Executive Brian M. Hughes has announced that Mercer County is the first county in New Jersey to succeed in finding shelter for every veteran on the street. The initiative was developed to meet First Lady Michelle Obama’s Mayor Challenge to end veterans homlessness by year’s end.
Under the leadership of Hughes, Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson and Frank Cirillo Executive Director of the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, the Trenton/Mercer community has achieved the goal of ending veterans’ homelessness.
Veterans were defined, for the purpose of this plan, as all those who have been in the U.S. Military or the National Guard, regardless of their discharge status. Partnership with government, nonprofit homeless service providers and the veteran’s community were essential to this effort.
Hughes credits much of the success to the recently opened Coordinated Entry and Assessment Services Center (CEAS) in Trenton, an initiative of Mayor Eric Jackson, which brings together a dozen agencies to offer one-stop veterans assistance under one roof.
The CEASe system provides a vehicle to prioritize veterans for Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care vouchers. Chronically homeless veterans with the longest histories of homelessness and most severe service needs are given priority for housing until all identified veterans in need of permanent supportive housing are safely housed. All potential housing resources will be actively explored including, but not limited to, public housing authorities, senior housing, Section 8 Housing, and other Mercer County and City of Trenton housing resources.
