Community Hope

A proactive approach to helping veterans and their families with immediate support when facing homelessness.  We provide rapid re-housing to homeless veterans in addition to keeping veteran households from losing their housing when they are facing eviction.  Our first priority is to either assist the family in remaining in their current housing, or, if they are homeless, to quickly locate and help them secure affordable housing.  To accomplish this, we assist in the housing search; provide access to emergency housing when possible in the interim; intervene with landlords; provide support and case management services that can include assistance with medical care, mental health or substance abuse treatment, child care and job training.  Temporary financial assistance may also be available to help with such expenses as security deposits, back rent, utility payments or bedding and household essentials.

Delivering a rapid response has proven essential to meeting the needs of veterans and their families, especially those we have rescued from living in shelters, emergency motels, their cars or the woods.

Serving Veterans and Veteran Families in the Following NJ Counties: 

Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren

Our transitional housing programs provide a safe place for veterans to address the issues that led to their homelessness

Our Hope for Veterans® Transitional Housing is a 95-bed transitional housing program for homeless veterans located on the Lyons VA campus.   We also operate an 8-bed program in Bergen County.

Opened in 2004 as the largest and most comprehensive program for homeless veterans in New Jersey, Hope for Veterans has received national acclaim for succeeding in helping more than 1,000 veterans who had fallen upon hard times. This program is open to both veterans in need of mental health clinical services and/or veterans needing a temporary place to reside until they can access apartments they have secured.

During their tenure in the program, veterans are encouraged to achieve sustained independence and financial self-sufficiency by working towards goals created by each of them.

Community Hope provides the following intensive services:

• Individual and group mental health therapy and counseling.
• Transitional housing for three to nine months that typically ends in graduation to permanent housing
• Recovery services for individuals experiencing substance use and mental illnesses including depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and other conditions
• Case management services that focus on veteran engagement and linkage to services and supports that promote wellness and recovery
• Access to employment opportunities, educational resources, career support services, and an on-site computer lab
• Individual and group counseling with clinicians and peer led support groups
• Access to pro bono legal support for a variety of law related issues
• Maximizing access to benefits and entitlements and counseling in budgeting skills to enhance financial self-sufficiency
• Permanent housing planning and housing search support

To download a referral form for our Hope for Veterans® Program, please click here.

Valley Brook Village is a first of its kind VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) community for homeless veterans, situated on the Lyons Campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System in Lyons, New Jersey. Residential common spaces form a village-style community on 16+ acres and feature sixty-two furnished, one and two bedroom apartment homes with shared community space, ample program space, landscaped walkways and shared outdoor spaces. Highlights include access to a state-of-the art learning center on-site and a vocational training space under the programming of the Employment Training Specialist.

In addition, an array of supportive services/amenities, are provided by Community Hope under the coordination of Peabody Resident Services, Inc. and are designed to assist the formerly homeless Veterans and at-risk, low income Veterans to meet their own goals, while linking them to support services and health care available at the medical facility right next door.

All residents are referred by the Department of Veterans Affairs.