According the Veteran's Administration, over 250,000 former US serviceman and women live on the streets each night in America. In New Jersey alone, there are an estimated 8,300 homeless veterans at any given time.

"It is appalling that that would happen," US Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen said on Friday, at the celebration for the fifth anniversary of the Community Hope's Hope for Veterans program, a service dedicated to finding veterans housing, recovery services and employment. "We forget so quickly."

Community Hope, a private nonprofit organization, repurposed a vacant building at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center campus in Lyons to serve the needs of 95 veterans daily, providing transitional housing, employment training and case management services.

Mike Armstrong, CEO of Community Hope, said that the organization realized the need for permanent housing for Veterans as they transitioned back into regular civic life. The resulting project is a 90-unit facility, currently in the preconstruction phase, to be called Valley Brook Village. The housing development will be built by EA Fish Development and located on a portion of the VA campus leased by Community Hope.

At the anniversary celebration on Friday, Armstrong took the time to thank the many individuals and organizations that have supported the project, including the Bernards Township Committee – Deputy Mayor John Malay and Committeewoman Carolyn Gaziano were in attendance. Armstrong also thanked Ken Mizrach, Director of the VA New Jersey Health Care System, and Michael Sabo, Director of VA New York / New Jersey Veterans Integrated Service Network, and Congressman Frelinghuysen, whom Armstrong said has been a constant supporter of the project.

Frelinghuysen, a veteran of the Vietnam War, delivered the key not address, thanking Armstrong and his supporters for their hard work. "I am thrilled by what I have seen," Frelinghuysen said. "[This new project] just adds to what Community Hope has been doing."

Jeff Robeson, a recent veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, also delivered a speech to those in attendance, sharing what the services offered by the Hope for Veterans program have meant to him in his personal struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"When I came back to America I tried to adjust," Robeson said. "But at 36 years old, it was hard for me. I couldn't erase the memories or the nightmares."

Robeson said that he resorted to self-medicating with alcohol and other substances, falling into a downward cycle. Robeson was eventually referred to the Hope for Veterans program, which he credits for helping him recover. "Community Hope saved my life," Robeson said. "Here at Community Hope I was able to get back my motivation. … This is one of the best programs I've been in since my recovery."