Monarch Housing’s Blog!

On Monday, June 23, the full New Jersey Senate will take up S1783, its version of the comprehensive housing reform bill, identical to A500 which passed the Assembly on June 16. Please contact your state senator by phone or fax or e-mail and urge him or her to support this important measure. Passage by the Senate means the bill will go next to the Governor, who is expected to sign it into law. Go here to find contact information for your senator. Let your voice be heard at this crucial juncture for more affordable housing and a better way to deliver it.

This legislation includes a number of policy priorities the Housing and Community Development Network, Homes for New Jersey and Monarch Housing have championed for many years.

The core elements of S1783 represent significant opportunities for New Jersey to provide safe, quality and affordable housing to residents of our State, including:

Creating a State Housing Plan and Commission: This Commission will provide strategic direction in establishing housing goals, strategies and resource priorities for the state. Comprised of public, private and government representatives, it will gather and disseminate information on housing needs, and prepare and adopt an annual Strategic Housing Plan with public input. New Jersey needs a regularly updated housing plan to establish priorities, identify needed reforms and ensure the most effective and targeted use of limited state resources. DCA and HMFA must submit an annual report detailing its housing activity.

Establishing a Statewide Developer Fee: This assessment will help increase critically needed resources for affordable housing development. It will also help create a predictable playing field for commercial and non-residential developers, by applying a statewide 2.5% fee on these projects, rather than a fee, that under COAH regulations, could be as high as 9% on these projects.

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Tags: Advocacy, affordable-housing, Homes-for-New-Jersey, Housing-and-Community-Development-Network, Joe-Roberts, Supportive Housing

On May 7, the Housing and Community Development Network released NJ and Its Cities: An Agenda for Urban Transformation, our second major report on the state’s urban centers and their impact on the rest of the state, following Cities in Transition: New Jersey’s Urban Paradox, released in September 2006. The report conveys a consistent, comprehensive and positive message: the equitable revitalization of New Jersey’s cities can help restore economic prosperity to the state as a whole

An Agenda for Urban Transformation recommends steps that the state and local governments can take to boost economic vitality and strategically leverage resources for affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. The report calls for a new direction in the relationship between the state and its cities, and each city and its neighborhoods. How these new relationships are forged will impact many critical issues facing the state, not only housing and neighborhood revitalization, but also job creation and business growth, land use, public safety, transportation and the environment.

We received this important notice form our friends at the Housing and Community Development Network. We encourage our readers to attend this important event. Click here for a flyer with more details.

Taking our Policy Priorities to the State House

Come to Trenton and educate your representatives about the need for foreclosure prevention, rental assistance and housing reform.

Date: Thursday, June 5, 2008
Time: 9:00 - 3:00 pm
Location: State House Annex, Room TBA

Participants will meet with their legislative representatives to educate them about housing and community development issues and build support for our policy priorities. Groups may also attend legislative hearings. You will tour the State House and get an insider’s view of the legislative process. You will also have the opportunity to home your advocacy skills and learn tricks of the trade for communicating with decision-makers.

Don’t miss the chance to make a difference! The event is free but registration is necessary. RSVP to Juanita Howard [Email address: jhoward #AT# hcdnnj.org - replace #AT# with @ ].

For more information go to their website.

As the Monarch Housing Blog! reported on April 4, 2008, New Jersey remains the fifth most expensive state for affordable rental housing. The post last week announced the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s release of Out of Reach 2007-2008. Although we were disheartened again today with the release by our friends at the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey of the details about New Jersey we were pleased that they were taking the lead on making the case about the continued decline in affordability in New Jersey. As they note in their fact sheet “The hourly housing wage in New Jersey for a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in 2008 is $22.25. This wage has risen 42.6 percent since 2000.”

To read the full report click here.

To read the Housing and Community Development Network’s fact sheet click here.

To read the Housing and Community Development Network’s four pages of data click here.

The following is their full press release.

Affordable rental housing still “Out of Reach” in NJ
Network says report shows need for action in fifth worst state

The release of the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s “Out of Reach 2007-2008,” the annual report documenting the need for affordable housing in every state in the nation, takes on an amplified importance for New Jersey this year, according to the Housing & Community Development Network of New Jersey.

“The NLIHC’s report, which once again places New Jersey among the most difficult states in which to find affordable places to live, points up the necessity and the urgency of taking meaningful action,” said Diane Sterner, the Network’s executive director.

In the 2006-2007 NLIHC report, New Jersey was the fourth most expensive state in which to rent. According to this year’s report, things haven’t changed much, with the state in fifth place. To afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in New Jersey the tenant must have an hourly wage of at least $22.25, an almost five-percent increase from last year. Social workers, dental lab technicians, police dispatchers, home health aides, child care workers and school bus drivers, among a host of other occupations, make under $22.25 an hour in New Jersey. Only in Hawaii, California, New York and Massachusetts, is renting more expensive.

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We received this notice about HOME, the movie, from our friend Arnold Cohen from the Housing and Community Development Network. He stated:

This is a great film that features one of our members. Spread the word. 
 
First-time filmmaker Jeffrey M. Togman’s documentary HOME, examines the complex issue of poverty by following the struggles of Sheree Farmer, a Newark single mother of six, as she tries to find a home for her family. Featured in the film is the New Community Corporation, a nonprofit community development corporation  and Network member. The film will be aired on the Sundance Channel on October 15 at 9 p.m.  if you don’t get the Sundance Channel, the film is available to rent through Netflicks.

The following is the official synopsis of the film. For more information on HOME, please visit the Sundance Channel’s website or the film’s website.

On a gang-controlled deadend street, Sheree Farmer is raising her six children alone. With the help of Mary Abernathy, a former fashion industry executive turned community activist, Sheree struggles to buy her first home and escape her violent and drug-infested Newark neighborhood. In Home, director Jeffrey Togman follows these two exceptional women in an intimate story that speaks to the future of America’s cities.

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