All posts by Jared Kofsky

Jared Kofsky served The Streetlight from August 2016 to December 2019 as the Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief.
News

Newark’s Government Joins Fight Against Homelessness in Their City

By Jared Kofsky

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka speaks to the media at the opening of the H.E.L.P. Shelter. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.

When it comes to homelessness in the United States, it has long been debated whether the crisis should be addressed by government agencies or societal groups.

In the Trenton area, both categories have long played a crucial role in homelessness prevention, though non-profit organizations and religious institutions continue to operate nearly every food pantry, soup kitchen, and shelter. Although assistance is provided to these groups through county, state, and federal dollars, often for specific contracted services, a look at our Mercer County Resource Guide will reveal that many of the region’s vital resources for individuals and families experiencing homelessness are not run by government agencies themselves.

For instance, while the City of Trenton does operate the CEAS Center in order to assist people experiencing homelessness, the capital region’s only emergency shelter for single adults is operated by the non-profit Rescue Mission of Trenton with the assistance of government funding for services such as shelter stays and case management. Across town, several facilities for young adults experiencing homelessness are all operated by the non-profit Anchor House, Inc. Other major Mercer County organizations like Rise and HomeFront are non-profit groups as well.

Societal organizations playing such a key role in homelessness prevention is common throughout the state and the country. This makes the recent moves by the municipal government in the Garden State’s largest city quite unique and raises questions about whether other New Jersey cities could follow suit. Last December, officials cut the ribbon on the Homeless Emergency Living Partnership (HELP) Center in Newark, a temporary government-run shelter.

“As long as they’re in our community, we’re going to service them,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told The Streetlight, referring to people experiencing homelessness.

The facility, which was operated with the assistance of Emergency Housing Services, Inc., took over a former halfway house. While the building was not in pristine condition when it opened, it allowed people to have a place to sleep during the coldest months of the year. However, the shelter closed its doors in September, forcing its 194 residents to end up back on the streets, according to NJ Advance Media. Then, in November, Newark officials announced that seven year- round shelters for people experiencing homelessness throughout the city would open, receiving funding from both City Hall and local organizations.

Now, Newark is looking to address the homelessness crisis within city limits by creating a homelessness commission. The board will be made up of between 15 and 30 members, at least one of which must have experienced homelessness. City records obtained by The Streetlight show that all members will be tasked with providing “a framework and strategy” for bringing an end to homelessness in Newark. Specifically, the group will not only lead the Point-in-Time Count for the city, but they will recommend services, evaluate funding opportunities, coordinate resources, and conduct advocacy efforts.

Locally, the Trenton/Mercer Continuum of Care Program operates the Point-in-Time Count and connects government, non-profit, and religious partners, though the capital region does not have a homelessness commission run directly by a municipality.

Cities in particular continue to battle the homelessness crisis more than other regions. Essex County, one of New Jersey’s densest, is believed to be home of 24 percent of New Jersey’s population experiencing homelessness, according to the 2018 Point-in-Time Count results. In New Jersey, non-profit resources and major public spaces such as train terminals tend to be concentrated in cities.

“You’re not going to get help standing on a corner in Millburn,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told The Streetlight, referring to one of his city’s wealthiest suburban enclaves. “You might go to jail.”

It remains to be seen what Newark’s new commission will recommend and if other New Jersey municipalities like Trenton will open up shelters of their own. Former Governor Chris Christie told The Streetlight that he would have supported such a move on the municipal level during his administration, though NJ Spotlight has reported that current Governor Phil Murphy’s new economic plan calls for having the state government partner with hospitals to construct housing for individuals experiencing homelessness. The future of government’s role in homelessness in the Garden State still remains unclear.

News

Newspaper Serves Italians Experiencing Homelessness

By Jahnvi Upreti

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Editor’s Note: TCNJ Bonner Community Scholar Jahnvi Upreti is studying abroad in Italy and filed this report that gives an international perspective on media for individuals experiencing homelessness.

While The Streetlight has been serving local communities for nearly a decade, this publication is far from the world’s only media outlet published for and with people experiencing homelessness. In Bologna, Italy, another outlet not only serves as a newspaper for the city’s population experiencing homelessness, but has become an institution for local residents.

