For Immediate Release: March 15, 2011
Contacts:
Doris Harris, (609) 989-7766, x102 ∙ dharris@njclf.com or
Peter Grof, (609) 989-7766, x406 ∙ pgrof@njclf.com
Funds will be used to help New Jersey Community Capital expand neighborhood stabilization efforts throughout New Jersey
TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) recently received a $25,000 grant from the New Jersey Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation, Inc. to continue its neighborhood stabilization efforts throughout New Jersey, including the financing of affordable housing projects. New Jersey Community Capital—a New Jersey-based nonprofit lender —will use the grant money to leverage resources to promote the development and preservation of affordable housing in the State’s most fragile neighborhoods.
The New Jersey Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation (NJARHOF) is a nonprofit charitable organization whose mission is to create more opportunities for homeownership in New Jersey. This latest award is part of a successful relationship between New Jersey Community Capital and the New Jersey Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation that began in 2004. Over the last seven years, NJARHOF has given New Jersey Community Capital nearly $270,000 in grants towards the construction and rehabilitation of hundreds of affordable housing units throughout the state.
One recent example of an NJCC project supported by NJARHOF funds is the redevelopment of the former F. Berg Hat Manufacturing Company site, an abandoned manufacturing site located in Orange, NJ. In fall 2010, NJCC worked with HANDS, Inc.—a community development corporation in Essex County, NJ—to convert the deteriorating vacant building into 39 condominium units and affordable commercial rental space for budding artists and local businesses. NJCC provided funding for predevelopment costs, which helped lay the groundwork, for what will soon become a mixed-income housing complex and artisan-based business incubator. This project will become a key anchor in the community, creating new jobs, fostering economic development and offering quality affordable housing options in the City of Orange, NJ.
“Having a safe and decent place to call home is one of the most basic elements of stable communities,” said Wayne T. Meyer, President of New Jersey Community Capital. “The ongoing support of NJAR’s Housing Opportunity Foundation has been critical to our neighborhood stabilization efforts and to helping provide quality affordable housing options. Together, we are helping to restore a healthy housing market by providing more New Jerseyans access to homes they can afford.”