The project involved transforming the decommissioned Marine Reserve Center in Ewing into a one-stop social services campus Watch video
EWING -- After her relationship had taken a turn for the worse, Kalihqa Brown, 28, found herself in a tough situation with nowhere to go. She says she would have been on the streets had it not been for HomeFront, the nonprofit service agency that for more than two decades has helped homeless families turn their lives around.
Brown's story is no exception.
"It's literally changed my life," she said.
Brown arrived at HomeFront in June with her two children, ages 6 and 4. Soon after, the trio moved into the nonprofit's new Family Campus, which made its long-awaited public debut on Wednesday.
"It's night and day," she said. "There's so many new things. ... They're giving us a whole lot of options."
The therapy, classes and job training, she says, have given her the self-confidence and drive that she needed to get back on her feet.
"They show you that you are worth it and they see all the little gems that you don't see in yourself and they help build that up," she said. "I've been able to see that even though I was going through something hard and something difficult that I'm going to make it through."
The Family Campus was years in the making and involved transforming the decommissioned Marine Reserve Center in Ewing into a one-stop social services campus.
"What this does is it takes away the excuses," said Connie Mercer, HomeFront's founder and CEO. "If somebody's ready to get their life together, there are no more excuses, no more reasons for them not to do it."
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HomeFront spent 7 1/2 years trying to acquire the property through the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, finally taking title to it in September 2013, said Celia Bernstein, the director of operations and CFO.
"From that point forward, we've been on a runaway train," she said.
The 42,000-square-foot building features 38 dorm-style rooms with trundle beds, a crib and private bath. The expansion allows them to take in single-father and two-parent households -- something they had previously been unable to do, Bernstein said.
Come January, the in-house daycare will expand to a 24-hour childcare center, allowing parents to work night shifts and odd hours.
Life skills classes, expanded job training, libraries, classrooms and a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen will help equip families with the tools they need to become self-sufficient.
A clinic provides wellness checks and vaccinations, while a new spacious studio offers room for its ArtSpace and SewingSpace programs.
Finally, a centralized hub of health and social-service agencies has been created with rooms set aside for its community partners including WomanSpace, Family Guidance and Twin Oaks.
"There's no real barrier to getting the services that you need," Bernstein said. "It's providing soup-to-nuts so you can go from being homeless to being in a permanent home."
On any given day, 38 families will be living there but another 50 parents will come to take advantage of the programs and services.
"This will be their touchstone place for a period of time until they're successfully self-sufficient and then hopefully they'll come back to give back," Mercer said.
She cautioned that Wednesday's celebration, which was attended by hundreds of community members, is only the beginning.
An adjacent building will eventually become a diaper bank and a civic engagement center, whose goal will be to help families become a part of a community's fabric, is also in the works.
The project, Mercer said, would not have been possible without the support of the community.
"It feels like a web of support and love around us and our work and the families that have had so many things standing in their way," she said.
Don Hofmann, who has been involved with the organization for the past 15 years, chaired the fundraising committee that was tasked with raising $6 million for the project.
The 1,000-plus donors ranged from corporations and foundations to church groups and former clients who had been helped by HomeFront and now wanted to give back, he said.
Hofmann said the building benefited from the input of staff members, volunteers and most importantly, families.
"This was living and breathing and so many people had a hand in it," he said. "We're humbled and blessed to be able to do this."
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.