Community Resources

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS and CAREGIVERS

-- Garden State Community Outreach connects New Jersey residents to cost-saving and life-changing programs https://gardenstateoutreach.us/

-- SPAN Parent Advocacy Network is empowering families as advocates and partners in improving education, health, and mental health outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth https://spanadvocacy.org/

-- Southern New Jersey Regional Early Intervention Collaborative enhances the capacity of families to meet the developmental and health related needs of children birth to age three, who have developmental delays or disabilities, by providing quality services and support to families and their children https://snjreic.org/

-- Rutgers Southern Regional Child Care Resources and Referral Agency promotes and supports access to affordable and quality early care and education for young children in southern NJ by offering financial resources and technical assistance to the early childhood community https://www.rusouthernccrr.org/

-- New Jersey Head Start is a Federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth to age five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1926

-- Colorin Colorado is a bilingual resource for families needing assistance with at home learning. They provide great tips and advice for supporting kids with their education at home

https://www.colorincolorado.org/reading-tip-sheets-parents

-- First Things First offers parent resources for supporting your child’s healthy development and learning https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/resources/ For tools and information in Spanish, visit Recursos en Español https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/recursos-en-espanol/

-- PBS KIDS for Parents https://www.pbs.org/parents

-- Reading is Fundamental - Discover reading resources, including suggested books that kids love, activity sheets, puzzles tips for parents and much more, that can encourage children to read https://www.rif.org/literacy-central/parents

-- Learn the Signs. Act Early https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/features/key-finding-ltsae.html

-- Download the resources: Safe Infant Sleep | Breastfeeding from Safe Infant Sleep and Breastfeeding Myths and Facts (nichq.org)

-- NJ Children's System of Care https://www.performcarenj.org/

-- Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City https://www.acbgc.org/

-- Kinship Navigator Program https://www.nj.gov/dcf/families/support/kinship/

-- Atlantic Center for Independent Living https://atlanticcil.org/

-- Atlantic Cape Family Support Organization offers family-centered, strength-based, culturally competent, individualized, community based and accessible services to families and youth with emotional, behavioral, mental health, substance use or intellectual/developmental challenges as well as juvenile justice involvement https://www.acfamsupport.org/

-- New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities https://njcdd.org/

-- Helping children with cerebral palsy https://www.cerebralpalsyguide.com/

-- Autism New Jersey is a nonprofit agency committed to ensuring safe and fulfilling lives for individuals with autism, their families, and the professionals who support them https://autismnj.org/about-us/mission/

UTILITY ASSISTANCE

-- NEW JERSEY SHARES (NJ SHARES): NJ SHARES is a non-profit organization that provides assistance to income-eligible New Jersey households for paying their energy, telephone, broadband (internet), and water bills. For list of programs, visit https://njshares.org/programs/ To apply, go to https://apply.njsharesgreen.org/login?returnUrl=%2F

-- LIHEAP: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) LIHEAP or HEA is a federally funded program that helps low-income households pay for heating costs (includes: electric, natural gas, oil and other deliverable fuels). To apply, go to https://www.state.nj.us/dca/dhcr/offices/hea.shtml

-- Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) https://nj.gov/dca/dhcr/offices/lihwap.shtml

-- CARC: The Community Affairs & Resource Center is now assisting with LIHEAP Applications call 732-961-3760. For more information, go to https://carcnj.org/

-- South Jersey Gas Utility Assistance Programs Page https://southjerseygas.com/for-my-home/my-service/financial-assistance.aspx

-- NJ 211 https://nj211.org/

HOUSING

-- To apply for rental assistance https://www.acianj.org/applications/index.asp#annTop

-- State Rental Assistance https://njdca.onlinepha.com/

-- Chelsea Economic Development Corporation, Home Buying Incentives in Atlantic City

https://www.chelseaedc.org/realestate

-- Emergency Rescue Mortgage Assistance (ERMA) https://www.nj.gov/dca/hmfa/erma/hub/?msclkid=889c0b5faac111ecb92ab332a0407a1f

To find housing click here:

-- Affordable Connectivity Program https://affordableconnectivity.gov/

-- Housing and Rental Assistance https://www.mhaac.info/housing-and-rental-assistance.html

