It’s no surprise that affordable housing is the headline pasted across every news story on a day-to-day basis. It’s now becoming a dream instead of a reality across the nation, especially as young people enter the market. These high prices are frustrating for potential buyers, but are the difference between having a home and living on the street for many more.
Homelessness rates have risen year over year for seven consecutive years, and show no signs of slowing. This is supplemented by a sharp increase of 18% in 2024, demonstrating not just hard times, but insurmountable odds. However, advocacy groups have shown no signs of giving up, and continue to fight for the right of a home. This is especially true in New Jersey, where homelessness is fought daily by Monarch Housing Associates.
New Jersey and the tipping point
Monarch began its incorporated operation in 1990, thanks to the Mental Health Association of New Jersey (MHANJ). The organization is bearing down in the new year, finding a specifically troubling statistic of an increase of almost 70% in the number of unhoused people from the last five years. In New Jersey, the federally mandated point-in-time count reported 13,748 people without homes, up from 8,097 in 2021.
Part of the issue comes from the lack of visibility of these people, who aren’t always clearly delineated in suburban areas. They often stake their claim to space behind shopping centers or in wooded areas in lieu of the bus stations or warming centers that city-hubs provide. Increasingly, some simply remain outside in cold temperatures, out of a fear that shelters and warming centers are too dangerously populated with people looking to rob or attack others.
While these temporary shelters provide some reprieve during the coldest months, they are only operational during said period and, as federal funding dries up, they could cease to exist altogether. Furthermore, the federal count-in doesn’t provide the complete picture, as those who find themselves couch surfing from friend to friend or temporarily housed from time-to-time can’t be counted as an unhoused person.
Mental health care and consistency
The National Institute of Health’s research reports that two thirds of unhoused people struggle with mental health issues, with 25-30% suffering from severe cases. Most lack the care they need to find success outside of treatment, and are unable to build a baseline of care without, first, a place to call home.
Monarch argues that support services can only function when they’re tied to housing. Their mission is built on continued access to programs and services that focus on enrollment to maintain current housing. The foundation believes that providing services to those already enrolled in support programs is much easier than providing rental assistance to someone on an already unstable footing.
The threat to funding
Many of these unhoused people rely on federal funding for daily needs, which has been continually threatened by the Trump administration. Federal cuts are looking to do away with safety net and affordability services as the rates of homelessness continue to rise. In fact, the numbers have the potential to balloon if cuts to funding aren’t soon halted, says Taiisa Kelly, Monarch’s CEO.
While the government speaks about these cuts as an opportunity to be leaner and find greater efficiencies, the reality is that every dollar cut is a family potential put out on the street. The 2026 New Jersey count-in was conducted on February 4, and the soon-to-be released numbers aren’t looking good. Participating community service workers cite a definite increase in the number of unhoused people counted, spelling doom as affordability continues to be cut down in the White House.
Homelessness nationwide
In 2024, there were 770,000 reportedly unhoused people. From then, the numbers have only increased. Now, at the beginning of 2026, we’re facing a struggling economy where layoffs abound and jobs are scarce, forcing more and more people to fight a battle with affordability.
Groceries have become a luxury for many, and the homeless population continues to grow because of it, driving up mental health instability and forcing tough choices between another meal and a place to call home. Important organizations like Monarch exist throughout the country, yet it has become impossible to fight back against continued slashes to funding, clearing a path for a never-ending increase in homelessness.
