Monarch Housing’s Blog!

CSH and Monarch Housing Associates invites you to a free lobbying training refresher session in preparation for the February 26, 2008 National Low Income Housing Coalition Lobby Day and the July 30, 2008 Congressional Reception (attended by over 100 NJ advocates and consumers in 2007) both of which will be held in Washington, DC. For more information click here.

Do your part to let our Congressional representatives hear about housing issues facing NJ!

Training Date: February 14, 2008

Time: 11am to 2pm

Place: NJ Housing Mortgage Finance Agency

Trainer: Jordan Press, Director of Federal Policy, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Washington, DC

Please e-mail [Email address: NJHHA1 #AT# csh.org - replace #AT# with @ ] your registration information including name, agency and email address.

The New Jersey Homeless Housing Alliance invites you to a free lobbying training refresher session in preparation for the February 26, 2008 National Low Income Housing Coalition Lobby Day and the July 16, 2008 Congressional Reception (attended by over 100 NJ advocates and consumers in 2007) both of which will be held in Washington, DC. For more information click here.

Do your part to let our Congressional representatives hear about housing issues facing NJ!

Training Date: February 14, 2008

Time: 11am to 2pm

Place: NJ Housing Mortgage Finance Agency

Trainer: Jordan Press, Director of Federal Policy, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Washington, DC

Please e-mail [Email address: NJHHA1 #AT# csh.org - replace #AT# with @ ] your registration information including name, agency and email address.

The New Jersey Homeless Housing Alliance (NJHHH) is a partnership between the Corporation for Supportive Housing-NJ Office and Monarch Housing Associates. The NJHHH works to promote quality permanent, affordable and supportive housing for homeless individuals and families through advocacy, public education and participation in community affairs.

As Counties gear up to host Project Homeless Connect for the second year, news of the event is spreading.  2008 promises to be a year for expansion of the event in counties throughout the state. 

Donations are pouring into counties from various sources such as banks, local retailers, supermarkets, churches and more.  This year has seen an espcially large increase in Girl Scout troops collecting donations for Project Homeless Connect. 

To date 14 troops have contacted Monarch Housing Associates requesting more information about how they can become involved in Project Homeless Connect events in their area.  There has been an especially large showing of support from troops in the Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren County areas. To contact you local Girl Scout Council click here.

As Project Homeless Connect 2008 gets closer, we encourage Counties and Girl Scout troops to begin to foster collaborations.  Support from the multitude of groups in the community is what makes Project Homeless Connect a successful event.  Let’s all work together to make 2008 the best to date!

Residents, funding sources, and friends of NJCDC came together for the grand opening of Hawthorne Heights. A development more than five years in the making finally comes to fruition, and tenants were eager to see their apartments. The NJCDC Hawthorne Heights project is a permanent, affordable and supportive housing development sponsored by New Jersey Community Development Corporation.

These are photos from the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. You can click on any photo to see it full size or click here to view all of the photos. To save a photo right click on the photo.

The site provides twelve (12) permanent, affordable and supportive units for very low income individuals who are disabled. Every unit will have its own living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. All units are fully accessible, and provide for barrier free use.

The apartments were designed to meet Energystar requirements, and provide a HOME for the tenants that is spacious and easy to maintain and operate.

To view a slide show click here.

The members of the Development Team are:

Developer
New Jersey Community Development Corporation, Paterson, NJ

Architect
David V. Abramson & Associates, Newark, NJ

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On Thursday, December 6, 2007 Morris County held their 2nd Annual Project Homeless Connect event.  With a kick off at the Morristown Green and services offered at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morris County Project Homeless Connect was a big success.  Services were offered to 257 individuals, 112 of whom were homeless.  With the help of 93 volunteers and the organizing committee chaired by Joann Bjornson, Executive Director of Interfaith Council for Homeless Families of Morris County, the following services were offered:

800 referrals for services
$1,300 in bus passes
$1,500 in laundry cards
$3,500 in Wal-Mart gift cards
$20,000 in clothes, blankets, toys, toiletries, books
35 Individuals received legal services
137 individuals received Mental Health and addiction services
50 individuals received employment services
17 Food Stamp applications were completed
108 individuals received housing and shelter information
190 individuals received women’s services and domestic violence services
130 Individuals received Medical services
14 individuals received massages
50 individuals received pet therapy
26 individuals received haircuts

Additional pictures for Morris County Project Homeless Connect are now available. These are four random photos from the event.

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State Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria spoke at semi-annual meeting of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey about changes in the COAH rules.

“Under the new regulations, if a developer, for example, gains approval to erect 100 houses in wealthy Tewksbury in Hunterdon County, 20 of them must be affordable. If a developer constructs a 200-unit apartment building in Newark’s reviving Penn Station neighborhood, 40 must be affordable. COAH is expected to give preliminary approval to the new regulations Monday.”

In addition, “Doria said much of the money to finance Gov. Jon Corzine’s plan to erect 100,000 affordable units in 10 years will come from $168 million in builder fees that municipalities have been collecting and basically sitting on for as long as a decade.”

To read the full article in the Star-Ledger click here.

On Thursday, December 6, 2007 Morris County held its second annual Project Homeless Connect Event.  A small group individuals gathered at the Morristown Green at 9am to participate in the kick off to the Project Homeless Connect Event.  The crowd was serenaded by Kevin So, a singer/song-writer, on the cold winter morning as a warm-up to the impressive list of speakers who came to provide their support for Project Homeless Connect. 

Joann Bjornson, Executive Director of Interfaith Council for Homeless Families of Morris County, coordinated the County Project Homeless Connect event and welcomed all participants to the kick off.  She reminded the crowd that while they were all freezing for about half and hour or so through the kick off, there were people who slept out on the Morristown Green overnight.  She explained Project Homeless Connect is a way of bringing together service providers, community members and homeless individuals to connect them to much needed services and raise awareness about homelessness in Morris County. 

Margaret Nordstrom, Morris County Freeholder Director, thanked all the agencies for their efforts to end homelessness in Morris County and read a proclamation from the Board of Freeholders declaring December 6, 2007 Project Homeless Connect day. 

NJ State Senator-elect Joe Pennacchio emphasized the need to continue efforts to end homelessness and the need for those on all sides of the issue to take responsibility.  NJ State Senate President Richard Codey emphasized the need to continue strong collaboration between non-profits and government as they work to build more affordable housing and end homelessness in New Jersey. 

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