Parsippany Group Marking 35 Years Of Helping Homeless Veterans

PARSIPPANY, NJ—Community Hope, an organization in Parsippany, provides services to some of our most deserving neighbors: veterans who have fallen on hard times.

"We provide housing and support services to homeless veterans," said Peggy Banko, Director of Development at Community Hope, "families or families at risk of being of becoming homeless as well as adults with mental illness."

This year marks the 35th year that Community Hope has helped veterans in the Morris, Sussex, and Somerset County areas of New Jersey. Banko said the organization operates group homes as well as transitional housing.

Banko said The Hope For Veterans program consists of a facility in Bergen County and a 95-bed facility at the Lyons Veterans Medical Center in Bernards Township.

"Veterans who find themselves homeless," Banko said, "can come to our program for up to two years, and whether they need help with substance abuse, any sort of mental issues, we will help them."

She said the Lyons facility is primarily male, based on historical need, but there are now 10 beds there for women. According to the Veteran's Administration, females are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless veteran population.

Banko, who has worked for the organization for 17 years, said Community Hope also provides assistance with other common and key issues people experiencing homelessness are typically facing, including credit, transportation, employment, and legal help.

"We basically help them get their lives together," she said, "and then we get them into permanent housing from there."

Unfortunately, Banko and Community Hope are only seeing an increase in need for their services. The organization said it helped nearly 1,300 veterans and families out of homelessness last year, compared to 507 in 2014.

The nonprofit has a strong track record: It said 92 percent of persons served who were imminently at-risk of homelessness at admission were stably housed at discharge last year.

Banko said in response, Community Hope wants veterans to know they are out there and ready to help those who are in danger of, or are currently experiencing, homelessness.

"We are the best kept secret in New Jersey because of the work we do," Banko said. "Because it's a double edged sword, you don't really know who we are until you need our services."

Banko points to several success stories, including a female navy veteran who is involved with the Supportive Services for Veterans Families program, which takes certain homeless veterans and their families and does a "rapid rehousing," finding them suitable in permanent housing quickly.

Banko said the veteran had recently left her husband in Tennessee and moved to New Jersey, where she and her three children were staying on friends' couches. Banko said Community Hope was able to help the woman get housing, despite credit and employment challenges, and get the family settled within 90 days.

Banko added that she regrets the spike in need for Community Hope's services, but the satisfaction she and the other members of the staff get from helping veterans continues to motivate and inspire.

"For me, there's there's no greater gift," Banko said. "It is truly a wonderful thing that we're able to give to people who gave so much for us."

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