Stories of Homelessness: Newark’s Harmony House Hosts Fundraiser

Newark, NJ - When she first found herself homeless, Jasmine Thompson's greatest fear was having her family split apart.

“The most important thing was keeping my family together," said Thompson, 31, of Newark, who shared her touching story during New Community Corporation’s 22nd annual charity golf fundraiser at the Montclair Golf Club in West Orange last month.

During the fundraiser – which drew more than 90 golfers from the Essex County area – Thompson told a rapt audience about how she, her husband, Gordon, and their two young children persevered after Gordon lost his job and they could no longer afford rent.

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With her family’s back against the wall, Thompson turned to Harmony House, New Community's 102-unit transitional housing facility for homeless families in Newark.

During her family's 11-month stay at Harmony House, Thompson participated in job training and secured permanent employment. She also enrolled in New Community Workforce Development Center's ShopRite Partners-In-Training, where she received training in customer service, cashier and store management and was hired as a front-end supervisor at the ShopRite in Newark, where she continues to work today.

Recently, Thompson renewed her certified nursing assistant license, organizers at New Community reported.

During the evening reception, attendees also heard testimonials from two additional speakers. Single mother Harvishia Murray, who moved to Harmony House with her children after leaving a “domestically violent relationship,” said that the nonprofit is helping her to seek permanent housing.

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Maurice Culley of East Orange, a graduate of the New Community Workforce Development Center Building Trades Program, said that he learned skills such as electrical, plumbing, hanging sheet rock, roofing and painting from the Harmony House Building Trades Program.

Culley said that he initially landed a job as a pipefitter. Soon thereafter, he applied for a job at Delta, based at Newark Liberty International Airport, and was hired as a painter before being promoted within six months to the position of mechanic.

“My goal is to be better tomorrow than I was today and help young men like me reach their ultimate goals,” Culley said.

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Photo courtesy of New Community Corporation