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Catholic Charities Shelter to Host Launch of 'Keys to Ending Homelessness in Hudson County'

NEWARK, N.J. — On Friday, September 22, 2006, at 10 a.m., government and community leaders from throughout the region will meet on the steps of St. Lucy’s Shelter, 619 Grove Street, Jersey City, to launch Keys to Ending Homelessness in Hudson County — the development of a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness in the communities of Hudson County. Operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark, one of New Jersey’s oldest and largest social-service agencies, St. Lucy’s Shelter is a supervised 24-hour, 7-day-a-week, year-round emergency shelter facility for single women and men, offering emergency housing and food for those in need.

“Catholic Charities is proud to host this kick-off event, and we’re eager to contribute to the efforts being led by the Hudson County Alliance to End Homelessness,” said Allan J. Daul, the agency’s executive director. “We hope to see widespread community involvement in the planning process.”

Representing all sectors of the community, five task forces centered on the root causes of homelessness will meet separately, will explore issues specific to their topics, and then will bring their analyses and recommendations back to the larger group. The draft 10-Year Plan, which will include specific recommendations on how existing systems can be strengthened to prevent homelessness and more effectively link people to needed resources, will identify new and innovative ways for system components to be brought together to help ensure that all county residents can gain access to safe, decent, and affordable permanent housing.

“Over the next decade, this strategy to address chronic homelessness can succeed,” said County Executive Tom DeGise, one of the initiative’s co-chairs. “But it will only succeed if we are willing to marshal the resolve and the resources needed to make it a reality. Those we seek to help are not a ‘problem.’ They are people — brothers, sisters, sons and daughters; they are people who have lost their way and need our help to get their lives back on track.”

More information about the 10-Year Plan initiative is available by contacting Daniel Altilio, president of United Way of Hudson County, at (201) 434-2625.

Serving northern New Jersey for more than a century, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark operates programs throughout Essex, Hudson, Union, and Bergen counties, sheltering men, women, and children without homes; counseling families in crisis; providing day care and socialization activities for older adults; building families through adoption; teaching job skills; educating students with special needs; and helping people with HIV/AIDS. Catholic Charities also assists “the stranger among us” through programs for immigrants, refugees, and victims of human trafficking. More information about agency programs and services is available online at www.ccnewark.org. Catholic Charities is affiliated with Catholic Health and Human Services Corporation and supports the mission of the Archdiocese of Newark.

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Catholic Charities is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).