Within the heart of Bologna’s town center, at the corner of Via Antonio di Vincenzo and Via Francesco Albani, lies a small storefront with a brightly decorated chalkboard reading “Happy Place.” A social space provided by the municipality of Bologna, Happy Center is managed by the Piazza Grande cooperative. Piazza Grande is an incredibly respected organization in the city of Bologna that actively provides social spaces and services for Bologna’s homeless population. However, not many today realize that the expansive and well-known organization was once only words written on paper.

In 1993, the first publication of the original Piazza Grande newspaper was released in Bologna. The paper’s intention was threefold: to allow marginalized individuals within Bologna to express themselves through art and writing, to provide them with a means of financial self sustainability, and to battle social exclusion and affirm the rights of the homeless population. Those who contribute to the newsletter include individuals experiencing homelessness, volunteer journalists, and professionals from the social services field.

Since 1993, the grassroots newspaper has evolved from a platform for individual self expression and sustainability to the established organization recognized today. Though these chronicles were a step towards greater autonomy, they were not enough to allow for greater agency within society. These individuals decided to pursue the resources needed to create a space where they could not only share ideas and stories through a paper, but where they could find solidarity through common experiences like socialization and art. With help from the Municipality of Bologna, Piazza Grande was created by those who needed it most.

Piazza Grande provides a number of services to people in the margins of Bologna, such as housing, social services, vocational support, counseling, and more. Its sub-organization, Happy Place, was designed as a community laboratory for individuals experiencing homelessness, but open to anyone. Happy Place provides a space where people can participate in group activities, such as English-Italian language exchanges on Wednesdays and musical sessions on Fridays. Happy Center also allows individuals to simply utilize the space, no participation in specific group activities are required.

Salvatore, a frequent visitor at the Happy Center, elaborated further on the importance of spaces such as those provided by Piazza Grande for marginalized populations. As an individual who has experienced homelessness, Salvatore delineated how Happy Place allows him to “work” by providing him with a space to create his art: specifically jewelry and mirror designs.

“I find copper on the streets, and I make it into rings and bracelets… from something thrown away, I create life.”

Since the start of the Piazza Grande publications in Bologna, the newspaper has slowly shifted from a platform designed solely by the homeless communities of Bologna, to one co-opted by greater newspaper organizations, such as the Bologna Press. The publications of Piazza Grande have been suspended since the summer of 2018, until this coming December in order to revamp the publication and focus on the voiceless once more. Experts in social journalism will be working with members of Piazza Grande to recommit to the initial goals of tackling social exclusion by placing the voices of marginalized individuals at the forefront of the newspaper. The publications have also adapted to include a new goal: to fight racism, specifically in regards to migrants.

Leonardo Tancredi, editor of the Piazza Grande publications, states that “… Piazza Grande could be the first newspaper in the world [that is] the result of a participatory process.”

News

Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Expands

By Joshua Trifari

The new wing of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.

An air of excitement looms over the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). The many noises that accompany construction provide a backdrop to the daily business of the soup kitchen and oftentimes interrupts tutoring and meal service. The 3,400 square foot expansion was expected to be completed by the beginning of the winter.

There are some disappointments, as some eager staff harp lightly about their parking spaces being displaced. Overall, however, patrons and employees alike are excited for these new changes, just in time for the festivity of the holiday season.

“I am very excited,” said Phyllis Blassingame, a longtime patron of the soup kitchen. She participates in the adult GED program and also volunteers, helping with meal service. “I am looking forward to having a classroom where we can learn.”

Dennis, another patron who is friends with Blassingame, expressed a similar sentiment. “I am just looking forward to having more space,” he told The Streetlight.

However, the path to expansion wasn’t necessarily easy.

“We thought we were going to renovate before we expanded,” said Melissa Rivera, TASK’s Manager of Internal Operations.

Now, renovations will take place after expansion. According to Rivera, most of the operations will be transferred into the new building while renovations will be taking place in the original building.

The expansion will help improve many of the programs that the soup kitchen already offers. Classrooms will be added, along with a computer lab and a testing center, all of which are expected to greatly improve the adult education program, though no new programs are currently slated to be added, according to Rivera.

Reed Gusciora, Trenton’s new mayor, toured the construction site in November.

“They’ll have the capacity to serve more of the homeless population in the near future,” Gusciora told The Streetlight.

The expansion comes at a time when the latest Point-In-Time Count of people experiencing homelessness in New Jersey concluded that homelessness increased between 2017 and 2018.

