Monarch Housing’s Blog!

Three organizations have become members of the New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness last week. The new members are:

Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation (JCECDC)

NewBridge Services, Inc.

New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC)

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness’ mission is to advocate on a federal level for adequate funding for permanent affordable and supportive housing for homeless individuals and families.

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness is a statewide organization that coordinated its First Annual Congressional Reception on July 11, 2007. New Jersey was well represented by more than one hundred (100) New Jersey constituents including the formerly homeless, passionate advocates and housing providers from across the state. People traveled by train, bus and car to get there to be part of this unique opportunity to meet with our legislators to let them hear firsthand issues of importance to our communities. The Second Annual Congressional Reception will be held on July 30, 2008.

To register online for the Congressional Reception and the bus click here. If you are unable to access this form click here [Email address: EVENTS #AT# ENDINGHOMELESSNESSINNJ.ORG - replace #AT# with @ ] to send an email.

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Tags: Congressional Reception, JCECDC, New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness, NewBridge, NJCDC

We were very pleased to hear today from our friend Bob Guarasci,the President of the New Jersey Community Development Corporation that the Birch Street Apartments is up and running. Bob told us “We are very happy that our Birch Street Supportive Housing is up and running and serving formerly homeless individuals who are enormously grateful and can’t believe their good fortune. We’ll work hard to engage our residents to help them overcome obstacles and reach their fullest potential.” The site provides fifteen (15) permanent, affordable and supportive units for very low income individuals who are homeless with a mental illness. Every unit will have it’s own living area, as well as a kitchen and bathroom.

This is a photo of Bob and some of the new tenants of the Birch Street Apartments.

To read our previous post on this project click here. To see photos from the construction click here.

Tags: continuum-of-care, CSH, Ending Homelessness, HUD, NJCDC, Passaic-County, Project Management, Supportive Housing

The Herald News, the hometown newspaper in Passaic County, published an editorial on Monday about the outreach by the New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) and the Paterson Housing Authority to develop the waiting list for permanent affordable and supportive housing developed by NJCDC on Birch Street. The fact that the waiting list identified over two hundred (200) eligible applicants for the fifteen housing units is a sign that much more work must done to achieve the critical goal of ending homelessness. As exciting as Birch Street will be, it is merely the first important step in the long journey that we will need to travel to end homelessness not only in Passaic but all of New Jersey!

Apartment lottery will provide shelter for some

As hundreds of homeless people make their way in Passaic County, their presence poses stark questions: How did they get that way? How did we?

Was it bad luck, bad decisions, bad behavior or some combination of the three that has put those men, women and children on the street? Are Garden State rents and mortgages too high? Are salaries in too many jobs too low?

In what ways do our homeless people reflect the cracks in our criminal justice, welfare, foster care and mental health systems?

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Tags: Ending Homelessness, NJCDC, Passaic-County, Supportive Housing

The Bergen Record published an article entitled “Annual count of homeless questioned“. The article focuses on HUD’s claim of a dramatic drop in chronic homelessness. The challenge is the presumption that the annual counts are accurate enough to make such projections. We should focus on how we end homelessness which is what both Bergen and Passaic are doing as they develop and implement their ten year plans to end homelessness.

This is a portion of the article. To read the full article click here.

Counting the chronic homeless is difficult because they are transient. Adding to the problem is that the federal Point-in-Time surveys haven’t been standardized until now. For instance, the 2006 survey was in April, while the 2005 and 2007 surveys were in January. Future surveys will be in January.

BERGEN COUNTY

2005: 151
2006: 119 -21 percent
2007: 78 -34 percent

PASSAIC COUNTY

2005: NA
2006: 73
2007: 194 +165 percent

Sources: Bergen County Department of Human Services; Passaic County Department of Human Services

Annual count of homeless questioned
Sunday, December 23, 2007

By SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITER

The number of homeless who continually live on the streets is down in Bergen County and up in Passaic County in recent years, according to the latest counts, but some advocates say the numbers are faulty.

At issue is the Point-in-Time Count, a federal survey administered annually by local organizations to document the number of homeless in a region on a given day.

In Passaic’s survey, the number of chronically homeless went from 73 in 2006 to 194 in 2007. But the 2006 survey was taken on April 27 while the 2007 number was taken on Jan. 25, when the chronic homeless are easier to count because many are in shelters.

