Schwartz said.

“It was a real mind-opening experience to realize that there are homeless people living in Bergen County,” said Jessica Molina of Mahwah, one of the volunteers who approached the man in Hackensack.

Molina and two other volunteers stopped at several locations to look for homeless people. Among them was Garden State Plaza in Paramus, where a homeless person reportedly was living in a parked car. Their search, however, proved fruitless.

They did locate a homeless man in Ridgewood who did not wish to be surveyed. So they counted him and left him alone.

Volunteers at shelters, churches and various agencies had better luck, especially at the Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center in Hackensack, where the county’s sixth-annual Homeless Connect program offered people a fried chicken lunch, haircuts, clothing, toiletries, gift cards and referrals to other agencies.

The most popular item, however, turned out to be 90 brand new winter coats and 72 woolen caps donated by the New York Giants Foundation.

“It was a frenzy here,” Julia Orlando, director of the 90-bed shelter, said of the blue jackets with the Giants logo. “Everyone wanted a Giants coat.”

The gift made Robert Gordon’s day. The 27-year-old had been evicted from an apartment in August and lived on the streets until Oct. 7, when he arrived at the shelter.

“It’s pretty cool actually,” Gordon said, stuffing the cap back into the pocket of his Giant’s coat. “I’ve never had a Giants’ jacket, but to have one that was actually donated by the New York Giants — that was actually an honor.”

Email: ensslin@northjersey.com

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At Project Homeless in Hackensack, helping those in need
Last updated: Friday February 3, 2012, 10:22 AM
BY LIANNA ALBRIZIO
STAFF WRITER
Hackensack Chronicle

[Picture omitted]
William Klinger, a guest, having his hair cut by Danielle Laczko and Tara Finley from the Parisian Beauty Academy.

Part of the Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center's mission is to end homelessness by providing a full continuum of housing services, including shelter and permanent placement.

Since its opening in 2009, the center has housed 225 individuals back in the community, and it has only gotten started.

"The ultimate goal is to shut this place down," said Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan. "But we've got a long way to go. We as a society have to be able to house people in decent, affordable housing and it's very difficult to do." According to a Point-In-Time survey conducted last year, more than 1,500 people in Bergen County are homeless, 32 percent of whom are children.

The issues tied to homelessness are intricate.

Often, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, and financial struggles can leave a person no where to go. But the castle-like haven on South River Street facilitated with 90 beds and meal service has a year-round welcome mat and a place to hang one's hat.

"That's what's so great about this center," said Julia Orlando, the shelter's director. "The fact that we have all these people here and there's a connection. We keep them housed, because we don't let them fall through the cracks."

The facility is the result of a merger of several other shelters that closed and relocated to it, including Peter's Place on Kansas Street. Agencies including Bergen Regional Medical Center, New Jersey Buddies, Inc., North Jersey Friendship House, Women's Rights Information Center, the Center for Food Action and Advance Housing support the shelter.

Hope, brotherhood and fortitude filled the friendly facility as 161 people filed into the dining room for a hearty, home-cooked meal at the center's sixth annual Project Homeless Connect event on Jan. 25.

Participants were given free flu shots, food stamps, haircuts, manicures and a slew of information about education, Medicaid, employment, HIV counseling, mental health and rehabilitation services. Guests also received bags with donated gift cards, warm clothing, personal hygiene items and socks, above basic human compassion.

"Today is a great day, and a very tough day," said Donovan. "It's wonderful if they have trouble, they know they can come here and get help, but it breaks your heart, because people are homeless and in need of assistance. The other side of it is that people want to help, and that's a wonderful thing."

"What's unique about this facility is that not everyone that's in the building is homeless," Orlando said. "There are individuals in the building who the county and the housing authority have actually housed that returned back for services, and we've become their lifeline."

Apart from the everyday walk-ins, the shelter boasts a robust outreach effort from eager volunteers who bring in many homeless people by establishing a search team to find them, and by word of mouth. Orlando has travelled to hospitals, churches, synagogues, and rotary groups to garner needy individuals.

"The first thing about ending homelessness is knowing where people are," said Orlando.

A team was sent out at 3 a.m. that morning to locate homeless people from under bridges and parks.

"We're the only county that has a facility like this," she said. "We really have set the standard for how you manage homelessness."

For Mercedes Alfonso, a professor at Bergen Community College who had headed the education table, hope is at the heart of homeless management.

"One of the things we do here is give people hope," she said, citing struggle and hard work as the precursors of success.

"You need an education; education is life," she said.

Email: albrizio@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6700