Camden County opens 60-unit Blackwood, New Jersey, shelter in $25 million push to end homelessness by 2030

On a quiet, wooded road in Blackwood, a long-awaited respite for people experiencing homelessness opened Friday. The $25 million project is part of Camden County’s effort to end homelessness by the end of the decade.

The new Martin McKernan Supportive Housing Center sits on a former off-road racing track at 15 County House Rd. It has 60 transitional housing units and a community room with tall ceilings and natural light. The 45,000-square-foot building includes ADA-accessible units, a communal laundry, computer and mail rooms, a gym, and lounges for residents. Each room has a small kitchen and bathroom and was built with trauma-informed design, county officials said, including large windows and ligature-resistant furniture.

The project is a core feature of the county’s plan to reach “functional zero” homelessness by 2030, a point the county defines as when the number of homeless people is not greater than the monthly housing placement rate. The deadline is not a state mandate but a goal the county set for itself. According to Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr., the county set it out of a desire to help amid the pullback of federal funding for social safety net programs.

“It’s all about compassion,” Cappelli said. “Our mission has always been to help those most in need, and I think this is a huge leap forward towards meeting that objective.”

The shelter is staffed 24-7 by Volunteers of America Delaware Valley. County officials said it will also include temporary offices for traveling service providers, who will connect residents with workforce development, physical and mental healthcare, substance use recovery resources, and other services. These efforts are in partnership with Cooper Norcross University Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Cappelli said, “There’s not a service, really, that we’re not providing that these folks need.”

The county based the design of the shelter, its programs, and its services on lessons from the Regan Center, a 23-bed emergency shelter also in Gloucester Township, Cappelli said. Since it opened in 2021, 80% of the nearly 300 people who have turned to the Regan Center for help have gone on to secure permanent housing, he said. “That’s a pretty extraordinary success rate, and we’re very confident we could duplicate that here,” Cappelli said.

Unlike many state-funded shelters, the McKernan Center will have no hard-and-fast deadline for when residents must leave their transitional units, said Rob Jakubowski, director of the Camden County Division of Community Development. Social workers and healthcare professionals will determine length of stay case by case, prioritizing each individual’s needs over what he called an “arbitrary deadline.” Residents will be expected to take an active role in their own wellness. “You always have to be working towards your next step,” Jakubowski said. “You’re not just coming for a free sandwich, you have to be meeting with your case manager. And for everyone it’s different, but the ultimate goal is housing.”

Jakubowski also described how referrals have affected shelter access. “If you walked into a shelter right now, they’d say, ‘Who’s your referral?’ — meaning who’s paying for it,” he said. “That’s not an obstacle anymore when it comes to the Camden County commissioners.”

Cappelli said the majority of the $25 million construction cost was paid for by the county’s remaining federal COVID-19 relief funding, which was set to expire at the end of the year. County bonds covered the rest of the construction budget.

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