About Us
The Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless was one of the first organizations to advocate on behalf of homeless people in the State of New Jersey. We were created in 1981 in response to the mounting needs of homeless families and individuals in our community. Since that time, we have seen an exponential increase in the number of homeless adults and children. This is a direct result of both a lack of truly affordable housing and a lack of jobs that pay a living wage. The Coalition has developed innovative strategies to organize and empower homeless people. These approaches have been adopted by a number of agencies throughout the State. Together with our “sister agency,” St. Joseph Social Service Center, we provide wraparound services and support to address the needs of the homeless.
The Coalition’s earliest work focused on the emergency assistance needs of the adult homeless, providing advocacy to ensure shelter as well as developing housing search services. These efforts were instrumental in pushing the state of New Jersey to improve access to emergency shelter. In time, our advocacy unit (Project Gatekeeper) expanded in order to provide: one-to-one advocacy, case management and housing search assistance, emergency housing and rental assistance, as well as expansive community educational training for clients, advocates and social service providers. Additionally, since 2003, the Coalition has provided a “safe haven” winter shelter program from December 1- March 31, called Operation Warm Heart. In addition to providing safe overnight shelter at local churches, this program includes intensive social work services to move clients from the streets to more traditional shelter with the goal of permanent housing with social supports.
As the number of homeless children grew, the Coalition created the first homeless children’s program in the State of New Jersey (Bernice’s Place). Later, transitional housing projects were developed to both restore homeless people’s sense of community and offer something more in an emergency than bare subsistence (Hospitality House Program).
The Coalition has witnessed increases in the number of homeless adults and children. We have struggled on a daily basis not only to assist the individual, but also to alter the circumstances of all homeless people. The Coalition has worked to preserve human dignity and meet the collective interests of the homeless population. This has never been simply for, but rather with the marginalized members of our community, in order that everyone may be empowered.