Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness

The mission of the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness is to ensure that all residents of Mercer County have access to permanent, affordable and safe housing. The Alliance is a partnership of leaders from government, business and the non-profit sectors that banded together in 2004 to create and implement a plan to prevent and end homelessness in Mercer County, NJ.

The Alliance has had notable achievements in its first seven years: 1) increased public awareness on homelessness with an award-winning ad campaign and bi-annual service fairs; 2) started a new systemic effort between government and homeless providers, focused on prevention and permanent housing with services; 3) demonstrated the effectiveness of Housing First as an intervention that can end chronic homelessness and save public and private funds; 4) secured acceptance of the Rapid Rehousing model for moving individuals and families quickly out of homelessness and forward to self-sufficiency; 5) increased income for disabled homeless individuals through a county-wide collaborative that rapidly moves eligible individuals onto Federal disability benefits; 4) helped to prevent homelessness by increasing Mercer County applications for the Earned Income Tax Credit by 33% ($11M).