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Grassroots groups push Paterson council to back Patterson Bridge Program to address homelessness
Summary
Community groups and service providers told the council about the Patterson Bridge Program on May 13, a proposed coordinated outreach and housing-voucher effort that organizers say targets hundreds of unhoused residents in Paterson and would draw on state CDBG funding and voucher programs.
Several grassroots providers and organizers urged Paterson council members May 13 to support the Patterson Bridge Program, a local task force proposal to coordinate outreach, intensive case management and housing vouchers for people experiencing homelessness.
Kelly Moss Brown, director of Hope Through Care and a leader of a coalition that includes local grassroots groups and service providers, described the program as a coordinated approach to move homeless individuals off the street and into housing. "It is called the Patterson Bridge Program. It is bridging the homeless to housing," Brown said, explaining that organizers sought state Community Development Block Grant funding and housing vouchers to support the effort.
Speakers cited point‑in‑time statistics and said Paterson accounted for a large share of the county’s unhoused population: "According to the point in time count, the city of Paterson... had 411 homeless individuals," a speaker said, asking the council to consider targeted, funded interventions rather than enforcement alone.
Organizers asked the council to endorse the program, help coordinate with state agencies such as the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and route applicable federal or state funding — including CDBG and housing vouchers — toward the project. They said the program would include grassroots providers, case management for mental-health and substance‑use treatment, and steps to improve outreach on Route 19 and other corridors cited in the count.
Council members and other public speakers praised the grassroots coordination and requested more detailed program plans and budgets for council review. No formal vote was recorded at the meeting; organizers said they would follow up with written proposals and grant applications.
