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Housing prices' boom the bane of homeless
Redevelopment typically means relocation or worse

Though autumn's splendor could have clouded their focus, Passaic County representatives who trekked from urban areas into Wanaque woodlands Monday pledged not to be done in by the tranquility of colored leaves but to remain committed to ending homelessness even here.

"Just because it's nice and pretty and the scenario has changed doesn't mean the need is gone," Jay Boxwell of St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson told about 50 who gathered at Passaic County Community College's satellite campus to tackle homelessness.

Others reaffirmed that the choice of the Wanaque campus for the Passaic County Interagency Council on Homelessness' midterm planning session on ending homelessness was a symbol of support for the homeless throughout the region.

"It's a real show of support that we chose Wanaque," said Robert Parker, event moderator and executive director of the nonprofit NewBridge Services, at the forefront of developing affordable housing to be dispersed throughout Morris and Passaic counties.

Ringwood Mayor Joanne Atlas has spent many years devoted to preventing homelessness as one who has been active with her family in tenant rights.

She started the session by talking about the need to develop affordable homes but also to preserve the environment, which has a filtering effect on drinking water from North Jersey reservoirs that supply 5 million people.

"It's important to include a range of affordable housing and keep a watchful eye on redevelopment scenarios," Atlas said.

The wave of redevelopment taking place in North Jersey has the potential, she said, to create a wave of new homelessness as it displaces those living in marginal housing in blighted areas that are targeted for a facelift.

While homelessness often carries with it an image of people living on the street, Atlas says that in the county's rural areas it takes the form of people staying with relatives, moving from place to place, and overcrowding apartments.

"There are many foreclosures in Ringwood. If people lose their homes they will go on the rolls of homelessness," she predicted. The sludge contamination of Upper Ringwood neighborhoods designated a federal Superfund cleanup site also has the potential to create new homelessness, Atlas said.

She called for the creation of "small discreet modest housing opportunities in neighborhoods" where people can become part of the community.

"We're looking for these opportunities. We're a very nurturing community," said Atlas. "Allowing people an opportunity to live in a neighborhood will be a positive experience for all as opposed to a large building where they are separated, segregated and can be open to hostility."

Second to speak was Samuel Miller, regional coordinator of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, who spurred the county planners on with the thought that a 10-year plan to stop homelessness is a "doable task."

"People say 'That's ridiculous, how can we get rid of homelessness?' Well, first of all, we shouldn't have it," he said.

Miller stressed the importance of getting the homeless involved in planning for their future, saying: "It's important if you are providing a service for someone that you let them have a voice."

He also said that police and sheriff's officers should get involved since they can be key to connecting the homeless to services.

The Passaic County Interagency Council on Homelessness, which hopes to unveil its plan in January, has divvied up the work into five task forces, each of which gave an update on progress at Monday's meeting.

"It will not be a plan that gathers dust. It's about outcomes," said Robert Guarasci, president of the nonprofit New Jersey Community Development Corp. in Paterson who addressed public policy and the homelessness plan.

"There is no doubt that we can make a sizable impact on homelessness and ending the scourge because it really is a scourge," he said.

What it takes, he said, is a "paradigm shift"-to convince funding agencies that it makes more sense to pay for affordable housing and connect people to services than it does to pay for hotel rooms-what he called a "bandaid approach."

Barbara Niziol, development officer for Eva's Village, a Paterson shelter, described her task force's goal-permanent affordable and supportive housing-as the "number one need in Passaic County" and called for the creation of 600 units to end chronic homelessness.

All agreed the units should be scattered throughout the county "on a fair share basis" and not confined to the city areas like Paterson most associated with homelessness.

Funding, she said, could come from a revolving loan fund and even the establishment of trust funds for housing.

Since many homeless people qualify for services they are not receiving or don't know about, Passaic County planners talked about the need for two "single point of entries" in both rural and city regions, so that there is just one place for the homeless to go to connect for help."

Better ties among social service agencies and smoother transitions for those being discharged from jails, hospitals or shelters were also identifies as key among the steps to helping the homeless.

On the subject of shelters, Tom Palermo spoke for the Strengthen our Sisters women's shelter that recently met an eviction order for some of its families at a Wanaque facility that has operated for seven years. All seemed to agree that SOS should be assisted through any legal steps necessary to continue to run the shelter, rather than add to the ranks of the homeless.

Luis Tamayo of the Discharge Planning Task Force said that New Jersey is poised to inject millions of dollars in the next few years with backing from recent governors that could be directed toward homelessness. Tamayo, of the New Jersey Department of Human Services, predicted that it is the counties with the plans, such as the 10-year plan Passaic County is pursuing, that will reap the benefits of such funds.

Boxwell, of St. Joseph's, spoke of the need to make doctors, nurses and other emergency room staff aware of the signs of homelessness. If a homeless person ends up in the emergency room, they should get more than a list of shelters on their way out. Follow up attention is key.