Sustainable Housing
Hunterdon County has some of the highest Fair Market Rents in the nation. Given that, an employee making minimum wage or close to it has a very difficult time making ends meet. In addition, federal assistance programs can, in the way they are designed, serve as deterrents to working or going to school. For these reasons, we have developed a Sustainable Housing program for some clients exiting our shelter to provide rental payments or subsidies for up to one year. During that time, clients will follow the program of: working and/or in school, saving a minimum amount in a custodial savings account, adhering to a series of scheduled case management meetings, developing a long-term plan for housing stability, and agreeing to serve as mentors for future clients. The end goal is that instead of government assistance, clients will be working, they will have developed a skill set of financial management and they will have built a savings that will permit them to pay for housing and successfully deal with emergency expenses in the long-term.