Faith Foundation for homeless forced to close

Homeless 'boutique' closes
Hackensack site not legal for shelter use
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
BY RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff
Army veteran David Borgstrom said he found few arms extended in welcome when he became homeless in Hackensack several years ago.

He finally learned of Faith Foundation, an all-volunteer group whose State Street storefront be came a haven for the homeless. It was a place where a person always could find a sandwich, a bottle of water, a hot cup of java, a bath room and a warm chair by the window, he said.

Until yesterday that is. The foundation closed its storefront to 200 homeless clients following receipt of a city violation for turning an upscale boutique into a homeless drop-in help center.

"People look at this place and think we're just a bunch of drunks and nuts," said Borgstrom, 57, who described himself as a mental health services consumer. "We're not. Some of the people are very educated, and there have been a lot of success stories here. But a lot of us just fell through the cracks."

Director Robin Reilly said Faith Foundation opened the storefront six years ago. At first, homeless people helped paint and sell furni ture, which was more in line with the store's certificate of occupancy as an "upscale boutique."

But the need to do more was imminent, Reilly said. Unpaid volunteers sought food, shelter, mental health and addiction programs for homeless clients.

The storefront also offered free eye exams and glasses, in-house mental evaluations, on-site job training in furniture restoration and outpatient HIV testing, all at no cost to clients.

And, along the way, Reilly said she's searched for missing clients, pulling at least one from mud in the woods, and identified the bodies of homeless hit-and-run victims for police, she said. The walls of the storefront are adorned with commendations from officials, but they also contain the photos of victims, those who didn't survive the life-or- death homeless struggle.

"When someone asks me if I made a difference, I hope I can say, 'Yeah, I brightened a corner,'" said Reilly, a tall blonde with a quick smile. "I didn't change the world, but I tried to brighten a corner."
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