HomeFront, Inc.
Helping families to break the cycle of poverty.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
HomeFront works to help break the inter-generational cycle of poverty for homeless and very low-income families with children by offering emergency and transitional shelter, empowering life-skills, academic and vocational assistance, meaningful enrichment opportunities and nurturing wrap-around support they need to change the trajectory of their lives.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Prevention/Emergency Assistance
In order to keep at-risk families from becoming homeless and to help them stabilize their living situations, HomeFront provides households with emergency funds for back rent, security deposits and utilities in conjunction with intensive case management. If necessary, we provide a temporary emergency residence, employment skills training and one-to-one help with job searching and job interviews.
Affordable, Service-Enriched Permanent Housing
At HomeFront we address the problem of homelessness from all sides. We not only provide immediate emergency housing and work with families to find and retain affordable housing, but we also develop and manage permanent housing units in order to ensure affordable residential stability for as many households as possible.
In addition to providing safe and secure emergency and transitional shelter, HomeFront provides 115 affordable and supportive rental housing units for working low-income families in buildings located in communities throughout Mercer County. Our housing case workers offer ongoing assistance and guidance to tenant families as needed.
Tools for Self Sufficiency
Our programs give clients the tools, skills and desire to enter the workforce and become productive members of the community. As each person moves toward his or her goal, there are critical steps that must be completed to promote their success, including:
Basic life skills: budgeting, cooking, anger management, parenting
Basic literacy
Earning High School Equivalency Diplomas
Basic computer skills
Learning skills to secure and maintain employment
Addressing barriers to success
Developing time specific plans and goals for entering the workplace
Joy, Hopes and Dreams Children's Enrichment
The Joy, Hopes & Dreams Program is proud to offer a stellar line-up of engaging, fun and enriching activities to the underprivileged youngsters we serve. Sadly, many children from families facing homelessness or severe economic hardship don't have regular access to programs that offer help with schoolwork and tutoring; or arts and music classes; team sports; or trips to popular events and venues. But HomeFront's Joy, Hopes & Dreams program works hard to make sure they do!
The program offers an afterschool and weekend agenda that works year-round to meet all of the educational and emotional needs of the children involved. We understand that academic success is critical to the children's futures so tutoring is provided three nights a week.
After school programs are held almost every day of the week. Volunteers, who frequently become friends and mentors, staff the sessions. Dinner is served, and after the study sessions, the children have an opportunity to interact with each other. We emphasize reading skills and provide a reading specialist.
After-school programs are held almost every day of the week. Children attend art classes on Thursdays and a theater presentation once each quarter in conjunction with the Arts Council of Princeton and McCarter Theatre. Educational and recreational activities are held almost every weekend. These events include field trips to the zoo, the State Aquarium, or the theater. We always provide meals and transportation when necessary.
ArtSpace - Therapeutic Art for Women and Children
The ArtSpace at HomeFront helps build self-esteem and seeks to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of our clients. We believe that the creative process involved in self-expression helps people resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight.
Our innovative therapeutic art program primarily consists of painting, machine sewing and knitting. These activities build on our clients’ own resources to help them discover their inner strengths and "find themselves" by losing themselves in artistic production. Practiced communally or individually, guided art growth promotes socialization, self-confidence and self-expression among individuals who are struggling to cope because of poverty, homelessness and/or abuse. We encourage our clients to tap into their creativity which often opens doors to new ways of thinking and reveals their voice. We are also using an entrepreneurial model to market and sell the work of our hands in order to teach and model practical and self-sustaining life skills.
Furnish the Future
When they become homeless, typical amilies frequently lose almost all of their worldly possessions in the resulting tumult. After we stabilize families, we help them establish new homes by providing them with free furniture, clothing and other household items donated by the community.
These very low income families are struggling to survive but do not have the means to buy the things they need. Through this program, HomeFront furnishes nearly 600 apartments per year.
We recycle thousands of things that might otherwise end up in landfills and through their largess, we provide a tax deduction to donors.
The FreeStore
Our FreeStore provides previously homeless and working poor families with donated household and clothing items needed to create and maintain a home. HomeFront's FreeStore is an incredible community resource for our client-families and also a great Work-First community placement opportunity.
Impoverished families with fast growing kids have an opportunity to pick out new clothes. Parents tell us that having decent clothes that fit makes all the difference, for their self-conscious teens in particular.
The Food Pantry
Hundreds of families in Mercer County must decide each month whether to buy food or to pay the rent. Emergency food bags are available from HomeFront's FoodPantry for the growing number of families and seniors who can't afford enough food to make it through the month. HomeFront distributes approximately 800 bags of free groceries to low-income families each month. Your financial support helps stock the shelves of our food pantry. Food is obtained from the Mercer Street Friends food bank, USDA surplus items and local food drives.
HomeFront also coordinates the delivery of donated hot meals prepared by area congregations and community groups. These dedicated volunteers also donate and prepare food for HomeFront events from holiday parties to graduation ceremonies. To participate contact us at [email protected] .
Last year we distributed more than $2.6 million worth of donated goods and professional services to our families.
Emergency Food Bags
Once a month, clients may receive a grocery bag filled with a week's supply of food from our food pantry. Food is obtained from the Mercer Street Friends food bank, USDA surplus items and local food drives.
Family Preservation Center
At the Family Preservation Center (FPC), our emergency family shelter, located at the Family Campus, HomeFront ensures that homeless families in our community have a safe and dignified place to sleep, nutritious meals to eat, academic and vocational opportunities, and the emotional and practical support they need to become stable and independent. We also offer our guests, parents and children alike, diverse life-affirming enrichment and recreational experiences to engage each person, open their eyes to life's potential and hopefully, to give them a renewed sense of self-worth.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of clients experiencing homelessness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
Affordable, Service-Enriched Permanent Housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
209 vulnerable families with 219 children received intensive support and were sheltered with dignity at our Emergency Family Shelter at our Family Campus and in our transitional housing.