The Bergen counts, also done at different times of the year, showed the number of homeless fell 48 percent from 2005 to 2007, or to 78 people. The results led the county to reduce the planned number of beds at its new Hackensack shelter.

Just how accurate are the numbers that are driving public policy?

“The count of the homeless is a stab in the dark sometimes,” said Barbara Niziol, an executive at Eva’s Village in Paterson, one of the largest social service non-profits in North Jersey. “It’s still very limited.”

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Tags: Bergen-County, Community development, Eva's Village, homelessness, HUD, NJCDC, Passaic-County, Supportive Housing

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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Tags: Community development, HMFA, HUD, NJ, NJCDC, Supportive Housing

Monarch Housing Associates, Inc. is the publisher of this blog. For more information click here.

The Monarch Gallery of photos has been integrated into Monarch’s Blog. To have your photos of events or project development please contact either Taiisa Telesford [Email address: ttelesford #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ] or Asish Patel [Email address: apatel #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ].

These are random images from the Gallery which contains 1412 photos.

These are the most recent additions to the Gallery.

These are the most viewed images in the Gallery.

These are the list of all of the photo albums. Below the links are four random photos from each album:

2007 Governor’s Conference

Allies Homes 2004

Allies Homes 2004 Album 2

Allies Homes 2005

Alternatives - Somerset

Alternatives Homes 2004

Arc Warren - Columbia Supportive Living

Arc Warren - Columbia Supportive Living Album 2

Bergen County 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Bergen County 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Bergen meets Phil Mangano

Blankfest

Bridgeway - 9 month inspection 9/11/2007

Bridgeway - Hunterdon Home

Camden DREAMS

Camden DREAMS Grand Opening

Camden Homeless Summit

Camden Homeless Vigil 2006

Camden Housing First Summit

Camden’s 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Camden’s 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Cape May 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Cape May 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Caring Homes 2004

CoC Summit December 10, 2007

CoC Summit March 18, 2008

Congressional Reception

CSP South - South Main Avenue

Cumberland 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Essex County PHC 2008

Hawthorne 2007 07 19

Hudson 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Hudson PHC and Plan Completion

JSDD 2005

Life Link Grand Opening

Lily Mae Grand Opening

Lily Mae Album 3

Lily Mae Album 4

Lily Mae Album 5

Lily Mae Construction

Lily Mae Construction Album 2

Mercer County 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Middlesex County Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness Kick Off

Monmouth 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Morris 2006 Project Homeless Connect

Morris 2007 Project Homeless Connect

NJCDC - Birch

NJCDC - Hawthorne - 6/7/07

NJCDC - Hawthorne - Grand Opening

Ocean 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Ocean County 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Passaic County 2007 Project Homeless Connect

Passaic County 2008 Project Homeless Connect

Passaic County PIT & PHC Kickoff 2007

PCICH: HOPE in Passaic County Ten Year Plan Kickoff

Phil Mangano in Gloucester County

Phil Mangano in Salem County

Project Live - Office building and residences

Project Live - Office Building and Residences - Ribbon Cutting

Project Live Efficiency Apartment Update

Project Live Efficiency Apartments

Robins Nest - Buildings 1 and 2

Robins Nest Grand Opening Part2

Seashell Open House

Somerset Street Count Locations

Sussex Freeholders Approve Plan to End Homelessness

Sussex Freeholders Thank PIT and PHC Volunteers

The Keys to Ending Homelessness in Hudson County

Winans

To have your photos of events or project development please contact either Taiisa Telesford [Email address: ttelesford #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ] or Asish Patel [Email address: apatel #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ].

Tags: Allies, blankfest, Bridgeway, Camden DREAMS, Congressional Reception, Ending Homelessness, Essex County, homeless, homelessness, Housing First, HUD, Mercer County, NJCDC, Ocean County, Phil Mangano, photo albums, Project Homeless Connect, Salem county

The NJCDC Birch Street Apartment project is a permanent, affordable and supportive housing development sponsored by New Jersey Community Development Corporation. When completed at the end of January 2008, the site will provide fifteen (15) permanent, affordable and supportive units for very low income individuals who are homeless with a mental illness. Every unit will have it’s own living area, as well as a kitchen and bathroom.