On Monday, January 8th, the City of Newark unveiled the second iteration of Hope Village, titled Come As You Are: Bridge Housing Community, located at 51-63 Elizabeth Avenue in Newark.
Following the success of Hope Village I (2020), Mayor Ras J. Baraka charged the Office of Homeless Services to build more communities that followed the same low-barrier model that was immensely effective in serving residents in the first village, from which 53 people have already been permanently housed. The Bridge Housing Community will allow more residents to move off the streets and begin their journey towards a permanent home.
For this second iteration, the city engaged the original Hope Village community to inform the design and assembled a creative team of professionals to bring this innovative project to life. Amongst this team, Project for Empty Space was pleased to lead the development of the visual identity and site artwork.
The visual identity was created by PES co-director Rebecca Pauline Jampol. The title “Come As You Are” was extracted from the 2020 campaign that encouraged unhoused residents to “come as you are,” transitioning into a supportive, services-infused community for Newark residents who have experienced chronic, prolonged street homelessness and often have a disabling condition. The identity uses the typeface VTC Garibaldi by Vocal Type. Inspired by anti-fascism posters from WWII, the font is constructed from letterpress, typewriters, and cyclostyle machines. It acts as a visual welcome and a call for care. The stems of ‘M’ in Come are elongated to emphasize the concept of a bridge.
The identity extends to signage, apparel, and the walls of the community. Using letterforms and their countersforms to create shapes and patterns, Newark-based artist Mark Hartmann painted a multi-facade mural stretching across its center. It embraces residents with earth hues (sky, grass, clay). The shapes lean into the concept of a bridge or aqueduct, telling the story of this community’s collaboration and conscious resource sharing.
Inside the containers are photographs donated by local photographer Rachel Fawn Alban. The series documents the transformative power of public art in our neighborhoods, showing significant community contributions, including murals commissioned by the City of Newark’s Division of Arts and Culture and the recent Harriet Tubman monument.
Project for Empty Space has been in partnership with the City of Newark, Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, since 2020. This is their fourth collaboration with the division, following the completion of a 60’ mural this past summer at Miller Street Pathways to Housing Center.
Come As You Are: Bridge Housing Community partners include Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Hamlett Development, LLC, Bloomberg Associates, eP2 Civil Engineering, NJIT Hillier School of Architecture and Design, On-It Construction, Project for Empty Space, Think Wilder Architecture, The Port Newark Container Terminal, Interport, United Community Corporation, YouthBuild, Jacobs Architecture, The Nature Conservatory, RWJBarnabas, Rutgers Department of Family and Community Health Sciences, Avatar Tech, LLC, Invest Newark, Newark Municipal Council, Newark’s Department of Economic and Housing Development, Newark’s Department of Engineering, Newark’s Department of Water and Sewer Utilities, Newark’s Office of Sustainability. Newark People's Assembly and PSE&G.