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Our Families
In 2009, we provided 3,505 nights of shelter for 19 families and 2 single women, totaling 48 individuals, 24 of whom were children.
Though Morris County, NJ remains one of the wealthiest counties in the U. S., there are families with children in our community who are losing their homes every month due to expenses associated with an unexpected illness or car repair, a fire or any myriad of problems that are out of their control and for which they do not have a savings account, a friend or a family member to turn to in a crisis.
In addition, a wealthy county makes for expensive real estate and a high cost of living. According to city-data.com, the 2008 cost of living index in Morris County was 126.4, versus the U.S. average, of 100. In 2006, the average market rent in Morris County for a 2-bedroom apartment was over $1,000 per month. For our neighbors making the NJ minimum wage of $7.15 per hour, working at a restaurant in Morristown, a hair salon in Chatham, a bank in Lake Hopatcong, or in many retail chains across the County, a workweek must entail more than 140 hours!
So that we may be a community that welcomes and encourages County families of many kinds, there are resources available. However, our families face one, some, or all of the following barriers when working to regain their permanent housing:
· Long wait or no available housing vouchers
· Lack of affordable and safe housing
· Limited earnings/full time jobs with livable wages
· Expensive childcare
· Lack of available evening, weekend and rural
transportation
· Costs of purchasing, insuring and maintaining vehicle
· Generational poverty and its effects
· And most recently, the economy and its impact on
job availability and landlord foreclosures.
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