Homelessness In Newark NJ

Newark is the largest city of the Essex County and goes through numerous urban issues, homelessness being the most rampant of them all. Of all the homeless people in the County, nearly 90 are living in Newark alone and not all of them have a shelter. Therefore, every night hundreds of people are living on the streets. According to the Point In Time Count, there are 938 homeless people living in Newark and they are also accompanied by nearly 504 children which clearly define the extent to which the region is burdened with a homeless population. However, the data is expected to be an undercount as there are many more people living in this region who may not be counted in. Some estimates suggest that the number of homeless in Newark alone could be 3899 including children as well as adults.

There is one strong trend in homelessness in Newark. There are only a few homeless people in Newark who have been suffering because of long term homelessness. The majority of the population is of those who cannot afford housing within their means and when provided with such a housing plan, they will be able to recover from their current state. There are still many who only need temporary assistance that is being provided by the state as well as many agencies. The Ten Year Plan for giving homes to all these people has been devised which will certainly help some people in gaining better housing facilities.

However, the huge number of the homeless are still unable to find proper shelter for themselves. Efforts have been made to make these people shift to the Penn Station which has certainly proven to be helpful as well. Here, they are being provided with shelter, medical care and more. More importantly, they are being provided with a legal ID which helps them in getting social security. As a result of this, it becomes easier for them to get assistance for the government.

Quite clearly, the homeless do not have any kind of access to medical care and they cannot afford medication costs as well. If they have an ID, they would find it easier to get some state and federal assistance as well. As of now, we can extend our helping hand to the people living in our community by providing our time in volunteering for their service or simply donating our monetary resources for their betterment.

To help assist the homeless in Newark, you can volunteer your time or make a donation to the St. James Social Service Corporation