After the shuttering of a temporary homeless shelter in Newark on one of the hottest days of the year, the city has reopened the extreme weather facility through the end of the summer.

The shelter at 224 Sussex Avenue was originally opened to protect homeless residents temporarily during extreme, extended winter, but Newark officials pushed for it remain open past its original closure date in March.

On July 2, though, the program ran out of funding, and the facility that was then providing shelter from the summer heat shuttered.

Officials have since sought private funding, and on Friday, the businesses stepped in to help the homeless in the city.

The facility, which is operated by a private sheltering organization, will reopen and house the residents until August 31 with financial support from United Airlines, PSEG, RWJBarnabas Health, Prudential/NJ Devils and University Hospital.

"As a community, we must continue working to increase access to temporary and permanent housing as it is critical to improving health outcomes for Newark residents," said John Kastanis, CEO of University Hospital.

Newark is also preparing a request for proposal to contract with multiple sheltering organizations to provide resources to establish year-round sheltering as well as to bring job opportunities to homeless persons who would then qualify for a traditional housing voucher for permanent housing.

The Newark Housing Authority has opened 25 job opportunities for homeless persons who are willing to work construction and can pass a drug test. The salary of up to $22 an hour would qualify these individuals for Section 8 housing.

In addition, a special voucher program is being established to provide supportive permanent housing for individuals with dual diagnoses of both chronic homelessness and severe mental illness. Approximately 45 housing opportunities have been made available, 21 from the state and 24 from the county.

The Newark Housing Authority has applied to the HUD Mainstream Voucher Program and is hoping to receive at least $2,500,000 in vouchers this year to support housing for 200 persons.

Rutgers Business School has also offered to partner with the city to create a financial plan to end homelessness. In addition, Newark is researching container homes, repurposed from steel shipping containers, and trailer homes to provide more housing opportunities.

"We just want to make sure there's no stone unturned in terms of the possibilities for providing housing for those who find themselves homeless," said Dr. Mark Wade, Director of Health and Community Wellness.

Newark is also reaching out to national organizations such as Community Solutions which runs a program entitled Built For Zero with the goal of ending all chronic homelessness. This is an initiative working across the country and has already entered New Jersey by partnering with Bergen County.

"The city really only had the authority to open up a shelter when there is a 'code blue' or 'code red' and we've extended that because Mother Nature has extended the winter and summer so we were able to use that as an emergency to continue to operate the shelter," said Mayor Ras J. Baraka.

"We don't really have a justification for keeping a shelter open 365 days a year, but there are providers who can do that and who will do that and we are going to support them."

Delaney Dryfoos may be reached at ddryfoos@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @delaneydryfoos. Find NJ.com on Facebook.