HABcore goes beyond the traditional boarding house model by providing a permanent home-like atmosphere with 24-hour supervision to cater to the needs of our population. Our supportive services include individually tailored development plans that allow residents to start a new life.
Central to our philosophy is the recognition that we must help our residents address their challenges. As our population has evolved to one where the majority are people with mental illness, we have expanded support services to accommodate their needs and to foster self-sufficiency. The specific goal of our programs is to promote self-sufficiency in a structured, family-like atmosphere. In so doing, we furnish our residents with the tools to reach their highest level of independent living. 77% of our departing residents over the last five years have gone on to live in a more independent setting.
HABcore’s success has been recognized by the Monmouth County Department of Community Development, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Organization History:
In 1988, several Lunchbreak (a charitable organization dedicated to feeding the hungry in the greater Red Bank, NJ area) volunteers conducted a survey and found that a large percentage of the people they were feeding were living in substandard housing. These volunteers initiated a new organization whose purpose was to provide affordable housing in the same geographic area. Lunchbreak supported the new effort with a grant and loan, and in September 1988, HABcore, Inc. was incorporated. The "HAB" in HABcore was derived from the first initials of the last names of three homeless men who died in the streets of Red Bank during the 1980s.
Our Board has always been a 'Working Board', and our success come from their commitment to HABcore. The trustees initially provided every imaginable service in support of our housing, from scrubbing the floors to doing the laundry. They remain the embodiment of our self-help philosophy, and are the reason for much of our success. They now serve on committees ranging from Finance to Property Management to Residential Life.
We have expanded across Monmouth County and into Ocean County, growing from five residents to ninety-six, with two boarding houses, three "graduate" supportive housing complexes, as well as an apartment rent subsidy and case management program. These developments are among our more important accomplishments, as we remain committed to expansion, whenever prudent, to help meet the dire need for affordable, supportive housing.
Facts:
* It costs approximately $12,000 a year for room, board, and supportive services for a HABcore resident as opposed to costing up to $100,000 of taxpayers' money annually for inclusion in the state hospital system.
* It is a fact that HABcore is preventing individuals from entering the costly hospital system, as 83% of our current residents were previously cared for in that system.
* 83 cents of every dollar goes directly to program expenses.
We could help so many more in need and save the taxpayers thousands of dollars if we had more financial support.