TASK has been at its Escher Street location since 1991. Since then, it has served over a million meals, whilst simultaneously offering programs that are designed to improve the quality of life of its patrons.

“I’m optimistic that the expansion will increase our capacity to serve the community,” Rivera said.

A grand opening celebration has been scheduled for May 3, 2019.

News

Campuses Across New Jersey Begin Addressing Food Insecurity

The College of New Jersey’s campus in Ewing Township. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.

By Mariana Acevedo, Jared Kofsky, and Joshua Trifari

A recent report in NPR stated that 36 percent of college students nationwide say they are food insecure while nine percent identify as homeless. The report cited a survey published by Temple University and Wisconsin HOPE Labs that found that in addition, 36 percent of students face housing insecurity. In the fall of 2016, Rutgers University-New Brunswick took the initiative to lighten the burden for students struggling to put food on their dorm room tables.

For a university like Rutgers in nearby Middlesex County, the largest college in New Jersey, it is not surprising that there is a need for the school to provide aid for a population of students facing these crises.

The Rutgers Student Food Pantry (RSFP) is a new operation that is centrally located for students, who are not required to make an appointment to take advantage of the facility’s services. The food pantry offers filling options, such as pasta and rice, with important supplements like protein included. Rutgers students only need to bring their campus ID upon arrival and fill out a brief identification form before being able to take advantage of the food pantry’s services.

“People have an image of what they think a college student is,” Kelli Wilson, Rutgers’ Director of Off-Campus Living and Community Partnerships, told Rutgers Today. “Many college students are working multiple jobs to pay their way while taking classes. A dining plan is probably the easiest thing for them to cut out or cut short on if they are paying their tuition.”

Rising tuition combined with declining financial aid and lingering effects of the recession all increase students’ vulnerability to food insecurity, Wilson said to Rutgers Today.

The Daily Targum reported in September 2018 that $2 million would be donated to extend the services that Rutgers already provides for its students in need, such as food pantries.

In order to increase the accessibility of the pantry, improvements have been suggested to the program, including an extension of hours, particularly on the weekends, for student who spend most of their week in class or at work.

Rutgers University is not the only Garden State institution that has a food pantry. Locally, in Mercer County, Rider University also has a similar resource. According to Rider’s website, the food pantry opened in February of last year.

“The pantry responds to the unmet needs of Rider students, with special consideration for homeless and low-income students and those with food insecurity,” said Ida Tyson, the associate Director of Rider’s Educational Opportunity Program and co-chair for the pantry’s steering committee.

In addition to providing food essentials to students, the pantry also provides toiletries and winter coats.

The other three colleges in the greater Trenton area, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Princeton University, and Mercer County Community College, do not yet have a food pantry for students. However, at TCNJ’s Ewing campus, Associate Dean of Students Elizabeth Gallus told The Streetlight that a food pantry is expected to open in the spring of 2019.

Uncategorized

Preventing Poverty in Princeton

By Joyce Vilson, Alyssa Sedacca, and Joshua Trifari

Housing Initiatives of Princeton (HIP) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2004 to target homelessness and offer low-income housing in the Princeton area. The group, run entirely by volunteers, provides low-income families a second chance to establish a permanent home in the community.

According to Carol Golden, chair of the Board of Trustees of HIP, Princeton is a very expensive town to live in, making homelessness deceptively easy to fall into.

“People fall on hard times, and often, there is no one to turn to to prevent them from falling into homelessness,” Golden told The Streetlight.

HIP’s transitional housing helps families who are struggling financially and those who are experiencing homelessness by receiving temporary shelter. This supportive service is available for up to 24 months, coupled with other job search programs. The organization also offers rental assistance through the form of a security deposit or first month’s rent.

HIP works with local institutions such as Princeton University and Princeton Medical Center in order to assist clients. There is a plan in the works for HIP to collaborate with the center in order to establish a healthy living program for the families served by the non-profit.

Aside from rental assistance and transitional housing, families may also seek assistance from HIP in regards to permanent housing solutions as well as other supportive services.

To contact HIP, call (609) 497-4535 or email them at info@housinginitiativesofprinceton.org.

Uncategorized

Scott: ‘Tis the Season for Unity

By Essence B. Scott

Every year, usually around October or November, there is a flurry of activity in the air. Adults of all stripes are looking to do something for the children they oversee. For some, this is easy. For others, not so much. There might not be enough money to go around to buy gifts and pay rent and other expenses. Some families struggle to find a job or, in some cases, work two jobs to make ends meet.

