Housing First
Housing and support for participants experiencing chronic homelessness.
To get where I wanted to be, I had to put myself in a new place where there was no negativity, and no drugs are around me, so I could stay clean, stay healthy, and be productive. It’s a blessing.
Housing First is a widely used, evidence-based housing model that ends homelessness for individuals facing long-term housing challenges.
With the help of our community partners, the Camden Coalition introduced the model in South Jersey in 2015. Using data from the Camden Coalition Community Health Information Exchange, our high-fidelity program identifies frequently hospitalized and housing-unstable individuals in Camden and provides them with safe, dignified housing and extensive support services so that they can improve their health and manage chronic conditions.
Our Housing First program is a multi-agency collaborative in partnership with:
- South Jersey Behavioral Health Resources
- Volunteers of America—Delaware Valley
- Saint Joseph’s Carpenter Society
- OAKS Integrated Care
- Corporation for Supportive Housing.
Current funders:
- NJ Department of Community Affairs
- Camden County Homelessness Trust Fund
- Virtua Foundation
- Camden County
- South Jersey Behavioral Health Innovation Collaborative
- UnitedHealthcare
- NeighborWorks America
- Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ
Since 2015, our Housing First program has seen:
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88 people housed -
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62% average reduction in inpatient and ED utilization