Annual count of homeless people in NJ highlights vast racial disparities – NorthJersey.com

In the first glimpse of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected homelessness in New Jersey, racial disparities remain stark — about half of the 8,000 people surveyors counted who faced housing instability in late January were Black, even though Black people make up up about 13% of the Garden State population, according to an annual survey released Tuesday.

In comparison, about 24% of those experiencing homelessness identified as non-Hispanic white, while that group makes up 55% of the state population. 

“This has been a consistent trend across the state for years, and points to the fact that poverty alone is not the only driver of homelessness,” said Taiisa Kelly, CEO of Monarch Housing Associates, the nonprofit that compiles the survey and aims to create more affordable and supportive housing.

“We often think: You don’t have enough resources, it’s easy to lose your job and become homeless,” Kelly said. “But these high racial disparities in the numbers show it’s a combination of race, housing segregation, economics, education. The impact of structural racism drives these numbers we’re seeing, not poverty alone.”

Every year, states send out surveyors to scour the streets and count the number of people living in shelters for one day, to send the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development a “point in time” survey, an incomplete count of homelessness that the federal agency requires to dole out federal funding and help communities identify their populations in need. 

At first glance, New Jersey’s homeless population appears to have dipped from prior years, with a 16% decline from the 9,663 people counted in January 2020. But survey organizers warn that this year’s numbers are artificially low because of the effects of the COVID pandemic. 

More: NJ’s one-day homeless count uncovers a grim reality in Bergen County

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Shelters across the state reduced their numbers of beds so that residents could socially distance. As a result, the state collected smaller numbers through its Homeless Management Information System. New Jersey opened fewer Code Blue warming centers on freezing nights due to health concerns of the volunteers they rely on. In both scenarios, people instead were often transferred to hotels or motel rooms, spreading them out and making them more difficult for surveyors to count. 

Counties also sent out fewer volunteers to search for people sleeping on the street, along riverbanks or under bridges. Organizers canceled community events that normally attract housing-insecure people seeking food, clothing or other supplies. 

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Gov. Phil Murphy also issued a statewide eviction and foreclosure moratorium in mid-March 2020, which kept families in their homes when they otherwise would have been displaced for not making rent or mortgage payments. Despite the ban, 577 people reported they were experiencing homelessness in January because they were evicted or at risk of eviction. 

Surveyors counted 8,097 New Jerseyans from 6,210 families experiencing homelessness over two weeks starting Jan. 26, 2021, according to the report compiled by Monarch Housing Associates. Volunteers counted 1,660 children under 18 years old without stable housing. 

Close to 20% — just under 1,500 people counted — were chronically homeless, meaning they have lacked stable housing for a year or more, or at least four times in the past three years for a period of a year. Volunteers counted 835 people who were sleeping on the street, in a car, in an abandoned building or at a train station, or who were otherwise not in a shelter. 

Essex County found the most people facing housing instability, making up 20% of all those counted statewide: 1,693 people. Hudson counted 882 people, Bergen counted 279 and Passaic counted 324 people. 

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A complex web of circumstances, including structural racism, a lack of affordable housing or a support system and an individual’s health conditions, can contribute to homelessness, making the issue harder to untangle. 

When asked what caused them to become homeless, almost a quarter of families said they were asked to leave a shared residence. The next common reason was the loss or reduction of income, release from prison or jail, or eviction. 

More than half of people experiencing homelessness reported having some type of disability. About 60% of those reporting a disability said they suffer from mental health issues, while 44% said they had a substance abuse disorder. Close to 900 people were victims of domestic violence. More than 400 housing-insecure people counted were veterans. More than 1,200 had physical disabilities. 

This winter, Passaic County set up a Code Blue site on Temple Street in Paterson where people seeking shelter when the weather is below freezing can go without meeting qualifications like most shelters. 

“We saw so many more handicapped people, people missing limbs, than we have in the past,” said Donna Fico, vice president at the Eva’s Village shelter network in Paterson. “It really helped us see the gaps in our system — how we don’t have doctors in our shelters, many aren’t handicapped-accessible with elevators — so we’re talking about how we solve this. What do we need?” 

About one-third of those without stable housing reported having no source of income; 11% reported work wages, 17% collected public assistance or welfare, and 16% received Social Security income. 

The federal government has released an unprecedented amount of funding for people with low income levels to pay back unpaid rent or to help homeless people pay for a stable place to live. 

On Monday, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge announced a “House America” initiative to rehouse at least 100,000 families and build new affordable housing for 20,000 families. The effort encourages states, counties and localities to commit federal resources they are collecting through the various pandemic-related stimulus packages to reducing homelessness in their communities with concrete public goals. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was one of dozens of leaders who signed on to the initiative.

New Jersey and localities received around 1,600 new “emergency housing vouchers” to pay for housing for people at risk of homelessness, as well as temporary benefits such as “rapid rehousing” programs. But securing funding is just the first step. It takes time to cut through the red tape and approve applications for benefits, and even longer for some to find a landlord to accept the tenant’s application, as many come with red flags such as blemished background checks. 

“Communities are facing a greater sense of urgency to end homelessness because the pandemic highlighted that housing is really critical to health,” said Kelly, of Monarch Housing Associates. “We hope communities will take these numbers to really figure out how to tackle that goal, understand how much it will cost to house all who need it, and use all of these federal resources to begin.”

Ashley Balcerzak is a reporter covering affordable housing and its intersection of how we live in New Jersey. For unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: balcerzaka@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @abalcerzak