Homeless Count Continues Amid Impacts of Pandemic

By Gloria Stravelli

RED BANK – The annual Point-in-Time Count of New Jersey’s homeless population got underway locally this week with community involvement and outreach programs curtailed due to the impacts of COVID-19.

“Unlike previous years, Monmouth County is not doing the Project Homeless Connect events on the day of the Point-in-Time,” explained Kathleen Weir, director of the Monmouth County Division of Social Services.

“The pandemic makes it impossible to safely bring together the number of people who participate to a congregate setting,” Weir said. “Instead, this year, the survey is being conducted by outreach workers of the unsheltered homeless.”

Previously held on a single day and bolstered by a cadre of volunteers, this year in response to the pandemic the U.S. Depar tment of Housing and Urban Development, which mandates the survey be held, opted for the count to begin Jan. 27 and continue for 14 days.

“The outreach staff of the Housing Navigator and the PATH program,” Weir explained in an email, “will be the primary staff conducting the survey and they will visit soup kitchens, food pantries throughout the county where we know people who are homeless go for food.

“The question asked will be: Where did you sleep on the night of Jan. 26?”

Due to the pandemic, the Project Homeless Connect outreach in Red Bank for men experiencing homelessness held in conjunction with the count is not being offered this year, Weir said.

Since 2018, the warming center located next door to Pilgrim Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank, in partnership with JBJ Soul Kitchen, Lunch Break and the county, has been available during severe cold weather or Code Blue events and to support outreach on the day of the count.

The center made it possible for social services to better connect with men experiencing homelessness. Women experiencing homelessness could access similar services at a center in Asbury Park.

“Hopefully, next year we will once again coordinate the Project Homeless Connect events,” Weir said.

Lunch Break, which suspended serving meals and providing services on premises, has continued to offer meals-to-go at its blue front doors on Drs. James Parker Boulevard and groceries at the back door.

According to Ellen McCarthy, communications and public relations coordinator, Lunch Break, along with partners, is poised to launch a COVID Emergency Response Project next week.

Monmouth County Commissioner Susan Kiley said the county is attempting to balance the mandate to carry out the homeless census during the pandemic to assess needs and qualify for federal funds, while not putting participants at risk.

“This is normally a pretty big event involving all kinds of volunteers who bring in clothing, meals, to attract the homeless to come in and be counted,” said Kiley, who has oversight of health and human services.

“We send people to places like the railroad station to encourage them (to participate). It is held at multiple sites, but this year we are not doing it because we can’t pull a lot of people into one place because of COVID-19,” she said.

Kiley confirmed that the lack of an indoor site would be a “challenge” for the county this year. “That doesn’t mean we won’t attempt to do the Point-in-Time; we still will have people out in the community. We are still going to attempt to do the best we can,” she said.

“We expect (the pandemic) may impact the event but we don’t have a choice. We can’t create a super-spreader event, especially with the homeless population. We will still attempt to get a count.”

According to Kiley, the county created the Monmouth ACTS website, MonmouthACTS.org, to help residents connect to services and to assist local communities.

“Basically, it’s a partnership between county government and local entities that deliver services to people. We have a homeless hub and meet regularly,” she said.

“Homelessness has gotten worse with COVID,” she acknowledged, adding funding through HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) based on the census is expected to “look at keeping us whole.” 

Monmouth ACTS, she continued, was created to inform residents about the county services that are available. 

“We created a financial initiative to help people through COVID. It is a financial recovery initiative they can access to talk to someone, whether they need housing, food, help with utility bills. We have people that have never had to get services,” she said, “and they don’t know which way to turn.”

Steve Heisman, executive director of HABcore Inc. in Red Bank, which provides housing for homeless individuals and families, said in an email that he does not expect the pandemic to significantly impact grant funding. HUD is automatically renewing the previous year’s grants, he wrote. “I don’t believe it should have a large effect since this is a global pandemic and everyone is aware that many processes have been postponed.”  

According to Casey Vinenckowski of Monarch Housing Associates, the Cranford-based nonprofit is contracted by the state to prepare communities, materials and the survey in all 21 counties, as well as training and data collection and analysis.

Data from the count provides important demographic and other information about families and individuals experiencing homelessness that gives a better understanding of how to best allocate housing resources and services in order to prevent and end homelessness, Vinenckowski explained. 

She said towns have adapted to the extended count.

“Communities have been really strategic about developing outreach schedules and using limited resources to extend throughout the 14 days (of the count),” she said. 

“It is incredibly difficult but communities are doing a great job and they see the value of this. We know when we compare, going forward, having this data is so valuable because it shows us how effectively we are responding to crisis.

“The ultimate goal for the outreach is we’re meeting the homeless in the community where they’re at. It helps to develop a rapport, and is key to engaging with the homeless, working with them to make sure (the count is) as comprehensive as possible even during the pandemic,” she said.

According to its mission statement, Monarch works “to end homelessness through sound planning, advocacy and partnerships and the creation of housing opportunities for all.”

And the annual Point-in-Time Count of the Homeless provides a snapshot of those households experiencing homelessness in communities: where they find shelter, what their needs are, and what factors contribute to making them homeless.

Key findings for Monmouth County’s total homeless population drawn from the 2020 count show that on the night of Jan. 28, a total of 399 persons in 290 households were experiencing homelessness in Monmouth County. This was an increase of 39 persons (11 percent) and 36 households (14 percent) over 2019. A total of 88 persons were identified as chronically homeless and 59 persons were unsheltered on the night of the count.

This article originally appeared in the Jan. 28, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.