180 Turning Lives Around

In early 2016, the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation joined 180 Turning Lives Around, along with other funders and community partners, to celebrate the opening of their new Safe House in Monmouth County, NJ.  The Safe House features 12 individual family bedroom suites with private baths, communal kitchen, dining and living areas, laundry facilities, a teen “rec” room, two creative arts therapy studios, counseling rooms, a computer/library resource room, individual storage units for each family, outdoor playground and garden.

The new Safe House can accommodate twice as many families as the previous facility so that more individuals and families from Monmouth County can be served. More than 400 families were turned away over the past five years because the capacity of the existing shelter couldn’t meet the community’s needs. Monmouth County continues to rank among the highest county in the state for police-reported domestic violence incidents. In New Jersey, an act of domestic violence happens every 7.29 minutes, and it is the largest cause of homelessness in the United States. The new shelter can house 45 clients and children at one time, up from 25 at its previous location.

Pictured at the donor recognition event for the new 180 safe house are (from left to right) 180 Executive Director Anna Diaz-White with Lead Donors Cheryl Bliss, Fran Lobl, and Lisa Knight with the Faith & James Knight Foundation; Martha Delehanty and Andrew Testa from Verizon; Dorothea Bongiovi from the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation; and Kathy Ellis from New Jersey Natural Gas.

NJ State statutes state that “Information which may identify the location of a shelter for victims of domestic violence shall not be deemed to be a public record.”

To read more about JBJ Soul Foundation's involvement with 180 Turning Lives Around Safe House click here.

To learn more about 180 Turning Lives Around visit: http://180nj.org