HomeFront does a lot for these struggling families. I know. I was in one of those families. Every year, there is a call for donations to build Thanksgiving food baskets for these families. No one should be hungry at any time during the year. I remember when my family was at the Pine Motel in Bordentown. We hadn’t had any food in a few days, when we heard a knock at the door. Food! Someone had delivered food! My mom thanked the kind volunteers profusely. So did my siblings and I. We fully embraced our simple, daily Grace that day. Our prayers had definitely been answered. Emotions were running high. The food made us happy.

At around Christmastime, there are a lot of gifts given out and games played. Every year, we went to see A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre in Princeton. At dinner and during the show, there is a sense of community that made the space hum with excitement. Some years, we actually met some of the cast of the play and they would sit and talk with us about it. A teaching artist from McCarter would come to our art class in the month or so leading up to the play and do acting exercises with us.

Another fond memory that stands out for me is the big Christmas party at The Pennington School. It was a time for everyone to get together and enjoy the holiday, even if a family was low on food or money for gifts. There were games and toys and I think Karaoke too. Kids could play outside. Parents could talk, and rest assured everyone got a good meal–usually turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and vegetables. For dessert: ice cream. Student volunteers, our hosts, made sure we were full and content. They worked very hard to engage both kids and parents alike in conversation and making sure all was well. HomeFront staff would be there to celebrate with the families they helped over the course of the year or several years. It really was a fun time, and I know it takes plenty of effort from them to send invitations out, manage RSVPs, and to just make it a good time. It shows beautifully.

Another tradition that HomeFront has is giving out gifts to the children. Every year, families fill out a wishlist with a couple items that volunteers go out and buy for the kids. It is a wonderful feeling to receive gifts, especially when a child might not get any due to lack of family finances.

There are other things that HomeFront does for the families they serve, perhaps another article’s worth. I am beyond grateful to HomeFront and what they have done for my family. I hope one day that I could pay it forward somehow.

Uncategorized

PIT Count: Homelessness Rises in New Jersey

By Jared Kofsky and Joshua Trifari

Homelessness appears to be on the rise again in the Garden State. The federally mandated Point-in-Time Count, held on January 23 and 24, 2018, found that the number of people experiencing homelessness in New Jersey has increased by nine percent since 2017, according to the NJCounts report released by Monarch Housing Associates.

The Streetlight participated in the 2018 Mercer County Point-in-Time Count. Volunteers from organizations like Oaks Integrated Care and the Rescue Mission of Trenton traveled throughout the capital city and surrounding suburbs in order to count the number of people believed to be experiencing homelessness and find out how they ended up without permanent housing. Places visited ranged from the Delaware and Raritan Canal to employment agencies to public libraries.

The 2018 Point-in-Time Count shows that there are at least 479 people experiencing homelessness in Mercer County. One of the top causes of homelessness locally was found to be the transition from incarceration to reintegration into society.

The City of Trenton, where the volunteers were based, was found to be home to 75 percent of the county’s population experiencing homelessness, with 21 percent living in Ewing Township. 63 people were unsheltered at the time while 46 percent of those surveyed were classified as “chronically homeless.” 54 people surveyed who were experiencing homelessness were domestic violence victims, and an additional 18 people surveyed were veterans. Slightly more than one tenth of the people surveyed had been experiencing homelessness for more than three years.

2018 Trenton-Mercer Point-in-Time Count volunteers. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.
Ben Thornton of Anchor House speaks to volunteers. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.
Individuals experiencing homelessness used to live in this abandoned Trenton bus. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.
Councilman Duncan Harrison, Jr. speaks to a resident during the 2018 Point-in-Time Count in Trenton. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.
Abandoned buildings on Perry Street in Trenton. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.
Copies of The Wall, the predecessor to The Streetlight, were distributed during the count. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.
Volunteers look for individuals experiencing homelessness along the Delaware and Raritan Canal in Trenton’s West Ward. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.

Contando la Población sin Hogar

Traducido por Annette Espinoza

La falta de hogar se parece esta aumentando nuevamente en New Jersey. Según el informe de NJCounts publicado por Monarch Housing Associates realizado el 23 de enero y el 24 de enero de 2018, el número de personas que viven sin hogar en New Jersey ha aumentado a un nueve por ciento desde 2017.

