Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the City of Newark, Office of Homeless Services “Come As You Are” Bridge Housing Community Project, Newark, NJ
E2PM’s John Ferrante and Marianne Brody had the recent privilege of attending a wonderful ribbon cutting ceremony on January 8, 2024 for the official opening of the second iteration of the ‘Come As You Are’ Bridge Housing Community located at 51-63 Elizabeth Avenue in the City of Newark, NJ. Also identified by some as “New Hope Village II.”
Mayor Ras J. Baraka, along with Director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, Mr. Luis Ulerio and many other dignitaries gather to open their second Bridge Housing Community following the success of Hope Village I at 79 Newark Street in Newark, NJ. Mayor Baraka charged the Office of Homeless Services to build more communities that followed the same low-barrier model that was immensely effective in serving residents in the first village. For the second iteration, the city engaged the community to inform the design, and assembled a creative team of professionals to bring this innovative project to life, including engineering support from E2 Project Management LLC. This new village was created to serve chronically homeless Newark residents that experience prolonged homelessness and often have a disabling condition. The housing model of the second village aims to transition individuals from unsheltered homelessness to a supportive community with services that will allow residents to come as they are.
The “Come As You Are” Bridge Housing Community consists of twelve International Code Council (ICC) certified containers, which are fashioned into four clusters of residential units with dorm-style rooms, private shower facilities, and communal spaces for twenty (20) chronically homeless Newark residents. The community will have an administrative office for support staff, and a multi-purpose space for resident engagement and interaction. The grounds include a park space for gatherings and relaxation, as well as community gardens and green houses where food and nutrition education and aeroponics workshops will take place.
E2PM was retained in 2022 by the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services as their Engineer for the project to provide civil engineering and site planning support services throughout several project phases, including pre-design studies, civil site design, structural foundations, coordination with the City Engineering department, soil erosion permitting, project management and construction support.
Congratulations to the City of Newark Office of Homeless Services and all involved partners in making this project come to life and providing brand new transitional housing for the homeless community of the city. All E2PM professionals that have been involved with the many stages of this project are honored to help construct such a special community that makes the City of Newark proud. E2PM is so thankful for this opportunity.
For more information about this project from the City of Newark, including a Photo Gallery, visit here.
Published January 8, 2024
