Post by Marc LeVine on Jan 26, 2007 14:19:42 GMT -5
You have to ask yourself how people, who are not homeless, have the audacity to request free clothing at an event strictly geared to the homeless. Why not reach into a Salvation Army collection pot and help yourselves? This is rude behavior.
Marc
RESULTS TO HELP DETERMINE FEDERAL FUNDING
Census crews set out to count the homeless
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/26/07
BY JOSEPH SAPIA
STAFF WRITER
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Abner Duarte wore a pullover sweater and carried a pair of boots, with a sleeping bag in a box nearby — all items picked up in a basement room of St. Peter's Episcopal Church parish center in Freehold.
Duarte, 19, a Guatemalan national who has been in the United States for four years, said he needed the goods.
"For the snow," said Duarte, a day laborer who is seeking American citizenship. "The cold. That's why I take it."
The free goods were available through "Project Homeless Connect," a national grass-roots effort to assist the homeless held Thursday for the first time in New Jersey.
In Monmouth County, goods were distributed to the needy, whether they were homeless or, as in Duarte's case, have a place to live, said Laurie F. Duhovny, coordinator of the Monmouth County Human Services Council.
In New Jersey, Project Homeless Connect coincided with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development's annual mandate to do a census of the homeless — the "Point-in-Time Counts of Homeless Persons" — to qualify for specific HUD aid.
In 2006, Monmouth County received $1.75 million in those HUD funds, said Lynn F. Miller, director of the Monmouth County Department of Human Services. The money is used for such things as permanent and temporary housing and preventing homelessness, Miller said.
Firm statistics on this year's census — described by Duhovny as a one-day snapshot — will not be available until coordinated and released by HUD in about five weeks.
In 2006, the census was done in May and showed 1,418 homeless in Monmouth County, Miller said.
"It's a very important event to bring (federal) dollars into the county," said Miller, speaking of the census.
But officials believe the census produces a low figure because it is voluntary, being homeless is cyclical and, as Miller said, there are the "hidden homeless" that cannot be tracked.
But, "that's about as true as we can get," Miller said of the census figure.
The census was conducted by county workers and volunteers from private social service agencies. Census-takers visited the four county Project Homeless Connect sites in Freehold, Keyport, Asbury Park and Long Branch, along with food give-away programs and other sites where the homeless gather, Miller said.
"We check the Boardwalk area, we check areas where we've seen people in the past, (such as) the train station," Doug Schultz, a social worker in Asbury Park, said of the city's count.
At St. Peter's in Freehold, seven homeless people were recorded at the Project Homeless Connect program that ran from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Miller said.
In Ocean County, Mary Fran McFadden, social work administrator for the county Board of Social Services, said homeless people living in shelters were being counted by the agencies that placed them.
In addition, a group of volunteers was fanning out to count at four different sites in the county that were designated part of Project Homeless Connect. Workers at these locations were distributing items such as blankets, sleeping bags and coats.
Volunteers were also going to places in the county where homeless people are known to gather, McFadden said.
Taking part in Project Homeless Connect in Monmouth County were 320 in Freehold, 45 at El Mesias Methodist Church in Keyport, 47 at the St. Vincent DePaul Society in Long Branch and 70 at the Salvation Army in Asbury Park, Miller said. At the Salvation Army, items such as coats, jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, T-shirts and toiletries were distributed, Schultz said.
"People showed up primarily because there was food, clothing and other items being offered to the indigent population," said Schultz, adding the majority were not homeless.
Jose DeJeda, 38, of Freehold picked up a rain poncho at the Freehold site.
"I just came from Los Angeles because there's not work," said DeJeda, who arrived in the borough earlier this week and has a place to live.
DeJeda, who is looking for work, said he needed boots, too, but his size was unavailable.
Mike Perez, 20, a borough resident with housing, picked up rain gear and two pairs of shoes. Perez, who came to the United States four years ago from Mexico, is undocumented.
