History
Our Past
Newark Housing Ministry, Inc. was incorporated on March 6, 1984 by a group of clergy and church outreach workers who wanted to respond to an unmet need for shelter for the homeless in their community. The name of the agency was changed to Homeward Bound, Inc. in 1990 to avoid confusion with the Newark Housing Authority and to clearly identify it as nonsectarian. Initially Federal Emergency Management Act funds were used to place homeless individuals and families in motels for up to one week. While this program did provide basic shelter, it did not address the root causes of homelessness.
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To address the causes of homelessness, an ambitious venture was launched in November of 1985 with the purchase of a house, to be known as Emmaus House, in Newark. Staff were hired to provide counseling, training and guidance to homeless families during a rigorous thirty-day program which subsequently was modified to become a sixty-day transitional program. For the next 16 years more than 90% of the families completing this transitional program moved into permanent housing. A survey of families who had completed the program found that more than 50% of these families had remained in permanent housing. In 1988 the Emmaus House was expanded by the addition of two bedrooms, an updated kitchen, and a dining room large enough for all the residents and staff to sit down at the same time.
Between the years of 1988 and 2004 Homeward Bound, Inc. offered a thirty-day emergency program. The emergency shelter program provided a safe and supportive environment for homeless families with children. The family received food, shelter, encouragement and direction to address some of the root causes of their homelessness. Parents attended parenting class to learn positive ways to discipline and nurture children. Case managers helped families establish long term goals and define the steps needed to reach those goals. Adults with substance abuse problems were required to be active in a recovery program. Families who demonstrated motivation and ability to achieve stability were encouraged to apply to the sixty-day transitional program.
It became increasingly evident that the homeless families coming to Emmaus House had multiple problems to address. Many adult clients had a combination of substance abuse issues, a lack of education or job training, domestic violence issues, dependencies on a changing entitlement system, and came from unstable families. Even our sixty day transitional program did not provide enough time to address the root causes of homelessness in a meaningful way. Many entry level jobs with potential for advancement required evening employment. The dinner attendance and curfew requirements of the transitional program were too restrictive. We had to find a more effective ways to help our clients.
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