Housing First needs your help

Governor Murphy cut funding for 50 people in the Camden Coalition’s Housing First program in his proposed fiscal year 2026 budget.

Cutting funding to this critical program puts each of these 50 people who were formerly chronically homeless and who have complex health and social needs at risk of losing the wraparound support services that ensure they remain healthy and stably housed. The number of people who are homeless in NJ grew 24% in the last year – and many use costly emergency rooms and are hospitalized because they don’t have access to ongoing care.

We need more Housing First programs to assist people to stay housed and healthy – not fewer!

Here is how you can make a difference.

Call your state legislators today and urge them to put the money back in the state budget to fully fund the Camden Coalition’s Housing First Program to prevent 50 New Jersey residents from losing vital support services and their housing.

Please take five minutes today to contact them using the easy information below.

Contact your legislators

We are calling on our state assembly members and senators to back the continued funding for housing support programs including Housing First headed into finalization of the FY2026 budget this June. A few of our legislative members have already answered the call, including Assembly Majority Leader Louis D. Greenwald and Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez. But there’s power in greater numbers.

We have provided a directory and speaking / writing prompt below to contact your local New Jersey legislators either by phone or email, to share your support for Housing First and other housing support programs. At a time when anxiety has heightened over federal policy shifts and drastic cuts to vital community care programs, we hope that this brief — and proven effective — method of political activism provides you assurance that we can still affect change for the good.

Step 1: Find your state senator and assembly members

To find your state senator, state assembly members and their phone numbers, go to this link and type in your address. Click on “State Officials.”

Step 2: Make the calls using this call script 

Hi, my name is [Name], I am your constituent, and I care about ending homelessness in New Jersey and putting my tax dollars to good use.  

I’m calling to urge Senator/Representative [Name] to fully fund the Camden Coalition’s Housing First program in this year’s state budget at $750,000. This cost-effective program provides vital services to 50 formerly chronically homeless individuals so they can stay housed – in part because the program addresses their health and social service needs.  

Governor Murphy eliminated funding for the program in his budget this year, and this could cause these 50 people to lose vital services that have helped them stay consistently housed for the last five years and dramatically reduced their use of costly emergency room and hospitalization services.   

This program helps people achieve their full potential and saves money, so will Senator/Representative [name], do everything in their power to support New Jersey residents, prevent homelessness, and fully fund the Camden Coalition’s Housing First program? 

Learn more about Housing First

We’ve operated this evidence-based Housing First program for nearly a decade with services delivered by an interdisciplinary team – providing vital supports that include assistance with budgeting to ensure rent and bills are paid; connection to substance use disorder treatment; renewing leases; finding a regular doctor; applying for Medicaid and food stamps and securing legal assistance.

Since its inception, more than 4 in 5 participants have not returned to homelessness, and they have experienced on average a 71% drop in emergency room visits and a 32% drop in hospital admissions.

The 50 current participants have remained consistently housed an average of five years.

Some of the Housing First participants would not be able to live on their own if they were not in the program. Housing First services cost $15,500 a year per person – eight times less than care in a skilled nursing facility at $130,000 a year.

Read our brief on Housing First, which provides an overview of the program, success stories from participants, and other outcomes related to our model.

Our CEO Kathleen Noonan recently wrote an op-ed for NJ Spotlight that further highlighted the successes of the program and addressed the proposed budget cut. What our participants may face, Kathleen wrote, are very preventable risks to their long-term health and social wellbeing if our state legislators do not champion Housing First.

In March, our team of Kathleen, Pledge to Connect Program Manager Lisa Mojica, and Housing First participant Craig Cress spoke to the New Jersey State Assembly Budget on behalf of the Housing First and Pledge to Connect programs. With both programs at risk of losing state funding this year, the team shared further evidence of their cost-effective benefit and success stories with the committee in Trenton.

For even more background, you can read recent coverage by NJ Spotlight on Housing First, including a deep dive into the case for its continued funding, as well as a recap of our “Housing First: From the Street to Stability” seminar hosted with Cooper University Health Care’s Center for Healing in September 2024.

What others have said about Housing First