ERADICATING HOMELESSNESS: A HomeFront camper enjoys a field trip. The Lawrence Township-based nonprofit remains steadfast in serving Central New Jersey’s homeless population despite growing challenges. (Photo courtesy of HomeFront)

By Donald Gilpin

Backpacks to be loaded with school supplies for more than 1,500 area children fill the HomeFront warehouse and are just one of many manifestations of HomeFront’s ongoing commitment to ending homelessness in Central New Jersey. That commitment now faces unprecedented challenges with more families in need and fewer resources.

“Uncertainty is the word of the day,” said HomeFront CEO Sarah Steward in a phone conversation last week. “It’s very hard to predict what’s going to happen in our funding landscape. The thing I know for sure is that families count on HomeFront. Last night there were more than 450 people under a HomeFront roof of one sort or another and two-thirds of those are kids. The crisis level is growing very substantially now and it’s going to need more attention and resources to meet the needs we’re seeing.”

In addition to shelter for hundreds, HomeFront provides food, clothing, diapers, and other crucial supplies; wellness and therapeutic programs; educational resources; an eight-week long Camp Mercer, and more —all with the goal of alleviating the suffering of homelessness and helping families to become self-sufficient.

Like almost all nonprofit organizations HomeFront has experienced recent cuts in funding and is concerned that more cuts will be coming, but Steward is not looking to cut HomeFront’s services to those in need.

“While I can sit and think about uncertainty, I have to be in a place where I can provide certainty for families and support them on this path to self-sufficiency,” she said. “We are working hard, turning to our other supporters to ask for assistance at this time because we have an obligation to fulfill the commitment that we’ve made to our community and to provide emergency housing and basic needs and hope for a better tomorrow.”

She continued, “So I’m obviously following these developments closely and I’m very concerned about the direction our government partners are taking. And I’m just as focused on how we can assure continuity of services at this time.”

She noted that an executive order issued by the Trump administration last month signals a different approach to homelessness and housing instability, viewing homelessness as a problem driven by drug use or mental illness. Steward disagrees with this view.

“While those problems certainly exist, they are not the driving forces of the homelessness that we see in our community,” she said. “Families that come to us for assistance are coming to us because they’re having an economic crisis. They’re living so close to the economic edge that when one crisis happens it upsets their whole financial picture and their ability to afford New Jersey’s very high housing prices. An approach that focuses on drug treatment and forced mental health services is just not going to solve the problem that presents itself.”

Steward explained that HomeFront has been able to diversify its funding over the years so that it can be resilient in difficult times. “At any moment there is almost always some new funding source stepping up or another one stepping back, whether it’s government, corporate foundations, or individuals. That’s giving me some confidence in this moment.”

She went on to note that HomeFront does not receive a great deal of direct federal funding, as social services funding is most often allocated to the state and then distributed from there to community organizations and local governments.

She pointed out that with most social service programs administered at the state and county level, this year’s election for governor will have a major impact on HomeFront. “I’m following the gubernatorial election closely,” she said. “The implications it will have for our work will be significant.”

Though she fears a “double whammy” of reduced funding and increased need for services, Steward expressed great faith in the Central New Jersey community’s willingness to respond. “I have never seen a time that we have called on our community for help that they haven’t stepped up,” she said.

Individuals and businesses, however, cannot take the place of government support for many of HomeFront’s programs, Steward emphasized, warning that philanthropy cannot fill the gap created by severe cutbacks in government services. SNAP food stamps, the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, for example, provides nine times as many meals as all the charitable food providers in the country combined.

“i don’t think philanthropy alone can fill the gap here,” she said. “We are incredibly thankful for the generosity of our community, but I believe this is the rightful role of government.”

HomeFront, which in addition to its headquarters in Lawrence Township runs a family shelter at its family campus in Ewing, has expanded in the last few years to offer sheltering options in apartments scattered around the community. “There was so much demand,” said Steward, and now, she is unhappy to report, they are on the verge of acquiring another building to use as a shelter.

“The ultimate answer to homelessness is not to build more shelters,” she said.

“I’d rather tell you we’re expanding other kinds of supports, with more families living independently. We want to be able to support families and help them to find permanent housing. The shelter is a small and brief part of the equation to solving their homelessness challenge, but the need is so great now.”

She continued, “That should be distressing news to our community, because we’re really not moving in the right direction, so I’m waving the flag that this problem is growing even before we see the impact of some of these cuts and policy changes.”

Despite all the challenges that HomeFront faces, and the threat of more difficulties in the future, Steward remains optimistic and thoroughly committed to fulfilling HomeFront’s mission.

“I go to HomeFront every morning excited, and I leave encouraged because I see that there is caring and that change is possible,” she said. “We support families on that path and no matter the funding, the policy climate, the instability, the uncertainty, we are dedicated to do that work. That is our commitment.”

Homefront’s Camp Mercer summer camp, which Steward calls “our daily miracle because it is chaotic and there’s a lot going on, and it’s full of joy and happiness,” will be continuing for about two more weeks.

HomeFront’s Back to School Drive runs through August 11, providing community members of all ages an opportunity to get involved in getting a child on track for a positive start to the coming school year.

Visit .homefrontnj.org or call (609) 989-9417 x112 for more information about how to help.