Real House Recovery Inc. Continues to Forge a Pathway for Homeless Veterans in New Jersey by Securing Almost $500K in New Federal Funding – PRUnderground

After two years of successfully providing vocational training and job placement services to homeless female veterans and their families, as well as male veterans with dependent children in Essex County, New Jersey; the U.S. Department of Labor, under its Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, has awarded Real House Recovery, Inc. (RHR) (Shawn H, Jennings, CEO and Wally Choice, CFO) another year of federal funding for nearly $500,000 under its VAST initiative (Veterans Achieving Sustainability through Training).

VAST was first awarded DOL funding in 2017, and was one of two projects that year, funded in the State of New Jersey to provide supportive services to veterans; and the only one funded to empower female veterans, and address chronic homelessness among this group. This year, VAST is honored to be the only HVRP-funded project in the State of New Jersey.

Under the direction of the Project Director (Croix-Ronald Coppáge), this year, VAST will expand its direct services to include the entire north region of New Jersey, to include Sussex and Warren counties. We will continue to target female veterans who are at risk of being homeless, actively homeless, or chronically homeless; however, VAST will now be opened to male veterans meeting any of these same criteria. Further, we will provide more targeted outreach and services to support incarcerated veterans, who are 30 or less days from returning to any of the seven counties to be served.

VAST will continue to provide centralized access to a strong supportive network of comprehensive wrap-around services to strengthen and enhance stability for no less than 100 veterans. This will be buttressed by direct supportive services, including free career-driven vocational training, job placement, legal services, and transportation. VAST will continue to offer referral services to emergency housing (SSVF), permanent housing through HUD-VASH, domestic violence and MST support through BRAVE (an RHR initiative, funded by the State of New Jersey through its Victims of Crimes Act); and linkage to VA Benefits, and much more.

To learn more, make a referral, or register for VAST, please visit the VAST project website at http://vastnj.com, or call 973.746.2400, Option 6; or 256.VAST NOW (256.827.8669).

To learn more about VAST and Real House, Inc./Real House Recovery, Inc., please visit their website at http://vastnj.com or www.realhouseinc.com or call (973) 746-2400, Option 6.

About Real House Recovery, Inc.

Since 2004, Real House, Inc. (RHI) has transformed the lives of over 3,000 women and men, through our emergency shelters, substance abuse treatment programs, halfway houses and sober living homes. In July 2017, the nonprofit arm of Real House, inc.—Real House Recovery, Inc. (RHR)— was launched, and since then, it has been making tremendous strides in providing the necessary supportive services to various populations throughout New Jersey, including veterans, victims of sexual assault (women, men, youth and LGBTQ), returning citizens, at-risk youths; and is currently partnered with Isaiah House of East Orange, providing intensive outpatient treatment services for its CCEP program, which serves pregnant and/or post-partum young women, with substance abuse disorders. In August 2019, Real House Inc. will open a 96-bed housing facility in Trenton, NJ, where many of the services available in Essex County will be made available in Mercer County, NJ.