A Better Life Gets a $260,000 Boost
A recently awarded $260,000 grant from The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York will assist New Community in financing “A Better Life,” a project that will provide 20 units of permanent supportive housing, 3 transient units for the chronically homeless and a unit for a live-in supervisor, in addition to services like mental health.
New Community Federal Credit Union submitted the application for funding on behalf of New Community Corporation, which expects to break ground on the project this year.
“New Community Corporation is grateful to the Federal Home Loan Bank of NY for providing the funding to help make A Better Life a reality,” said Richard Rohrman, New Community’s CEO. “Chronic homelessness among the veteran population, especially, is a significant problem and we are pleased that New Community will be able to provide not only housing, but comprehensive healthcare services, including behavioral health,” he added. The $260,000 award was part of a total $1.6 million in grants announced by the bank in early January to help finance three affordable housing projects in Newark. Besides A Better Life, the grant money is also being awarded to Foresight Affordable Housing, Inc. to help finance the redevelopment of the former Douglas-Harrison housing complex, which at one time was owned and operated by New Community Corp.
“This year marks the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Affordable Housing Program by Congress,” said Alfred A. DelliBovi, president and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. “In that time, the Home Loan Bank has been honored to partner with both our members and scores of terrific non-profit housing organizations across the region to help build affordable homes. Thanks to the hard work of these community organizations, as well as the support the Program continues to receive from Congress, the AHP has become one of the most successful housing programs in the nation.”
A Better Life, New Community’s development, will house homeless persons, including many veterans, who suffer from mental illness and other debilitating health conditions. New Community is partnering with University Behavioral Health Care, formerly part of UMDNJ and now part of Rutgers University, to provide the healthcare services.
Funds from The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York’s Affordable Housing Program will be used to finance the very low-income residential units for A Better Life, which is to be built in the city’s Central Ward on Camden Street, just off 14th Avenue.
Other funding sources include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development McKinney Funding for the Homeless and the Special Needs Housing Trust Fund. Funding is being requested from the Newark HOME Program, Essex County HOME Program, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
Rep. Donald Payne, Jr., (NJ-10) praised the grant awards as helping to “revitalize neighborhoods and strengthen communities.”
Created in 1989, The Federal Home Loan Bank System’s Affordable Housing Program provides member community lenders with direct subsidies, which are passed on to qualified households through a sponsoring local non-profit organization. AHP financing is then combined with other funding sources.
