First Baptist Church, seen in background, plans to open a womens’ warming center in the newly acquired house at 90 Maple Avenue. Below, Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano speaking at Thursday’s event. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a winter warming center for homeless women about to open, Red Bank put a spotlight last week on “a small but mighty network” of programs to provide shelter, nutrition and healthcare to those in need.
At a press conference held Thursday outside borough hall, local officials also described social-service outreach efforts to reduce substance abuse and crime.
First Baptist Church co-pastor Steve Brown, above; below, Garyn Nathan and Shante Middleton of P.U.L.S.S.E. at the event. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Billed as “Red Bank Cares” and organized by Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano, the event was held in bright sunshine with temperatures in the high 70s.
“But as we know, the weather changes fast,” Triggiano said, “and those that are on the ground are preparing for the winter season.”
“We hope by publicly sharing the work taking place here in Red Bank, surrounding communities will be inspired to adopt the initiatives highlighted here today,” Triggiano said. “Red Bank is proud to be a beacon for progress.”
Among the outreach programs touted at the event was First Baptist Church’s Heartwarming Center, at 90 Maple Avenue.
When it debuts in mid-November to serve homeless women, the facility will become the second warming center in town to provide overnight accommodations in “Code Blue” situations, when temperatures drop to 32 degrees or below.
The first, Pilgrim Baptist Church’s JBJ & PBC Hope & Comfort Center, opened five years ago, at 166 Shrewsbury Avenue, serving men only, up to a dozen at a time. The center provided hot meals, overnight accommodations, showers and laundry services to some 600 guests last winter.
The Heartwarming Center evolved from First Baptist’s free Sunday and Monday night dinners, as well as his own participation as “the transportation guy” on the borough’s Code Blue committee, said co-pastor Steve Brown. That entailed borrowing a police van and driving around town to pick up homeless men, he said.
But because the center can house only men, “we were leaving women behind” sleeping in cars, especially in the past year, as soaring rents and housing costs have driven more people who were on the economic margins out of their homes, Brown said.
“I would pile all the guys into the van, and there would be like five women, and I’ve got nothing for them,'” he said. “It was brutal, I’ll be honest,” he said.
To help address the need, his congregation stretched its finances to buy the building at 90 Shrewsbury for $800,000 in September.
The house will be able to accommodate 10 to 12 women, with security provided overnight, for the roughly 80 to 100 nights of the year when the temperatures dip below freezing or the weather is inclement weather. According to the website of The Feast, a separate nonprofit formed by the church, the house will also provide emergency short-term shelter for women or families in need, low-income housing during the spring and summer months, or a space to spend the day out of the elements during bad weather.
Though he dreaded having to get permits from the borough, town officials “moved in amazingly fast fashion, and were so helpful” advancing the project, Brown said.
“This is a town that cares for residents, from the greatest to the least,” he said.
Other outreach efforts highlighted at the event included:
• A police department pilot program under which P.U.L.S.S.E. Services of Jackson Township offers social services to repeat offenders under a $65,520 contract funded by the borough’s share of the National Opioid Abatement Trust II lawsuit settlement.
“We utilize a service-style model of community policing, where we assist officers and identify matters that are best serviced by community resources,” said Shante Middleton, a P.U.L.S.S.E. partner. “We assess what an individual may need after speaking with law enforcement, and we go out and try to be that direct link so they can get services.”
“The goal is to reduce law enforcement going out to houses of repeat offenders, because we understand, symptomology-wise, that there is a greater issue that is present,” said Middleton.
• Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago detailed the aims of a Recovery Diversion Program he started as a public defender in Long Branch two years ago.
His office, he said, offers the program through five municipal courts, including Red Bank’s, to engage with low-level, non-violent offenders who may be dealing with substance abuse or mental health issues in order to link them with services they may not have had access to or been unaware of.
Local prosecutors and courts screen defendants for eligibility. Participants meet with caregivers for between 12 weeks and six months, and upon completion of the program, become eligible for an application to the court for dismissal of charges, as well as an expedited expungement of the case.
“We normally don’t think of the prosecutor as someone to come with a community-based organization, but it’s the very essence of what we do, right?” he said. “We care for our community, we make sure that justice is served, always.”
• Dorothea Bongiovi, founder of the “pay-it-forward” JBJ Soul Kitchen, called out the various local service providers the Monmouth Street restaurant interacts with, including the Hope & Comfort Warming Center.
“We are a small but mighty network, looking to advocate for the needs of our most vulnerable community members,” she said.
She suggested the prosecutor’s office consider a fees-and-fines-forgiveness day, because “that is a very huge barrier for those who are homeless and don’t have any way to get into housing or services because they owe” court fines.
“I know towns don’t like to do it because it’s on their books as income,” she said, “but it’s never going to get paid, so let’s try to make that happen.”
• Mayor Billy Portman also called out the Red Bank Mayor’s Wellness Initiative, scheduled for Saturday, November 18, at St. Anthony of Padua Parish Center, where attendees will have access to free health screenings, housing info, financial guidance and more.
