Community Hope - Our Organization

In our Twenty-Second Year, Community Hope is today one of the largest providers of supportive housing for individuals in recovery from mental illness and substance abuse in New Jersey. Our nonprofit organization continues to grow to meet the needs of the disabled in our communities.

Community Hope Expansion Quadruples Residential Services - Within five years, Community Hope’s residential programs have quadrupled. Today, two hundred (200) individuals are benefiting from supported housing where our counselors empower individuals to continue their recovery from mental illness and rejoin the workforce, family and community life. With additional plans for program development under way, Community Hope expects to serve as many as 270 individuals by the end of 2007. Expansion has been made possible in large part by more than $1.4 million raised in private funding and public grants in fiscal year 06.
The CHOICE Supported Housing Program Continues to Expand - Community Hope’s newest CHOICE residence, pictured here, opened in June 2006. The newly-constructed four-unit house was funded with a Federal Section 811 capital grant and support from the United Way of Morris County and the Township of Roxbury. The CHOICE Program was recognized by the Housing Partnership for Morris County for innovation in creating affordable housing for this project.

Since its inception in 2000, Community Hope’s CHOICE program has grown rapidly and continues to expand to offer consumers affordable housing-plus-services in order to maintain independent living within the community.
New Wing Under Construction at the Hope for Veterans® Program - The 70-bed Hope for Veterans® Program opened in September 2004 as the largest and most comprehensive transitional housing program for homeless veterans in New Jersey and the Tri-State area. In September 2005, Community Hope secured a capital grant from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and funding from the NJ Department of Community Affairs and JP Morgan Chase Foundation to expand the new 70-bed Program to 95 beds. Renovations have commenced and are slated for completion in Summer 2007.

The Hope for Veterans® Program is the 2005 recipient of the prestigious national Community Partnership Award from the Mutual of America Foundation and the (NJ) Governor’s Excellence in Housing Award.
Intensive On-Grounds Residential Program at Greystone Expands Threefold - The CHAMP Program expanded in June 2006 to help fifteen more individuals make the transition out of Greystone. The CHAMP Residential and Day Treatment Program, launched as a pilot initiative by Community Hope and our partner agency, Comprehensive Behavioral Healthcare (CBH Care) in 2000, is intended specifically for patients who no longer need to be hospitalized but who have become dependent on the institutional setting.

The expansion of CHAMP was made possible by the support of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The County dedicated three additional properties on the former hospital campus for the expansion and approved a $275,000 HOME grant to renovate the residences. The Township of Parsippany committed the remaining $145,000 for the renovations.
Development of “The Partnership” at Greystone - Community Hope and CBH Care are developing another program on the grounds of Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, renovating “the cottages” to create a specialized 36-bed Partnership for Recovery Program. Similar to CHAMP, the self-contained program will serve individuals who have experienced long-term hospitalization and will provide specialized services to individuals with medical conditions and those with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse.
President and Founder Carmela Lunt Receives Prestigious Awards - Carmela Lunt was awarded the Garden State Seeds of Hope Award by NJ Monthly Magazine at a ceremony on September 19, 2006, in recognition of her vision in founding CH over twenty years ago. Ms. Lunt was also recently selected as a 2006 Local Hero recipient through Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative for making a remarkable difference in the community by serving neighborhood needs. In June, she was recognized by the Russell Berrie Foundation as an Unsung Hero.
Sparkle of Hope Gala Raises Unprecedented Funds to Benefit Community Hope - In a show of support for Community Hope’s mission, nearly 600 guests and corporate sponsors attended the annual Sparkle of Hope Dinner Auction on October 30, 2006. Honoring Tony Zook, President and Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca North America and John J. Murphy, Morris County Freeholder, the event raised $550,000 with proceeds benefiting Community Hope’s residential programs.