Homefirst: Interfaith Housing & Family Services

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Homefirst Executive Director Retires
Barbara Aaronoff Served Agency for 18 Years

 

Barbara Aaronoff, executive director of Homefirst Interfaith Housing and Family Services, will retire on June 15 after 18 years of service, announced the agency’s board.  Homefirst (formerly Interfaith Council for the Homeless), located in Plainfield, N.J., provides emergency shelter and transitional housing for homeless individuals and families and permanent supportive housing for low-income families and individuals with disabilities in Union County.  “The work that Homefirst accomplishes each day providing shelter, affordable housing and support to our neediest community members is a testament to Barbara’s intelligence, hard work and compassion,” said Karen Howell, Homefirst’s board president.


Under Aaronoff’s leadership, Homefirst broadened its focus from providing emergency shelter through faith-based congregations to developing quality, affordable housing. While the agency continues to work with 69 Union County congregations, Homefirst also owns 35 units of affordable housing.  Additionally, the agency provides individualized case management, and programs for Homefirst families as well as utility assistance and support services to members of our greater community.
Aaronoff will serve as a consultant to the Homefirst board through June 2008.  An interim executive director has been hired and the board will commence a search for an executive director once it has completed its three-year strategic plan. “The board is now charged with finding an executive director who will honor the work Barbara has accomplished and continue to lead Homefirst in the direction of meeting the needs of our community,” said Howell. 


In lieu of gifts , the agency is accepting donations in honor of Aaronoff’s retirement. For more information, call Susan Oldroyd Laffler, Director of Development and Public Relations at (908)753-4001 extension 20.

 

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A History

Homefirst, originally Interfaith Council for the Homeless of Union County, began in 1986 when a group of Union County religious leaders and lay people, responding to the crisis of family homelessness, created an emergency shelter called the Interfaith Hospitality Network. What began as a commitment of 11 caring congregations to shelter 14 single women and families on a rotating basis has grown within Union County and across the country.

Today, under the Homefirst umbrella, more than 70 congregations help to run the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Union County either by hosting the shelter in their congregation or supporting a host congregation. In 1988 Karen Olson, one of the founders and the first director, went on to form a national organization, Family Promise. Using the model developed in Union County, Family Promise has initiated the development of shelter programs throughout the country. Homefirst still operates the original IHN program.

In 1995, Homefirst purchased its first house, expanding its services to include transitional housing for families leaving the shelter. Since then we have purchased many houses and condos and renovated them to provide safe and comfortable housing options for extremely low-income families. We also provide education and advocacy to ensure each individual and family the opportunity to grow and develop as healthy and self-sufficient residents of the Union County community.