The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Hunterdon County (IHN-HC) is a non-profit organization of congregations that minister to the needs of homeless women and families. The network provides shelter, sustenance and support in caring settings while assisting its guests in resolving their homelessness. IHN respects the guests' dignity and strives to enhance their self-sufficiency.

In its efforts to break the cycle of homelessness, IHN advocates for heightened public awareness, greater community involvement and increased countywide services.

Description:
Population Served:

IHN-HC can accommodate up to 14 people at a time. The maximum length of stay for each guest is three months. During the course of their stay with us, agency clients are expected to actively seek employment and housing. In most recent years, 88% of our clients were able to find permanent housing following their stay with us. Most of the people sheltered were holding jobs and had their high school diplomas. As all of our services are free of charge to our clients, they are expected to save up to eighty percent of their income.

Services Provided:

The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Hunterdon County consists of ten Host Congregations and twenty-eight Support Congregations who provide meals, shelter, and assistance to homeless single women and families.

The foundation of the IHN program is the use of existing community resources: churches and synagogues for overnight lodging, congregations for volunteers, and social service agencies for screenings and referrals. The IHN strives to collaborate with county human service agencies to insure that supplemental services are provided to our clients.

We use the county-wide transportation system, the Link, to provide transportation to and from the sheltering congregations and the Day Center. The Day Center, permanently located at the Flemington Presbyterian Church, is our clients' home base, providing a phone number and address, in order to ensure the success of apartment and employment searches.

IHN-HC has a Program Coordinator who offers assessment, referral, advocacy, goal planning, budget counseling and assistance with resume writing.

Interfaith Hospitality Network of Hunterdon County is a United Way Agency, a member of the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce, part of the Comprehensive Emergency Assistance System Committee, and a member of the Community Service Council of Hunterdon County.

History:
Seventeen years ago a concerned group of clergy and other individuals, banded together to assist people who became homeless in this county. Their efforts were modeled on the work of Karen Olson, the Executive Director of National Interfaith Hospitality Network.

The Network provides shelter and support in caring settings while assisting its guests in resolving their homelessness. In its 14 years of operation, IHN- HC has provided over 25,000 shelter nights to more than 600 individuals, more than half of whom were children.

Contact people:

Geleen Donovan, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Lynne Searles, Office Manager, (phone), (email)

Address:

10 East Main Street Flemington, NJ 08822 (See a map)

Directions:

Route 31 North to East Main Street. Make a left at traffic light. Flemington Presbyterian Church is the last building on the right, before the War Memorial at the Point on Main Street. Route 31 Southbound is a right turn. . . (more)