The Streetlight participó en el 2018 Mercer County Point-in-Time Count. Voluntarios de organizaciones como Oaks Integrated Care y Rescue Mission of Trenton viajaron por toda la capital y los suburbios para contar el número de personas que se creer viven sin hogar y descubrir cómo terminaron sin vivienda permanente. Los lugares visitados van desde Delaware y Raritan Canal hasta agencias de empleo y bibliotecas públicas.

El PIT Count de 2018 muestra que hay al menos 479 personas sin hogar en el condado de Mercer. Una de las principales causas de la falta de vivienda al nivel local fue la transición del encarcelamiento a la reintegración en la sociedad.

Se descubrió que la ciudad de Trenton, donde se basaban los voluntarios, era el hogar de 75 por ciento de la población del condado sin hogar, con un 21 por ciento viviendo en el municipio de Ewing. En ese momento, 63 personas no estaban cubiertas, mientras que el 46 por ciento de los encuestados se clasificaron como “personas sin hogar crónicas”. 54 personas encuestadas que se encontraban sin hogar eran víctimas de violencia doméstica, y otras 18 personas encuestadas eran veteranos. Un poco más de una décima parte de las personas encuestadas habían estado sin hogar durante más de tres años.

News

Beyond Anyone’s Expectations

By McKenna Samson

Designed with the purpose of assisting all students across the state, especially those who have grown up in and aged out of the foster care system, Beyond Expectations is a New Jersey community multimedia organization for these students. The group’s goal is to teach students marketable skills in film, media, and science–through hands-on film projects–which will enable them to use such skills to obtain a career.

For youth aging out of the foster care system, the possibility of continuing onto a secondary education or finding a profitable career is slim. Children in the foster care system do not always have a stable education or living environment. In fact, “40-63% [of youth in foster care] did not finish high school,” according to Children’s Rights.

This lack of a steady education can hinder the ability of youth to obtain a steady job and income. It is believed that between 25-55% of youth that have aged out of foster care are unemployed, according to Children’s Rights, and those who have found employment have average earnings below the poverty level. Due to circumstances beyond their control, at-risk adolescents in and aging out of foster care are set on a path for disadvantagement.

Leontyne Anglin, the executive director of Beyond Expectations, started as a parent volunteer at the birth of the organization. Seeing the lack of college preparation resources at her teenage daughter’s school events, in 1999, she gathered a group of parents and set out to make opportunities for middle and high school students.

“50 people showing up to the event would make it a big deal. 200 people showed,” Anglin reminisces. As the organization continued, Anglin began to realize that teaching students skills to properly market themselves in professional and secondary education settings would best benefit them.

“One of my favorite aspects of the program is the amount of engagement with the students. The skills they’re taught are hands-on. The staff lets the students make all of the decisions in their projects and fully produce them,” Anglin told The Streetlight.

While Beyond Expectations in open to all students in Burlington and Mercer Counties, foster students are able to find a support system within the organization.

“Foster students are an invisible group,” Anglin explained.

One of the first projects produced by Beyond Expectations, 18 and Out, highlights the stories of youth aging out of foster care. Anglin cites this film as one that has resonated with her for years, even convincing her to take a media approach for students in Beyond Expectations. Even ten years after the short film was made, Anglin references it when providing examples for newer films.

Beyond Expectations is working to reach students all over the Garden State. The organization currently has two office locations–one in Bordentown and one in Trenton. The program works to support students emotionally, socially, and educationally. Beyond Expectations has five key areas for students to explore; media production, service leadership, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and sports media. These areas allow students to diversify their options and find their key area of expertise. Students are encouraged and guided to create their own film projects, edit, and screen at film festivals.

The success of this media-oriented program can been seen in its results, according to Beyond Expectations, with students from the program being accepted to over two dozen colleges and universities. The organization’s Young Professionals Leadership Initiative helps to build resumes for students, teaching them about job opportunities and ways to market themselves for careers.


News from The Streetlight Team

The Streetlight’s 2018 General Election Coverage

The Streetlight is covering the 2018 general election, specifically races here in Mercer County and the Garden State. As a member of the New Jersey College News Commons, our reporting is being conducted in partnership with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and NJ Spotlight. Live results can be found here and you can watch the live broadcast, which will feature information about The Streetlight, here.