Each morning, police cleared people sleeping at Newark Penn Station before the commuter rush. Eddie would often take a train to towns along the line to pass the day. That’s how he found himself in Morristown when he suffered a medical crisis — and first connected with NewBridge Services.

Eddie had been diagnosed as a teenager with a trauma-induced multiple personality disorder. His mental illness was not well managed and he’d been homeless more than a year when he met staff from NewBridge’s Community Support Services program while hospitalized in 2013.

When he left Morristown Medical Center, public funding allowed him to rent an apartment, and NewBridge provided help with daily living. Eddie’s needs were extensive. Staff took him shopping and to appointments, and paid his bills.

He has since gained independence, caring for himself and taking over management of his expenses two years ago. “Now he’s doing it on his own and handling all his finances,” said Michael Fritts, a CSS supervisor and former case manager who met Eddie in 2016. “He’s just come such a long way.”

Eddie receives medication management from a NewBridge psychiatric nurse practitioner. At age 63, he’s taking online classes to earn his high school diploma. He intends to use his education to help others. “Helping the homeless again. Always helping young people,” Eddie said.

“He has such a big heart,” Fritts said. “In his own little area, Eddie wants to change the world.”

Having a place of his own represents something Eddie once lost and has worked hard to regain. When asked what having a home meant to him, he said: “Freedom. And I love my freedom.”