Arm In Arm's mission is: “Partnering with the community to achieve stability for our neighbors in need. " Arm In Arm, Inc. aims to secure the basic needs of food and shelter while also promoting longer-term stability and independence for low-income individuals and families. Through the provision of healthy, high quality food for those facing food insecurity, emergency financial aid for those threatened with homelessness or who are already homeless, and case management and employment readiness support for those with complex needs, Arm In Arm works to improve the health, well-being, and stability of low-income Mercer County residents of all ages.

Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Education served the community with 22,410 pantry visits, and 2,016 elder households in Trenton and Princeton received monthly Home Food Delivery in the 12 month FY 2018 period. Nutrition Education classes were led on site by certified nutritionists from Rutgers Extension Service. Free "Lunch and Learn" health screenings were provided quarterly in partnership with Capital Health System's Community Health Education Department. Fresh produce is available on a regular basis, donated by local farms and farmers markets, purchased through our hunger prevention budget, and grown in our adjacent community garden, which yields nearly 900 pounds of produce each year. Housing Stability/Homelessness Prevention stabilized more than 550 households with utilities, back rent, rapid re-housing/security deposit, mortgage assistance. Many households received longer-term Case Management, helping families and individuals to establish stability through rapid re-housing, up to 12 months of shallow subsidies, and step-by-step stability plans and service coordination. Our Workforce Development program offered on-the-job-training and employment readiness activities to some 40 recipients of TANF. Arm In Arm also offers budget, savings, and financial literacy learning sessions to all recipients of homelessness prevention and stability aid; regular legal counsel provided pro bono onsite; provides assistance in license restoration; and offers free tax prep to help qualifying families obtain tax refunds and Earned Income Tax Credit. Our License to Succeed program provided assistance to 42 low-income drivers to obtain or restore driving privileges in order to improve their prospects for employment or better-paying employment.

To address the more intense needs of our clients and to chart a course for the future, Arm In Arm focuses on expansion of the breadth and depth of services provided; serving more people in need and serving people in a more systematic manner to support their long-term stability. In addition to sustained core support from Trinity and Nassau Presbyterian churches in Princeton, Arm In Arm benefits from meaningful engagement with over 60 congregations of different faiths and with schools and colleges, businesses, and community service organizations from the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to the Rotary Club. Volunteers hold food and personal care product drives, deliver food to clients who can't visit us, transport, organize, and shelve donated foods, provide one-to-one client assistance, and speak up for the needs of low-income neighbors through advocacy efforts.

As an organization, Arm In Arm's growing and strengthening community partnerships show us that our mission is effective, well-respected, and relied on by the region we serve. Assessments are made across our programs to ensure that our mission focus is clear in the way in which all services are provided. Our Homelessness Prevention and Housing Stability program produces 6 and 12 month outcome studies to ensure that goals are being met and clients are maintaining stability. Hunger prevention services provide immediate relief of food insecurity, and will be tracked alongside longer term measurements such as nutrition awareness and improved health and well-being. Outcome studies are also done within our Workforce Development and License to Succeed programs tracking jobs gained and kept, and driver's licenses attained and restored.

In the FY2018 period, Arm In Arm has partnered with over 11,000 individuals from more than 5,000 households, helping neighbors in need to achieve food, housing, and employment stability. A snapshot of our services is as follows: * 22,410 visits to our pantries * 2,016 home grocery deliveries * 280 evictions prevented * 160 utility shut-offs avoided * 104 security deposits paid * 42 served to restore drivers licenses through License to Succeed * 40 returning workers supported through Workforce Development * 14 new jobs attained through Workforce Development