HomeFront, Inc.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.