Fostering Self-Sufficiency
Housing Alliance :: Press Releases

A Busy Year Builds a Brighter Future in Housing

January 3, 2006 – Morris County, NJ – January is typically the time to reflect on accomplishments from the past year and to consider what the future holds.  For Morris County, where the average home price has climbed to almost $500,000, the future is brighter than it has been in years on the affordable housing front.
 
In 2005, non-profit agencies in Morris County completed development of 15 new, attractive and affordable rental or home-ownership units.  From a new 4-bedroom group home in Roxbury completed by Community Hope, to five for-sale townhouses completed by Madison Affordable Housing Corporation, housing opportunities for those at the lower end of the income scale are improving.
 
Most of these housing projects have been accomplished by small agencies that provide valuable health and human services for Morris County residents.  Creating housing was never part of their original missions.  However, agency directors began to realize that their clients needed safe and affordable places to live in order to assume independent, productive lives.  Non-profits found themselves stepping in the housing arena.
 
Building any kind of housing is a major task, but it is even more daunting when the housing must be safe, attractive, and affordable.  Other obstacles loomed as well, like the Highland’s legislation that restricts building in certain areas and the serious lack of vacant land around the County.
 
Agencies learned that collaborating was the best way to succeed.  They reached out to federal, county and local governments, local businesses, various funding sources, United Way of Morris County, faith-based groups, and other non-profits, for funding.
 
With 65 additional units in some phase of development in Morris County, 2006 looks even brighter.
 
Plans include 24 rental units developed by Affordable Harding, Inc. and 15 rental units developed by Newbridge Services, Inc.  In Dover, three for-sale units will be completed by Housing Partnership for Morris County, in collaboration with Madison Affordable Housing. The Rose House will develop a 6-bedroom group home, and Headquarters Development of Homeless Solutions will complete 12 rental-units in Morristown.  Three homes on the former Greystone site will be rehabilitated by Community Hope, Inc , with funding assistance from the Town of Parsippany, secured with help from Housing Partnership for Morris County.
 
Additionally, Morris Habitat for Humanity will finish 5 single-family homes and one duplex in the towns of Randolph, Denville, Jefferson, and Morristown, collaborating with Madison Affordable Housing in Morristown.  Homes will be sold to low income working families.  Morris Habitat for Humanity also plans to build 2 three-bedroom rentals in Morristown in collaboration with Church of God in Christ and Madison Affordable Housing.

Some people say that these small-scale projects are not worth the effort it takes to complete them.  Some feel that the affordable housing problem is just too big to ever be adequately addressed.  Consider, however, the individuals who have been helped by the housing efforts of these agencies.  A mother, recently a triple amputee, could once again read her son good night stories after Morris Habitat for Humanity renovated her home with total handicapped access.  A single mother and her son, who had been living with relatives, were able to move into an apartment of their own, through Headquarters Development of Homeless Solutions.  A client from Newbridge Services, who just three years ago had been hospitalized, moved from a life of confinement to independence, living in an apartment she leases from the agency.  
 
Recently, ten non-profits developing housing joined forces with United Way of Morris County to create the Housing Alliance, and to speak with "one voice" as they inform the public about housing issues.  The Alliance will also explore opportunities for public and private organizations to address Morris County's housing challenge. 
 
Community residents can help by contacting local, county and state officials and encouraging them to increase affordable housing opportunities in Morris County.  They can also help by identifying underused buildings or abandoned properties which can be converted to housing, or by donating land themselves. 
 
Individuals interested in the housing issue can visit www.uwmorris.org to learn more about the Housing Alliance and the work it is doing.  Member agencies have accomplished much to provide housing for people we know, people we care about, and people we need, but they are poised to do more!

Contact
Michelle Roers DiNapoli
Manager Community Impact
United Way of Morris County
973.993.1160, x116
Email