Annual Report 2014-2015

Project Connect
First Anniversary Breakfast
Bridges friends, supporters, partners and staff gathered on
April 21, 2015, to celebrate the first anniversary of Bridges’
Project Connect located at St. John’s Soup Kitchen in the
epicenter of Newark’s homeless population in the Penn
Station area of Newark. A niche that we quickly filled was
to help more than 1,100 people who are homeless to receive
a NJ State ID or a certified copy of their birth certificate.
A valid ID is the first step in rebuilding a life. Through
Project Connect, 50 people were placed in jobs and 41
found permanent housing, in addition to many others who
received medical attention and social services.
At Project Connect we offer:
Case Management
Employment and Training
Housing Connections
NJ State IDs
On-site Resource Center for medical and social
agencies to hold regular office hours.
In the first year of Project Connect:
1,613
Unique Clients Served
20
Substance Abuse Treatment
Program Placements
69
Medicaid Enrollments
1,144
IDs Acquired
41
Permanent Housing Secured
including 17 through our partner, Soldier On
13
Mental Health Treatment
Program Placements
50
Permanent Jobs
Project Connect Partners
Catholic Charities*
City of Newark – Office of
the Mayor
City of Newark Office of
Reentry Program
City of Newark Police
Department
City of Newark, Department
of Health and Community
Wellness*
City of Newark, Office of
Vital Statistics
Cornerstone Realty
EISS – UBHC Rutgers
Emergency Residence
Program, Newark YMCA
Essecare of New Jersey
Essex County Legal Services
Furniture Assistance
GEO Reentry Services
Goodwill
Investors Bank
Joy’s Angels
Monarch Housing Associates
New Direction
New York City Relief Bus
Newark Community
Health Center*
Newark Community
Solutions
Newark Downtown District
Newark Emergency Services
Newark Housing Authority
Newark One Stop
Career Center
NJ Department of Labor and
Workforce Development –
Veterans Unit*
NJCRI
NJPAC – Community
Giving Program
NYC BRC
Proceed Inc.
Project Live
Prudential
ReLease
Rutgers Urban Clinic
Soldier On*
St. John’s Soup Kitchen
Sunrise
The HUBB
Urban League of
Essex County
Urban Renewal
Vet Center*
Walgreens
*indicates on-site providers
Project Connect is funded in part by the Healthcare
Foundation of New Jersey.
Newark Warming Center
Bridges Outreach presents St. John’s with an engraved commercial soup pot in
gratitude for all they do for Newark’s most vulnerable population and for their hospitality
to Bridges’ Project Connect. From left, Bridges’ Executive Director Lois Bhatt, Bridges’
Board Chair Amanda Parrish Block, Parish Manager of St. John’s Vincent Smith, St.
John’s Director of Outreach Barbara Maran, Monsignor Neil Mahoney of St. John’s, and
Project Connect’s Program Manager Sakinah Abdul-Hakeem.
The City of Newark opened a warming center at the JFK
Recreation Center in Newark this past winter when the
overnight temperature dipped to below 16 degrees for two
days. Bridges provided food, blankets and toiletries to the
warming center, helped to get the word out to the homeless
community, and offered rides from Penn Station to the
warming center.