Peyton Fisher ’27, News Staff Writer

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An encampment in Newark (Image Courtesy of The Healthcare Foundation of NJ)

Community service is an integral factor in supporting local populations in need. Homeless communities are some of the populations that would especially benefit from volunteering.

Homelessness in America has seen drastic increases ever since the pandemic. According to the Annual Homeless Assessment Reports (AHAR) drafted by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the number of unhoused persons in America rose from 326,000 in 2021 to 582,500 in 2022 and to 653,100 in 2023. These numbers demonstrate a 12% increase in the country’s homeless population over 2022 and the highest number of unhoused persons since 2007. More than 50% of unhoused people remain unsheltered, and individuals or families experiencing unsheltered homelessness tend to live in uninhabitable environments (i.e. streets or subway stations). 

The leading causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, low wages, the end of COVID-19 relief programs, and racial and economic disparities. Lack of affordable housing is the number one factor in the high numbers seen in these statistics. 

New Jersey’s population of people facing homelessness stands at 12,680 people — an increase of over 2,000 since 2023. Newark holds a larger proportion of homeless people than any other city in NJ, with 2,089 people. 

Newark Academy offers many service opportunities that aim to help these populations. Our partnership with the Apostles House, a social service organization in Newark that helps to stabilize unhoused individuals and families, allows NA students to support our local homeless populations through the events coordinated by the school and the Apostles House. For example, earlier this year there was a trip to the Apostles House to continue making a mural that the school has worked on for years. In December is the Apostles Holiday Party, an event in which the families living in the Apostles House come to NA to celebrate the holidays and eat dinner.

Another major service opportunity that NA holds is the Solidarity Sleep Out. The Sleep Out raises money to help young people experiencing homelessness find shelter at the Covenant House, an organization that accommodates youth facing homelessness and human trafficking survivors. Participants in the Sleep Out sleep outside for one night in solidarity. Since 2014, the school’s first Sleep Out, NA has raised 100,000 dollars in funds for the Covenant House. This year, the Sleep Out will be held on Thursday, April 17. You can learn more about the Sleep Out by talking to Ms. Fischer, our director of community service, or Michael Wyche `25, one of the student leaders on the Sleep Out planning committee. 

 As Ms. Fischer says, “The reason [community service] is so important is twofold. One is that I firmly believe we have a responsibility to our communities locally, nationally, and globally to engage in activities that support community growth in a manner that centers their self-identified needs and honors the expertise the community has to offer. Second, the service program at NA provides a chance for our students to put the critical thinking, cultural competence, and understanding of issues of social justice they learn in the classroom into real-world practice.”