Essex County Has Most Homeless Residents In NJ: Study

For the second year in a row, Essex County is home to the most homeless residents in the state, according to a recent study.

Released on Tuesday, the NJ Counts 2016 Point-In-Time study counted 8,941 homeless men, women and children across New Jersey during its Jan. 26 effort, a decrease of almost 12.4 percent from 2015.

Essex County had the largest number of homeless residents, 1,782, which is about 20 percent of the state’s homeless population of 8,941, according to the study.

Read the full Essex County report here.

It’s the second year that the county has led the state in homeless residents; in 2015, the county was home to around 17 percent of the statewide total.

• See related article: Essex County Has The Most Homeless Residents In New Jersey

The report is an annual effort to provide a snapshot that shows where people are finding shelter, what their needs are and what factors contribute to their homelessness, in addition to providing data about statewide trends.

Volunteers collected the data over a one-day period this winter, using information from the New Jersey Homeless Management Information System. In addition, surveyors visited places that local homeless populations are known to exist, such as parks, overpasses and train/bus stations.

• See related article: Life Through The Lens Of Homeless NJ Photographers: GALLERY

Monarch Housing Associates, which organized the effort this year, shared the story of Theresa Pringle, who lives in a homeless shelter in Newark and has been homeless for a year.

“In April 2016, she had to leave a shelter where she was staying at the time and lived on the street and on the river, moving place to place,” Monarch Housing staff wrote. “She became part of an underground group of people staying in Newark’s Penn Station.”

“I don’t wish this on anybody,” said Pringle, the mother of six children, who added that she expects to move in to her own apartment within a month.

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Photo: Fran Urbano, Flickr Commons

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