Former School Reborn As Massive Homeless Shelter In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — It’s a homeless shelter. But it’s also a pathway to social services that can get people back on their feet again, Newark officials say.

Earlier this week, officials and supporters gathered for a ribbon cutting event at the Miller Street Pathways to Housing Center, a new shelter and support center at 47 Miller Street. It marks a unique transformation for the property, which used to serve as the former Miller Street Elementary School. Read More: Newark Is Turning An Old School Into A Huge Homeless Shelter

Construction and renovation of the former school began last February. Now, there’s a new, 24,000-square-foot shelter in its place, which will be complemented with “supportive social services” to help transition Newark’s homeless residents to more stable housing.

Those services will include individual counseling and case management, behavioral health, social, nutritional services, and drug/alcohol addiction counseling.

Newark city officials said the “state-of-the-art” facility has 166 shelter beds, including 84 for men, 44 for women and 21 “Code Blue” beds, which can be used when the city experiences frigid winter weather. The shelter also has seven individual suites with a total of 17 beds for families.

The shelter’s daily “drop in” facility features individual bathrooms (showers, bathing, and changing facilities), washers and dryers, and tables, chairs, and televisions. And a full commercial kitchen was installed for on-site meal preparation for people in the shelter residence … as well as the greater community, officials said.

• See related article: Free 'Community Refrigerators' Ease Food Insecurity In Newark

Catholic Charities worked in conjunction with the city and Claremont Development for roughly five-years to develop the facility, which is also home to a number of other Catholic Charities’ social and supportive services programs.

John Westervelt, CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark, said the group is “very excited” to partner with the city on the new shelter.

“The Miller Street Pathways to Housing Center not only will have an impact meeting the immediate needs of the homeless today, but will also impact their tomorrows as the center’s services build stability in the lives of men, women and children in need,” Westervelt said.

City of Newark Homelessness Czar Sakinah Hoyte, who runs Newark’s homelessness initiatives, called the project “a great example of public, private, and non-profit collaboration,” which Mayor Ras Baraka agreed with.

“The opening of this center is yet another positive step forward and a major milestone in our community-wide efforts to address and eradicate homelessness,” Baraka said. “Every resident without an address deserves a pathway to permanent housing and my administration will continually strive to shelter and protect the most vulnerable in our community.”

The mayor said that the Miller Street center is the latest progressive initiative in the city’s strategic plan to combat homelessness.

Last year, the city established an emergency shelter called “Newark Hope Village” made of converted shipping containers, which allows the most vulnerable people a short-term stay to find pathways to mental health, drug treatment and social services available to them.

• Read More: Newark Transforms Empty Storage Containers Into Homeless Shelters

Recently, the city’s “Making Housing Homes Challenge” invited developers to create 200 transitional and permanent housing units to serve local residents experiencing homeless. One creative idea? “Tiny houses” that serve as individual shelters.

• Read More: Can These 'Tiny Houses' Help Ease Homelessness In Newark?

Baraka also pointed out that during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the city temporarily housed and fed more than 300 homeless residents at local hotels to minimize the spread of the disease. Because of this action, their rate of infection was among the lowest of any group in the city, Baraka said.

• Read More: Newark Raises Bar For Homeless Outreach In Coronavirus Crisis

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