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Low-income people
Related Program
The Food Pantry
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Over 378,500 meals were provided through free bags of groceries in our food pantry program to local families in need.
Number of low-income families housed in affordable, well-maintained units as a result of the nonprofit's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
Affordable, Service-Enriched Permanent Housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
222 families received emergency housing assistance to keep them in their homes or to pay security deposits to acquire decent housing.
Number of students receiving homework help
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Joy, Hopes and Dreams Children's Enrichment
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
We do our best to help homeless children to thrive academically by providing the support they need to overcome economic disadvantage and the chaos and trauma of their young lives.
Number of people no longer living in unaffordable, overcrowded housing as a result of the nonprofit's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
Affordable, Service-Enriched Permanent Housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
The Food Pantry
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Over 25,040 individuals were fed through our food pantries and community meals.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Over 3,100 volunteers worked 29,500+ hours on behalf of HomeFront families, tutoring adults and children, helping in childcare, the food pantry, the front desk, collections and numerous other ways.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
HomeFront's mission is to end homelessness in Central New Jersey by harnessing the caring, resources and expertise of the community.
We aim to lessen the immediate pain of homelessness and help families become
self-sufficient.
We support adults and children alike to become healthy and resilient and to overcome personal and societal obstacles.
We work to give our clients the skills and opportunities to ensure adequate incomes, and we work to increase the availability of adequate, affordable housing.
We help homeless families advocate for themselves individually and collectively.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
HomeFront has developed a holistic array of services for clients who are either homeless or at high risk of becoming so. We have organized our service strategies into Four Pillars:
1) Safe, Supportive Housing
- Emergency Shelter at our Family Preservation Center
- Transitional Living, For At-Risk Households
- Permanent, Affordable, Service-Enriched Housing
- Homelessness Prevention, Keeping Families in their Homes
2) Tools for Self-Sufficiency
- Remedial Education Support (Toward High School Diplomas)
- Job Training
- Formal Life Skills
- Life Enhancement
- Therapeutic Counseling and Case Management
3) Support for Children
- Year-Round, Extra-Curricular Recreational and Academic Enrichment Programming
- Child-Focused Case Management
- Licensed Pre-School and Child Care
- Summer Camp
- Back-to-School/Birthday/Christmas Wishes
4) Resource Network & Distribution
- Food Pantry and Meal Preparation
- Furniture and Other Goods to Furnish New Apartments
- Clothes and Personal Care Items
- Pro Bono Donations of Time and Expertise
On any given night, we provide emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent service-enriched housing to over 470 people, two-thirds of them children.
Some of our many services include case management, homelessness prevention services (including back rent & utility assistance), emergency food, free clothing and household goods at our FreeStore, affordable housing searches, job placement and readiness skills.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have wonderful collaborations with congregations, corporations and organizations who assist in our mission of returning families to independence. HomeFront utilizes all segments of the community to accomplish its mission of providing comprehensive programs which enable formerly homeless families to become independent, contributing members of the community.
An estimated 4,000+ volunteers work with us each year to provide families with everything from food, goods and services to assistance in locating jobs and housing. Without these dedicated and caring volunteers, many of our programs, such as our week-night tutoring program and hot meals for motel families, would not be possible.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
On any given night, HomeFront provides shelter and case management to approximately 500 individuals, the vast majority children, through our emergency shelter, transitional units, and our supportive and affordable, permanent housing.
In fiscal year 2021-2022 (October 1, 2021 - September 30, 2022):
- 16,805 unique individuals came to us for – and were given – shelter, food, and life-changing assistance.
- 121 families with 311 individuals lived in HomeFront’s permanent, affordable, service-enriched housing.
- 146 families with 318 individuals received intensive support and were sheltered with dignity at our Family Campus and in our FreshStart housing program.
- 228 families furnished their homes with beds, bureaus, tables, and couches through our Furnish the Future program.
- 2930 visits were made to our FreeStore to obtain necessary household items and clothing free of charge.
- 100 children made memories to grow on in our year-round Joy, Hopes & Dreams programming of educational and enrichment activities.
- 893,490 meals were provided through free bags of groceries in food pantry program to local families in need.
- 3,600 volunteers worked over 35,000 hours with HomeFront.
- 88 homeless or at-risk kids made memories to last a lifetime at our eight-week summer camp, Camp Mercer.
- 215 young parents were given the tools to improve their academic functioning or secured employment through our Hire Expectations program.
- 222 families received emergency housing assistance to keep them in their homes or to pay security deposits to acquire decent housing. A total of $821,415 was distributed in back rent, security deposits, and first month’s rent.
- 46 children received high-quality, trauma informed COVID safe day care.
- 3,440 visits were made to receive services at our wellness center including sick visits, mental health services, eye screenings, domestic violence supports, COVID-19 tests and vaccinations, well baby visits, learning disabilities screenings and general health screenings.
- 1,399,700 diapers and baby wipes were distributed through our Diaper Resource Center.
- 38,523 meals were provided to 745 homeless individuals staying in area motels.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
HomeFront, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 01/19/2023
Michael Moorman
Patrice Coleman-Boatwright
Cooper Creative Group
Sangita Karra
Wells Fargo Private Bank
Brian Kasper
Stark & Stark
Rose Mazzella
Bank of America
Amy Vogel
Elizabeth Wasch
Michael Van Wagner
NJM Insurance Group
Claudia Franco Kelly
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data