Housing First Launched with help from Ashley Furniture

As of December 1^st, four chronically homeless individuals with disabilities from Passaic County have an apartment of their own and are no longer homeless.  These individuals are the first of many who will be permanently housed through NJCDC’s newest housing program called Housing First.  NJCDC was selected by the Passaic County Housing First Collaborative as the supportive service provider for this project, and has worked over the last year with members of the group to move chronically homeless individuals off the street and out of shelters.

The Housing First model is different than the traditional emergency and transitional housing responses to homelessness as it focuses on first providing an individual with a permanent place to call home, creating immediate stability.  Tenants are then offered services to help them maintain their housing.  Numerous studies from across the country have indicated that not only is this model an effective way of permanently ending chronic homelessness, but that it is a much more cost affective approach than leaving homeless individuals on the street where they often cycle in and out of shelters, hospitals and jails.  The Passaic County Housing First Project is part of the second pilot project of its type in the state that will work to end homelessness in our while collecting data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program and advocate for funding for similar projects in the future.

Funding for this project has been received through the Passaic County Housing First Collaborative, Passaic County Department of Human Services and HUD rental assistance vouchers.  Ashley Furniture HomeStores and Sealy Mattress Factory have donated the furniture and mattresses for all fifteen apartments, helping make the transition much easier for the new residents.