Community Hope Plans More Veterans Housing in Lyons; Announces National Grant Award

Community Hope, the support services agency that has provided transitional housing and job training at the Lyons Veterans Administration facility since 2004, will be back before the township Planning Board next week to discuss plans for 63 units of permanent housing in Lyons.

The proposal, under discussion for about two years, would be part of Bernards Township's plan for providing state-sanctioned affordable housing within the township.

Representatives from the Parsippany-based Community Hope are scheduled to present the proposal at the township Planning Board meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, Aug. 9, Julia Ahmet, vice-president of development, said on Tuesday.

Unlike the existing Hope for Veterans program at the Lyons campus of the Veterans Administration New Jersey Health Care System, which provides transitional housing while homeless veterans receive job training and personal support, the new project would provide permanent housing, Ahmet said.

Valley Brook Village, also planned for the VA property off Valley Road in the township, would include 63 housing units for veterans and their families, Ahmet said. The plan is to develop the housing with a developer, Peabody Properties, also to be represented before the Planning Board, Ahmet said.

But in the meantime, Community Hope also released an announcement on Tuesday that it had received a grant for $1 million in federal funds to be used to provide housing assistance to very low-income veterans and their families.

The funds will be used to assist veterans from five counties in New Jersey, including Somerset and Morris, who are at risk of losing their housing, or have lost housing and can be rapidly relocated to a new place to live, Ahmet said on Tuesday.

The program is not directly related to the proposed Valley Brook Village in Lyons, she said.

Ahmet said the organization had just learned about the grant a few days earlier, and was planning to consult on Tuesday afternoon with the U.S. veterans administration about how funding might be implemented. 

U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), along with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), announced that the funds would assist homeless veterans through the new Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program. SSVF awards grants to private non-profit organizations to provide assistance to very low-income veterans and their families residing in or seeking transitioning to permanent housing, the announcement said. The grant is expected to assist about 140 veteran families.

Community Hope and its partners anticipate providing a range of financial assistance and supportive services designed to promote housing stability, the announcement said.

Forms of financial assistance can include help with back rent, mortgage or utility payments for families struggling to remain in their homes.  For veterans and their families who have lost their housing, SSVF will provide financial aid with rental and utility security deposits and initial rental payments.  Support services can range from assistance with transportation; child care; linkage to medical care, behavioral healthcare and recovery services for veterans experiencing PTSD and other effects of combat; and other services to help the veterans and their family re-establish financial stability and self-sufficiency.

“We recognize that this is a tough time for our veterans and their families, particularly those who have been recently deployed and return to try to find jobs in this economy or struggle with the trauma of combat while trying to maintain their family responsibilities,” said Community Hope CEO J. Michael Armstrong.

“The support services we will be providing will be equally as important as the financial assistance to our veterans and their families. What has led these veteran families into difficulty in keeping their home?  Is it a job loss or a returning veteran that is struggling to re-acclimate?  This is where we can help in getting them the employment services to get back to work or linking them to a support group or recovery services that will help them start healing from the trauma of combat.”

Armstrong said that Community Hope has brought together a partnership comprised of Catholic Charities and University Behavioral Healthcare, which operates the Vets2Vets and Vets4Vets hotlines for veterans and families needing assistance. The partnership will serve veteran families in the New Jersey counties of Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren, the announcement said. 

During the past ten years, Community Hope has been working in collaboration with the N.J. Veterans Affairs Healthcare System to address the issue of homelessness among veterans. Information on the non-profit organization's programs is on its website.

In July, Community Hope launched the Veterans Early Transition Services (VETS) Program, a 12-bed housing program in Newark where the nonprofit’s staff provide 24-hour support to homeless veterans.

Six years earlier, the organization opened the Hope for Veterans Transitional Housing Program in Lyons as the largest program serving homeless veterans in New Jersey and in the New York metropolitan area, according to Community Hope. The program has space for 95 beds, and has helped nearly 500 veterans overcome homelessness, the organization said.

Community Hope and its private developer partner, Peabody Properties, will work together to construct permanent supportive housing for homeless and disabled veterans at Lyons, the announcement said. The announcement said the goal is to begin construction before the end of the year.

Community Hope’s SSVF Program is expected to commence within the next 60 days and a hotline number for veterans and their families will be staffed by University Behavioral Healthcare’s VETS 2VETS and VETS4VETS, the announcement said.

Community Hope has been helping individuals recover from mental illness and substance abuse in specialized residential programs since 1985, according to the announcement.

"We are really proud of how we have been able to help our veterans," Ahmet said on Tuesday. "We needed them and they were there for us."