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Catholic Charities in Trenton Fights Homlessness with Compassion and Action

By Tanzim Didar 

As the housing crisis worsens across New Jersey, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, organizations like Catholic Charities in Trenton are stepping in to fill the gap — offering not just emergency support, but pathways to long-term stability. 

From food pantries to a Rapid Re-Housing program, the non-profit organization reaches thousands of people each year in Mercer County and beyond.

“We have several different residential programs,” said Hollis Painting, community communications manager at Catholic Charities. “We help people maintain their housing and not lose it. Our services extend outside of Trenton, including Mercer, Burlington and Monmouth Counties.”

In New Jersey, there has been a significant decrease in affordable rental housing that is available to low-income families whose income falls below the poverty line. About 75% of low-income renters are dealing with major cost burdens. Additionally, about 43% of these individuals are single caregivers. These individuals spend more than 30% of their income towards rent, leaving them with little to no money for basic necessities.

One of the most impactful programs offered by Catholic Charities is their Rapid Re-Housing initiative, Painting said. Funded through federal, state and county sources, the program helps people experiencing homelessness secure permanent housing by covering up-front costs, like the first month’s rent and security deposit.

“This way we can help people start somewhere,” Painting said. “There are some eligibility requirements, but we encourage everyone to call us and find out if they can qualify.”

For those at risk of losing their homes, Catholic Charities also pro- vides Homelessness Prevention services. These services include help with rent, mortgage or overdue utility bills.

“Whatever we can do to help maintain individuals’ homes and help them get back on their feet,” Painting said. “If someone is struggling to pay their rent or mortgage, they can come to us. If they qualify, we can help them with some of their rent.”

In addition to housing support, the organization provides case management services that help people access SNAP benefits, find nearby food pantries or seek employment.

As Painting noted, the need for these services is growing fast.

“These past few months we have noticed an increase in the number of elderly individuals coming to us. But our numbers are up across all the boards,” she said.

In 2024 alone, the Mercer County food pantry served more than 1,200 people.

 “The number of people coming to our food pantry is increasing,” Painting said. “It’s very challenging right now.”

Catholic Charities doesn’t stop their support once someone is housed. “Our coordinators actually stay in touch with our patrons after we help them settle,” Painting said. “We want to make sure they’re really okay – not just today, but in the long term.”

In a time when basic needs like housing, food and stability are increasingly out of reach for many, Catholic Charities remains a steady force of hope and support in Trenton. 

For anyone facing a housing crisis, Painting has a simple message: “We’re here to help. Call us.”

The organization can be reached at 800-360-7711 or info@cctrenton.org

News

Care Available for Pregnant Women Experiencing Homelessness

By Hannah Keyes

The Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton facility on North Warren Street in Downtown Trenton. Photo by Jared Kofsky/The Streetlight.

The opioid epidemic has been reaching astronomical levels, as it has been categorized as one of the worst drug crises in the United States to date. According to the Trenton Health Team, a collaborative program that addresses health care in Trenton, “New Jersey continues to be a national leader when it comes to opioid addiction – both in the scope of the impact on the state, and in the public and private response to the disease. More than 1,600 state residents died of opioid related issues in 2016.”

Within this population of drug addicted individuals, pregnant women have not received much attention or care due to a lack of coordination between maternal health and addiction medicine. However, there are now programs that are desperately trying to fight this.

In January 2018, Capital Health, Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton (CCDoT), the Trenton Health Team, the Rescue Mission of Trenton, Henry J. Austin Health Center, and HomeFront introduced a new program called For My Baby and Me (FMBM) that focuses on addressing the needs of addicted pregnant women who are homeless or at risk for homelessness.

The women who are enrolled in FMBM receive plenty of care throughout their stay. Clients receive medical care through all stages of pregnancy, birth and postpartum, medication-assisted addiction treatment, peer recovery and relapse prevention counseling and support, mental health services, housing assistance, transportation, employment services, basic needs such as food and clothing, and child care for dependents. Susan Lougherty, the Director of Operations for CCDoT, mentioned that the program is open to anyone, regardless of their insurance status and operates all twenty-four hours of the day.

After receiving a two-year $4 million grant, CCDoT was able to expand its Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) program in underrepresented areas of Mercer and Burlington Counties. With this significant funding, the agency plans to extend its outreach to those who need it the most, specifically certain populations of people who have repeatedly been denied the help that they need. Not enough recovery programs accept pregnant women due to the complex and specialized care that they require, which can lead to women becoming fearful and unwilling to seek help.

While there are similar programs such as Mother Child in Camden County that assists pregnant women experiencing homelessness, FMBM is unique in its approach since it explicitly aims to help pregnant women overcome their drug addiction in order to become healthy for both themselves and their babies.

FMBM uses a holistic partner approach that allows pregnant women to get the best treatment possible. For example, HomeFront provides shelter and housing, CCDoT provides substance abuse treatment and has the lead on case management, and Rescue Mission answers the 24/7 hotline and provides peer support. Different services are provided by different partners, which makes it a collective effort for a common cause.

“The program [FMBM] is able to achieve results through the holistic partner approach. Each community partner brings strength to this model through their expertise in their specific area and their ability to rapidly scale to meet the individualized needs of all of those we are serving through this system,” Lougherty stated.

FMBM began as a collaboration of healthcare and social service providers in the Trenton area. Doctors at Capital Health recognized that the attention and treatment of the population of pregnant women was being lost. FMBM was able to provide support to Capital Health in their initiative to reduce instances of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). The efforts on both ends have produced positive impacts on many pregnant women’s lives.

To date, there have been nearly 40 pregnant women who have gone through the program, including Sabrina who was able to quit her addictive drug habits and give birth to a healthy child.

“I totally hit rock bottom before I came here. I was really scared once I found out I was pregnant again, especially since I found out so late,” Sabrina explained.

She discovered that she was having a baby 23 weeks into her pregnancy. Before coming to FMBM, she stated that she experienced a lot of judgment from nurses and doctors at some hospitals. However, Sabrina was referred to FMBM and although she was at first skeptical due to it being so different from a generic rehab center, she believes it has saved her life.

“My quality of life has improved tremendously. The program is just great. The nurses here are awesome and very supportive. Without everyone’s support here and my family, I couldn’t have done all of this,” stated Sabrina.

The women who go through the program have to work extremely hard to recover. At FMBM they receive a tremendous amount of support to help get them to a healthy state of mind and being.

In regards to the women who have successfully completed the program, nursing supervisor at CCDoT for FMBM, Lisa Merritt mentioned that “it’s definitely really rewarding for all of the treatment team because we want to set them up for success so that they can sustain the home that we put them in, or the job that they get at the end of the treatment here. You see them slowly grow, even in their appearance one month later, three months later, six months later. Everything improves: appearance, health, and motivation.”

For My Baby and Me

(609) 256-7801

Staff Available 24/7