Services
CCCDC has served our homeless and at-risk neighbors in Bergen County since the mid 1990s. Since 2009, CCCDC’s programs have operated within the Bergen County Housing, Health, & Human Services Center contracted by the County of Bergen. CCCDC is very proud to be part of the best-practice work of the Center to end homelessness.
Welcoming everyone in the spirit of radical hospitality requires an organic and flexible approach to each individual. CCCDC’s foundational methodology has worked well in the Center environment – both for the sheltering programs and for the Drop-in center.
Next Step
Next Step, a drop-in and linkage program, provides a wide variety of help and support to community and sheltered guests in a radical hospitality model with the goal of preventing homelessness if possible and ending homelessness when it is unavoidable. Each month, an average of 226 individuals make 2,600 in-person and virtual visits to Next Step for assistance.
New and existing guests are welcomed by the on-site and remote teams using basic intake and welcoming interviews to gather information needed to determine the best way forward for each guest, and also to collect data required by HMIS and other reporting.
New guests are assisted in obtaining the documents necessary to establish eligibility and connected to Center-based or community-based assistance and/or care management and supported through the connection process.
Three sheltering programs provide year-round shelter and seasonal cold-weather shelter in a model that integrates shelter with support and life-improvement services provided by Next Step and other partners in service. Each month, an average of 138 individuals are provided 2,704 bed nights.
How can I get shelter ?
- Please call 211 for shelter.
- Last permanent address in Bergen County determines eligibility. Guests need (or must work with Next Step to obtain) physical copies of their Birth Certificate (or equivalent if born outside of the US), Social Security Card & Driver’s License.
- Calls from the Remote Next Step team will come across as restricted.
- Shelter is not always be guaranteed, but we are always available as a resource.
What is the shelter like ?
- 72 beds, gender separated, not for families (meant for one guest per case).
- Curfew is at 6 o’clock, if you do not come back by curfew you will lose your spot. Exceptions can be made on a case by case basis (i.e. conflicting job hours, doctor appointments, etc).
- Storage is limited – two bins for your personal belongings.
- Prior arrangements must be made for any personal belongings to be stored off-site. If items do not fit into the very limited storage available at the Center, they will be disposed of immediately. Under no circumstances will the Center store any excess items for guests. No exceptions.
- Clothing will be commercially laundered on shelter entry and returned to you in a few days. Guests may keep two changes of clothes plus what they are wearing until their clothes return from the laundry.
- NOTE: any expensive, delicate, or deeply personal items should not be brought to the Center to avoid loss or damage. The Center is not responsible for guests’ belongings – guests are.
- Three meals a day are served. Every day breakfast is served to residents. Lunch and dinner are served to both residents and people in the community.
- There is limited parking at the Center. Legal cars are permitted to park in the lot if space permits.
What items are not allowed at the shelter?
- No bedding of any kind – sheets, pillows, blankets, comforters, etc. may be brought into the Center unless brand new with a receipt shown and tags attached.
- No curling irons, flat irons, or anything that gets hot when used may be brought into the Center. Blow-dryers are permitted.
- No food or drinks other than one sealed water bottle are permitted.
- All prescription and over-the-counter medications must be locked in lockers – the Center will provide locks for guests’ use during their stay. Guests cannot place their own lock on lockers.
- The Center will provide blankets and bed linens and towels for all guests and a pillows in some shelter services.