Today in Westampton, Burlington County Freeholders and
gathered officials cut the ribbon for the Housing Hub in the Burlington County
Human Services Building.
“The County Housing Hub will provide residents with a
streamlined process for seeking assistance from Human Services and its
community partners,” said Burlington County Freeholder Felicia Hopson, liaison
to the Department of Human Services. “The Hub provides a coordinated entry
point for residents experiencing homelessness. When residents come to the
Housing Hub, staff and community partners will utilize the coordinated
assessment developed by our local Continuum of Care System, and this
information will be used to connect the clients to the services available to
help them on site.”
The Housing Hub will have daily volunteers scheduled from
various County agencies as well as community partners to assist those seeking
housing. Partners at the Housing Hub may include but are not limited to: Board
of Social Services, Christian Caring Center, Belmont Homes, St. Vincent DePaul,
Legacy PATH Services, Soldier On, Salvation Army, Social Security and
Children’s System Partners.
“While strides have been made to reduce the homelessness
rate in Burlington County, more needs to be done to help connect people who are
homeless to the resources that can help them,” said New Jersey Senator Troy
Singleton. “That is why the Housing Hub – which will provide a centralized
point of access to housing and social services – is needed now, more than ever.
I am thankful for the leadership of Freeholder Hopson and the Freeholder Board
for their relentless commitment to finding solutions to help the homeless in
Burlington County.”
“The goal of the Housing Hub was to reduce
barriers for our at-risk residents, while increasing daily interface between
our social services agencies,” said Freeholder Hopson. “This is a unique model
in the State, and ultimately moves us toward the goals recommended by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of having a single point of
entry. We are hopeful that this will lead to consideration of increased funding
from HUD in the future. We believe having all the service providers in the room
together will lead to improved care for our residents.”