a new strategy to help the chronically

homeless the state's partnering with

hospitals and a pilot program to learn

if providing homes and wraparound help

can change the lives of those still

chasing the dream senior correspondent

Brenda Flanagan reports how can I see

homeless not easy

Gisele Gonzalez knows she's 32 and lives

hand-to-mouth alongside the ever-present

homeless population in Journal Square

just a fraction of Hudson County's more

than 800 homeless according to last

year's official count I go to the

temples

yeah the ambience each sample they give

pretty much good foods daily every day

so I won't be starving sometimes I stay

here outside because there would be a

lot of fights sometimes of the shelters

so I try to ask for help as much as I I

can you know everyone deserves a place

to lay their head at night the stories

that we hear about the homeless are

unbelievable today Hudson County

launched a new pilot program that will

use 25 rental vouchers from the state

combined with intense support services

donated by two local hospitals to find

permanent housing for people who are

vulnerable and chronically homeless

Hoboken University Medical Center will

help five clients Jersey City Medical

Center will support 20 and many times

because of mental health issues if

they're especially if they're not

getting treated they won't go in into

one of our supportive housing programs

so the first step for us for example

might be somebody who's living on the

street make sure that they're keeping

their appointments taking their

medications then all of a sudden they

understand the need to go into

supportive housing the program will

spend about twenty five thousand dollars

per client per year it's called familiar

faces because the chronically homeless

often are familiar to cops commuters and

neighbors they're familiar faces these

are people that we went to high school

with these are people that we know their

moms and their dads so we're helping

ourselves when we're helping them and

saving money chronically homeless don't

just stay in shelters they often make

repeat trips to jail or to the emergency

room a separate cost analysis showed

hospital and shelter costs decreased by

nearly $400,000 annually when the county

helped

five homeless clients find supportive

housing for a year without permanent

housing where they can be stabilized and

get the support of services they need

even just a handful of individuals on

the street or in the shelter's can

become very expensive what we are

announcing here in Hudson County will be

transformative for many people's lives

they're trying to give homeless people

yeah that's really one of the for me

anxiety in the wild jersey city's

already identified 20 applicants for the

familiar faces program and the five

other slots will probably fill up fast

sponsors hope it's so successful that it

becomes a model for the nation in Jersey

City

I'm Brenda Flanagan NJTV news

[Music]