By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – Two local nonprofits with complementary missions are partnering to address “the systemic problem” of homelessness in Monmouth County, officials announced this week.
As of Jan. 3, Family Promise of Monmouth County (FPMC) – an Oceanport-based nonprofit that provides family services and temporary housing for those experiencing financial insecurity – officially merged with Lunch Break – a Red Bank-based nonprofit that freely provides food, clothing and social services to those in need. Together, they will help the hundreds who, on average on any given day in Monmouth County, experience homelessness.
“Getting a family stable and back on their feet is not easy. It involves networking of several agencies to pull services together. With Family Promise merging with Lunch Break, it will allow us to have more access to meals, clothing, financial literacy programs, food and many other programs,” said FPMC program director Lenore Gibson. “It’s like a one-stop-shop.”
Having access to resources and funding is critical but can be difficult, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, according to Gibson, in FPMC’s previous model its operations ran on donations. Now, some of its funders “are not all still intact” due to the pandemic and, with people’s circumstances changing because of COVID-19, FPMC is spending $40,000 each month on housing alone for those in need.
“With the shortage of our access to our funds and our donors, (we) will now have Lunch Break which is a secure nonprofit. This will help us a lot to make sure we stay afloat for the community,” said Gibson.
The timing of the merger is perfect as Lunch Break, now in its 39th year, is looking to launch an expansion project at its facility, 121 Drs. James Parker Blvd., to accommodate its growing programs and services. As part of its recent $12 million capital campaign, the center will increase its footprint by some 8,000-plus square feet, expand its warehouse, gathering spaces and permanent home for its Life Skills Center, among other improvements. The goal is to break ground on the project sometime in 2022.
“We knew this was the right time to bring the two organizations together,” said Gwendolyn Love, Lunch Break executive director. “So many of the people we encounter need an escape from the heat and cold; somewhere they can shower and sleep. They are alone and, often, forgotten on the streets. It’s heartbreaking.”
She added that the pandemic helped the nonprofit reevaluate the ways in which it provided some of its resources. A merger just made sense, she said.
“These families are in crisis and it was just a good time – a time that we had to stop and look at a lot of things and other initiatives that we have going on at Lunch Break,” Love said. “COVID just really allowed us to take a step back to look at what we were doing and say, what services do we want to provide and how can we be of more service with families? The timing was just perfect.”
While the merging of these two organizations is new, their working relationship is not. For some time, Lunch Break and FPMC have shared resources and clients to offer them a series of financial, employment, food and clothing services.
“We would rely on them as a community partner to help us with people and oftentimes, they’d send us their own clients who needed life skills training or food assistance or financial assistance or clothing,” said Ellen McCarthy, communications and public relations coordinator with Lunch Break.
McCarthy noted that, as part of the merger, Family Promise will fall under Lunch Break’s network of programs but FPMC will continue operating in Oceanport and will do so “for the foreseeable future.” Staffing will remain the same as well and the two nonprofit’s board members will work together.
“Over the past two years, Family Promise has seen a dramatic increase in need among the most vulnerable families in our community coupled with a more challenging and complicated service model. I am thrilled to be a part of this team of innovators that identified an opportunity to more efficiently and effectively serve our community by reducing duplication of services and sharing resources,” said Family Promise board president Jessica Stepanski. “Together, we are better and stronger.”
The article originally appeared in the January 6 – 12, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