"That's good for people," said Perez, a day laborer, of the Project Homeless Connect giveaway program.
Marc
RESULTS TO HELP DETERMINE FEDERAL FUNDING
Census crews set out to count the homeless
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/26/07
BY JOSEPH SAPIA
STAFF WRITER
Post Comment
Abner Duarte wore a pullover sweater and carried a pair of boots, with a sleeping bag in a box nearby — all items picked up in a basement room of St. Peter's Episcopal Church parish center in Freehold.
Duarte, 19, a Guatemalan national who has been in the United States for four years, said he needed the goods.
"For the snow," said Duarte, a day laborer who is seeking American citizenship. "The cold. That's why I take it."
The free goods were available through "Project Homeless Connect," a national grass-roots effort to assist the homeless held Thursday for the first time in New Jersey.
In Monmouth County, goods were distributed to the needy, whether they were homeless or, as in Duarte's case, have a place to live, said Laurie F. Duhovny, coordinator of the Monmouth County Human Services Council.
In New Jersey, Project Homeless Connect coincided with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development's annual mandate to do a census of the homeless — the "Point-in-Time Counts of Homeless Persons" — to qualify for specific HUD aid.
In 2006, Monmouth County received $1.75 million in those HUD funds, said Lynn F. Miller, director of the Monmouth County Department of Human Services. The money is used for such things as permanent and temporary housing and preventing homelessness, Miller said.
Firm statistics on this year's census — described by Duhovny as a one-day snapshot — will not be available until coordinated and released by HUD in about five weeks.
In 2006, the census was done in May and showed 1,418 homeless in Monmouth County, Miller said.
"It's a very important event to bring (federal) dollars into the county," said Miller, speaking of the census.
But officials believe the census produces a low figure because it is voluntary, being homeless is cyclical and, as Miller said, there are the "hidden homeless" that cannot be tracked.
But, "that's about as true as we can get," Miller said of the census figure.
The census was conducted by county workers and volunteers from private social service agencies. Census-takers visited the four county Project Homeless Connect sites in Freehold, Keyport, Asbury Park and Long Branch, along with food give-away programs and other sites where the homeless gather, Miller said.
"We check the Boardwalk area, we check areas where we've seen people in the past, (such as) the train station," Doug Schultz, a social worker in Asbury Park, said of the city's count.
At St. Peter's in Freehold, seven homeless people were recorded at the Project Homeless Connect program that ran from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Miller said.
In Ocean County, Mary Fran McFadden, social work administrator for the county Board of Social Services, said homeless people living in shelters were being counted by the agencies that placed them.
In addition, a group of volunteers was fanning out to count at four different sites in the county that were designated part of Project Homeless Connect. Workers at these locations were distributing items such as blankets, sleeping bags and coats.
Volunteers were also going to places in the county where homeless people are known to gather, McFadden said.
Taking part in Project Homeless Connect in Monmouth County were 320 in Freehold, 45 at El Mesias Methodist Church in Keyport, 47 at the St. Vincent DePaul Society in Long Branch and 70 at the Salvation Army in Asbury Park, Miller said. At the Salvation Army, items such as coats, jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, T-shirts and toiletries were distributed, Schultz said.
"People showed up primarily because there was food, clothing and other items being offered to the indigent population," said Schultz, adding the majority were not homeless.
Jose DeJeda, 38, of Freehold picked up a rain poncho at the Freehold site.
"I just came from Los Angeles because there's not work," said DeJeda, who arrived in the borough earlier this week and has a place to live.
DeJeda, who is looking for work, said he needed boots, too, but his size was unavailable.
Mike Perez, 20, a borough resident with housing, picked up rain gear and two pairs of shoes. Perez, who came to the United States four years ago from Mexico, is undocumented.
"That's good for people," said Perez, a day laborer, of the Project Homeless Connect giveaway program.