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Presenter describes rapid opening of Brookdale Waring Center that sheltered about 120 people
Summary
A presenter recounted that after a mayoral request the Brookdale Waring Center was set up within a week, providing 24-hour care and coordinating agencies to help roughly 120 people with meals, mental-health referrals and document assistance to pursue housing.
Presenter said the mayor called and asked for help setting up a shelter at the former Brookdale school, which was quickly repurposed as the Brookdale Waring Center.
"I got a phone call from the mayor ... Just show up at Brookdale," the presenter said, describing how fire department personnel were moving beds into the building when they arrived. Within a week the site was operating as a warming center, the presenter said.
The presenter said the center provided around-the-clock care and meals and at one point sheltered about "120 individuals that we were caring for 24 hours a day." Agencies including River Edge and the Veterans Association were brought in to provide mental-health and veteran services, the presenter said, and dozens of local organizations stepped forward to help staff and support the effort.
The presenter described the operation as a "one-stop shop" for people experiencing homelessness, saying staff helped clients obtain identification and other documents — Social Security cards and birth certificates — needed to pursue housing.
"My job was to help get it started. And so basically we were building the plane as we were flying it," the presenter said, characterizing the rapid, improvised response to an urgent local need.
The account emphasized community cooperation rather than formal government action: there was "no soft opening" or ribbon cutting, the presenter said, and the effort was organized quickly to meet immediate demand.
No formal motions, votes, or funding decisions were recorded in this remark; the presenter framed the account as a description of an emergency response and community coordination rather than as a proposal for new policy. The presenter closed by describing the emotional impact of the work, saying they were "overwhelmed with the amount of love that came out of this community."
