MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon announced the launch of Hope Hub, a sweeping program that combines the expertise and resources of multiple public service agencies to help vulnerable and at-risk people find the assistance they need, from homeless solutions and addiction treatment to mental health counseling or a combination of services
Hope Hub is an outgrowth of the wildly successful Hope One outreach program, a mobile substance use recovery and mental health initiative by which a team of specialists drives into Morris County communities to find and assist people in need of addiction counseling and mental health services. Hope Hub will expand on that formula by bringing a team approach, tapping the services of many different agencies and nonprofits to focus on the cases of vulnerable individuals brought to their attention by various public service agencies or individuals.
“We are working together to help individuals and families struggling in Morris County. Those who encounter people at risk in our society can refer vulnerable individuals seeking help to Hope Hub or alert Hope Hub of their plight,” said Cpl. Erica Valvano of the Sheriff’s Office. “These people come into the system many different ways. A police officer who sees someone about to become homeless, a treatment specialist seeing someone struggling with addiction, or a person just asking for help.”
Spearheaded by Hope Hub Coordinator Officer Chelsea Whiting, Hope Hub will be a multidisciplinary panel made up of members of law enforcement, social services, mental health services, healthcare providers, treatment providers and recovery specialists. Individuals and families struggling with problems referred to the Hope Hub panel will be connected to life-changing services.
The multidisciplinary panel will determine what public services would best help an individual brought to their attention, and the panel will work together to determine if a situation requires a welfare visit or an intervention.
Since the inception of Hope One on April 3, 2017, the Hope One team has made 17,101 community contacts and trained 3,149 people in the use of life-saving Narcan. The program has been successful in building community awareness of the opioid epidemic and ending the stigma of addiction, and it has become recognized by Morris County residents as a service responsible for saving the lives of struggling people.
The successes of Hope One motivated the formation of Hope Hub to connect everyone in need with assistance services.
On January 15, 2021, over 50 providers attended a virtual Hope Hub Provider Meeting to prepare for the program launch.
Among the partners working with Sheriff Gannon will be the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mental Health Association of Essex & Morris, the Center for Addiction, Recovery, Education & Success (CARES), the Morris County Chiefs of Police Association, Acenda Integrated Health, Family Promise of Morris, the Morris County Department of Human Services and Navigating Hope.
Also participating are the Office of Temporary Assistance (OTA), the STAR program, the Morris County Youth Shelter, the Morris County Division on Aging, Disabilities & Community Programming, Garden Chapel in Victory Gardens, Nourish.NJ, Morris County Child & Family Resources, Prevention is Key, Inc., JBWS, Community Hope, Epiphany Community Services, Homeless Solutions Inc., the Jefferson Township Police Department, NewBridge Services, the New Jersey Department of Education, and Edge New Jersey.
For more information, contact Cpl. Erica Valvano at ERice@co.morris.nj.us.
