1st ‘Safe Haven’ Homeless Shelter Opens In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — It’s taken six years to realize the dream of opening the first HUD “Safe Haven” model development in Newark. But with the grand opening of “A Better Life,” an $8 million supportive housing facility for the chronically homeless, the project’s stakeholders hope that a brave new precedent is being set in Essex County.

The facility at 101 Fourteenth Avenue in Newark - which celebrated its grand opening last week - includes “24/7 supervision” and supportive services for its residents, chronically homeless individuals, many who suffer from mental illness, according to the project’s developer, New Community Corporation.

The building has an engagement center, library, dining area, laundry room and 20 studio apartments, each with handicap-accessible private bathrooms and a kitchen area with a stovetop, microwave and refrigerator.

Chelsea Construction Company, a subsidiary of New Community, managed the project and Claremont Construction served as the general contractor. The facility was designed by lwdmr Architects.

Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care will provide 24/7 supervision and support services for residents. University Hospital will refer individuals for placement.

During a grand opening ceremony last week, the New Community Corporation hosted multiple funders and partnering agencies: New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, an affiliate of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs; Red Stone Equity Partners; Essex County HOME Program; Newark HOME Program; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.

“It’s not radical to propose that everyone have a home,” said U.S. Congressman Donald Payne Jr., one of several local and state elected representatives in attendance at last week's ceremony.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said that the county has a “very very high number” of homeless residents, but that projects such as “A Better Life” will help “give them a second chance.”

Essex County has a whopping 24 percent of the state’s homeless population, according to a report from Monarch Housing Associates, which spearheaded an annual, one-day count of the state's homeless population in January.

With a total of 2,048 homeless people counted, Essex County’s total dwarfs the tally from the second-highest county, Hudson, which had 822 homeless residents, according to the study. This was the third-straight year that Essex County topped the state in homeless residents.

• See related article: Essex County Had Most Homeless In New Jersey For 2017, Study Says

According to New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Executive Director Anthony Marchetta, the desire to do something positive for the local homeless population was a bipartisan issue that involved both the Christie and Obama administrations.

“We got half of the resources for this facility from the Sandy Special Needs Housing Trust Fund,” Marchetta said. “That’s a combination of both the state and the federal government.”

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Photos: New Community Corporation