-- Homeless Prevention Services https://www.atlanticcountynj.gov/government/county-departments/department-of-family-and-community-development/homeless-services

-- Atlantic County Housing Resource Guide https://www.hcdnnj.org/assets/documents/atlantic%20co%20resource%20guide.pdf

-- Atlantic County Housing Authorities https://www.lowincomehousing.us/nj/atlantic_city.html

-- New Jersey SHARES Mortgage Assistance, Rent & Taxes (NJ SMART) Program https://njshares.org/njsmart/

-- Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants in New Jersey https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-repair-loans-grants/nj

-- Office of Homelessness Prevention (OHP) https://www.nj.gov/dca/dhcr/offices/dhcrohp.shtml

-- NJ 211 https://nj211.org/

-- TRUTH IN RENTING: A guide to the rights and responsibilities of residential tenants and landlords in New Jersey https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes/publications/pdf_lti/t_i_r.pdf

-- Tenants' Rights in New Jersey is the Legal Services of New Jersey's guide to landlord-tenant law for New Jersey residents. The manual includes chapters on finding a place to live, security deposits, leases, rent increases, the responsibilities of landlords and tenants, legal and illegal evictions, condo and co-op conversions, and the right to safe and decent housing. https://proxy.lsnj.org/rcenter/GetPublicDocument/Sites/LAW/Documents/Publications/Manuals/TenantsRights.pdf (in English) and https://proxy.lsnj.org/rcenter/GetPublicDocument/Sites/LAW/Documents/Publications/Manuals/TenantsRightsSP.pdf (in Spanish)

FOOD RESOURCES

-- The Community Food Bank website provides a list that will help you locate a food pantry near you (search by location) as well as provides information on upcoming food distributions https://cfbnj.org/

-- 2024 Farmer’s Market Produce Program https://www.atlanticcountynj.gov/government/county-departments/department-of-human-services/division-of-intergenerational-services/produce-voucher-program

-- Text "FINDFOOD" to 908-224-7776 to find local food pantries

-- NJ SNAP Assistance https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/njsnap/apply/ways/#

-- New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) is available to low and no income families as well as families experiencing unemployment, military deployment and other interim family financial hardships https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/wic/participants/apply-wic/

-- NJ 211 https://nj211.org/

-- C.R.O.P.S. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to alleviate food insecurity through empowering healthy, interconnected communities by cultivating fresh produce, ensuring access to nutritious food, providing educational programming, and advocating for sustainable food systems and collaborative solutions https://www.cropsnj.org/

EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES

-- Return and Earn Program: Unemployed workers reentering the workforce and receiving job training are eligible for a $500 incentive in their first paycheck. To learn more, go to https://www.nj.gov/labor/employer-services/business/returnandearn.shtml

-- Atlantic County Office of Workforce Development (One-Stop): Information about on the job training, job fairs, and job openings https://www.atlanticcountywdb.com/

-- To look for employment opportunities, go to https://www.indeed.com/

-- To apply for unemployment, go to https://myunemployment.nj.gov/

HEALTH RELATED RESOURCES

-- Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers https://www.sjfmc.org/

-- Mental Health Association of Atlantic County https://mhaac.info/index.html

-- New Jersey FamilyCare is the New Jersey's publicly funded health insurance program - includes CHIP, Medicaid and Medicaid expansion populations http://www.njfamilycare.org/default.aspx

-- Avanzar is empowering individuals and families by working to secure their physical safety, emotional well-being, individual freedom and economic equality https://avanzarnow.org/

-- Shared Plan of Care. A Shared Plan of Care (SPoC) is a tool that is designed to help you communicate and share information with members of your care team, including doctors, nurses, therapists, emergency responders, etc. Available in English and Spanish https://nj.gov/health/fhs/specialneeds/medical-home/spoc.shtml

-- Sickle Cell Association of New Jersey (SCANJ) assists individuals and families affected by sickle cell disease through education, support, advocacy and other programs that improve the quality of life www.sicklecellnewjersey.org

