By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – Red Bank cares about its residents. That much was clear during the borough council’s first winter conference, as many highlighted the steps being taken to provide for those facing housing and food insecurity and mental health issues, in addition to several code blue initiatives as temperatures drop.
From a new warming center for women to the launch of a social worker pilot program within the police department, the Oct. 26 Red Bank Cares conference highlighted the network of services available within the borough through partnerships with local nonprofits and county programs.
At the conference held outside borough hall, Mayor Billy Portman acknowledged those partners, including Lunch Break, the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County, the Red Bank Resource Network, Riverview Medical Center, the Salvation Army, the VNA of Central Jersey, Red Bank RiverCenter, the Parker Family Health Center, JBJ Soul Kitchen, Count Basie Center for the Arts and several places of worship, among many others.
“We’re 1.75 square miles and the access to services that we offer, not just for Red Bank, for the county, are nothing short of amazing,” Portman said. He noted Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano provided “the impetus” for the conference to highlight the services available to the community.
The intention, Triggiano said, was to publicly share the work taking place in Red Bank so that other towns in Monmouth County would follow suit.
“Red Bank is proud to be a beacon for progress and we hope to see a day where all communities have these programs and initiatives,” Triggiano said.
New Police Pilot Program
Among the latest plans announced at the conference is a pilot program that will engage social workers part-time to assist the police department in handling certain cases, said Red Bank Police Chief Darren McConnell.
The goal is to provide access to helpful resources while relieving pressure on officers who often find themselves responding to the “same residents over and over again” because of underlying mental health, addiction or family crisis issues, said McConnell. The program is intended to “reduce police responses,” he added and enable officers to “concentrate on their role in the community.”
PULSSE (Proactive Union of Law Enforcement and Social Service Experts) is spearheaded by Shante Middleton and Garyn Nathan, two clinical social workers who espouse a “service style model of community policing,” Middleton said. “We assist officers in identifying matters that are best serviced by community resources.”
The program was founded in 2022 to facilitate ideas for police reform after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis during an arrest.
“We assess what an individual may need after speaking with law enforcement and we go out and try to be that direct link so that they can get services,” explained Middleton. PULSSE has been partnering with the Sayreville, South River and South Amboy police departments since earlier this year and has served over 300 individuals, tackling homelessness, mental health concerns, welfare checks, substance abuse issues, domestic violence, juvenile issues and more.
“Overall, what our role is, is to really enhance the service delivery of the iconic police adage: To protect and serve,” said Middleton.
The program is “fully funded,” said McConnell, with a portion of the approximately $73,500 received in settlement funds from an opioid class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. The funds allocated to Red Bank are part of a larger sum of $641 million that several New Jersey municipalities will receive through 2038.
New Women’s Warming Center
This winter, the First Baptist Church in Red Bank will offer a new warming center for women beginning Nov. 15. The Heartwarming Center will be located in a building recently purchased by the church at 90 Maple Ave. It will be the second warming center in the borough but the first one designed specifically for women. The borough’s first warming center for men, the Hope and Comfort Warming Center, was opened by the JBJ Soul Kitchen in partnership with Pilgrim Baptist Church. It has been providing a place for homeless men during cold days at 166 Shrewsbury Ave. since it opened in 2018. However, women have had to look elsewhere for accommodations in the winter.
First Baptist Church co-pastor Steve Brown said “more and more women” were seeking accommodation and “it was brutal” to turn them down because these warming centers were only provided for men.
Brown blames an inflated housing market and high rents in the area for the increase in homelessness. “We have found a lot of women who were on the margin to begin with and this economy just left them to live in their cars, to live on the streets.”
Brown, along with Pastor Jared Murray, reached out to their congregation, and 96% of the church voted in favor of purchasing 90 Maple Ave. for the women’s center. More information on the center can be found at thefeastnj.org.
Other Initiatives
Monmouth County prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago spoke about the Recovery Diversion Program launched in Red Bank in September to help individuals struggling with substance abuse or mental health disorders. Santiago noted that in the decade from 2012 to 2021, Monmouth County reported nearly 1,500 overdose deaths.
The Mayor’s Wellness Initiative will be held Nov. 18 at the St. Anthony’s Church gymnasium. The initiative offers free health screening, educational help, housing information and more.
Ewa Farry, vice president of adult services at the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County, explained the services offered at the Red Bank Resource Network located at 103 Drs. James Parker Blvd. The free bilingual community walk-in center provides year-round comprehensive health, housing, food, social and financial resources for individuals and families with a focus on self-sufficiency.
Dorothea Bongiovi, founder of JBJ Soul Foundation, said the organization “has built nearly 1,000 units of affordable supportive housing across the USA,” but there is still a growing need for food and shelter in the area.
She asked the county prosecutor for a fees and fine forgiveness day “because that is a very huge barrier for those who are homeless.” Bongiovi noted people often can’t get housing or other services when they have outstanding fines. (Infractions that result in fines could be the result of panhandling, loitering, trespassing, etc.)
“I know towns don’t like to do it because it’s on their books as income, but it’s never going to get paid,” she said.
“Nonprofits are not going to fix this is- sue alone,” Bongiovi said, asking government, corporations and private individuals to work together to create real solutions. Nonprofits, politicians and businesses in the community need to be held accountable to “make sure there’s good stewardship of the donations we make,” Bongiovi said.
“Everyone counts. Everyone deserves a chance. Everyone has a role to play. And we all do better when we help each other.”
The article originally appeared in the November 2 – November 8, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