-- Join Together Atlantic County http://www.jtacnj.org/

-- Tobacco Free for A Healthy New Jersey https://www.tobaccofreenj.com/

-- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States https://988lifeline.org/?ref=w3use

-- Resources for LGBTQIA+ Youth https://www.performcarenj.org/youth/resources/pride.aspx

-- Opioid Addiction Treatment - A Guide for Patients, Families and Friends, provides information and facts for those seeking help and explains the needed steps to recovery. Booklet in English: https://eguideline.guidelinecentral.com/i/1302283-english-2023-asam-opioid-patient-guide/0? and Booklet in Spanish: https://eguideline.guidelinecentral.com/i/1302286-spanish-2023-asam-opioid-patient-guide/0?

-- Planned Parenthood works to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care and education https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

-- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/

-- NJ Crisis Services: Who Should I Call? https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/initiatives/988/Who%20Should%20I%20Call%20(9-24).pdf

and Servicios de Crisis de NJ: ¿A quién debería llamar? https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/initiatives/988/Who%20Should%20I%20Call%20SP%20(9-24).pdf

LIBRARY ACCESS

-- The Atlantic City Free Public Library website http://www.acfpl.org/

-- Atlantic County Library System https://atlanticlibrary.org/

LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE and LANGUAGE ACCESS

-- Duolingo www.duolingo.com

-- Hoja Informativa: Cómo proteger el acceso a la educación de los niños migrantes https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/ocr-factsheet-migratory-children-202306-sp.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

-- Beyond Books: Libraries as Language Learning Centers https://librarysciencedegreesonline.org/libraries-as-language-learning-centers/

OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES

-- 2024-2025 The Source: A Resources Guide for People of All Ages in Atlantic County, NJ

-- New Jersey Department of Human Services https://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/

Download a copy of the Resources of New Jersey Handbook, a comprehensive guide that details the programs and services NJDHS has to offer residents, caregivers, and advocates:

English version: https://nj.gov/humanservices/dds/documents/RD/2023/New%20Jersey%20Resources%20-%20First%20Edition-English.pdf

Spanish version: https://nj.gov/humanservices/dds/documents/RD/2023/NJ%20Resources%2023-24-Spanish.pdf

-- A Resource Guide for New Jersey's Military, Veterans, and Families https://www.nj.gov/military/assets/documents/NJ%20Military%20Veterans%20Families%20Resource%20Guide.pdf?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1uUwy3GmVU3aU0k8tylRcU-q3U3c57-jM_2EMfBjRce5QYDkKd677kkSE_aem_vrZ61x2NSMPgoBnCf2fuYg

-- New Jersey Department of Education https://www.nj.gov/education/

TRANSPORTATION

-- Atlantic County Transportation Unit’s (A.C.T.U.) program is designed to provide necessary services, on a “first come, first served” basis, to the maximum number of county residents, in conjunction with all other service providers in the region https://www.atlantic-county.org/intergenerational-services/transportation.asp

-- NJ TRANSIT's ADA paratransit program known as Access Link was established to provide public transportation to people with disabilities who are unable to use the local bus service according to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) https://www.njtransit.com/accessibility/access-link-ada-paratransit

LEGAL SERVICES

-- South Jersey Legal Services, Inc., is a non-profit organization created to provide quality legal representation and advocacy to low-income individuals https://www.lsnj.org/sjls/

-- Disability Rights New Jersey is New Jersey’s designated Protection and Advocacy agency under federal law. We advance the human, civil, and legal rights of people with disabilities and promote their self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration into all facets of community life https://disabilityrightsnj.org/

-- Legal Services of New Jersey coordinates the statewide Legal Services system, which provides free legal assistance to low-income New Jerseyans for their civil legal problems https://lsnj.org/

CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESOURCES

-- 2020 Atlantic County Smart Book (Resource Guide)

https://www.state.nj.us/corrections/pdf/OTS/SmartBooks/2020/Atlantic%20Co%20Smartbook%20%202020.pdf

-- Jewish Family Services https://www.jfsatlantic.org/services/justice-involved-services

-- Printable Expungement Kit https://www.njcourts.gov/forms/10557_expunge_kit.pdf

-- Felon Friendly Employers and job search engines