690 Kinderkamack Road • Suite 300 • Oradell, New Jersey 07649 • 201.457.1020 • habitatbergen.org

Habitatfor Humanity®

of Bergen County

Habitatfor Humanity®

VeteransBuild®

Dear Habitat Bergen Friends,

The cool, brisk wind at our backs and the vibrant autumn foliage is a reminder that the holiday season is quickly approaching. As we pause to give thanks and celebrate with loved ones in the comfort of our homes, we recognize that homelessness and poverty do not take a holiday. Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County addresses the gravity of these issues through our building programs every day.

We know all too well that these great challenges come with great responsibility, which is why we are thankful for the members of our community who have taken on this responsibility with us. As we come to the end of our SuperStorm Sandy Recovery Program in December, we can revel in all our success. We have restored 70 homes for 70 families, and harnessed the power of over 2,227 volunteers, who contributed a total of 34,199 volunteer hours! Thank you for helping our neighbors in Bergen County live in safe and healthy homes, we would not have been able to celebrate this success without you!

The year ahead presents us with both challenges and blessings, as we develop plans on our affordable veteran’s housing project in the Township of Washington. There are over 1.5 million veterans, as the head of household, in the United States that face the challenges of paying half their income per month on housing. Habitat Bergen is honored to be able to address veteran’s housing issues in Bergen County. We will build two townhouses with a total of four units. Two units will be affordable housing for low-income veterans; the remaining two will be affordable housing for low-income seniors.

We are launching our Veterans Build program to address the barriers that veterans and military service members face in Bergen County. Veterans Build is Habitat for Humanity’s national initiative to provide housing solutions and volunteer and employment to U.S. veterans, military service members and their families.

There are 37,235 veterans residing in Bergen County; we need the support of military and civilian community members to aid our veterans in need. Join Habitat Bergen in supporting our hard-working veterans in Bergen County to help make the America they fought for, part of their American dream!

Together we can and together we will!

Keith Lesser Jacey Raimondo Board President Executive Director

For your convenience you may make your donation on our secure website, HabitatBergen.org and click “Donate”.

Keith Lesser Jacey Raimondo

Forum in Teaneck examines poverty amid Bergen affluenceNOVEMBER 11, 2015 BY MARY DIDUCH STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD

TEANECK — Bergen County consistently ranks among the wealthiest counties in the nation. But a panel of human-services and affordable-housing providers on Tuesday painted a different picture of the state’s most populous county: Amid the affluence, many are struggling to get by.The county’s poverty rate surged by 74 percent from 1989 to 2010, and yet in 2014 the median household income was $84,677, among the top 5 percent in the nation, said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, who moderated the discussion, hosted by the National Council of Jewish Women’s Bergen Section.“It is clear that the perception of affluence in Bergen County is not a reality for a large percentage of our population,” said Weinberg, a Teaneck Democrat.The goal of the forum, which drew an audience of more than 250 to Temple Emeth in Teaneck, was to promote understanding of the problems behind homelessness and poverty in Bergen County and the challenges involved in tackling these issues.Weinberg’s opening remarks were echoed by five speakers — heads of various housing, human-services and anti-hunger agencies — who all said poverty, homelessness and hunger are real problems in Bergen County. The reasons include a lack of job opportunities and a need for more affordable housing, they said.The need for services has only grown.The Bergen County Board of Social Services administers the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program, which dispenses aid to the neediest Americans while they seek work; General Assistance, for single adults and childless couples; rental assistance; Medicaid; and the N.J. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, said Adina Yacoub, the board’s administrative supervisor.While the county’s TANF caseload has dropped by 17.5 percent since January 2014, the number of residents who need general assistance has jumped by about 48.5 percent in the same period. The board currently serves about 1,300 general assistance cases, Yacoub said.There also has been an increase in NJ SNAP cases. There are 23,090 in Bergen, up from 19,996 in October 2010, she said.“This is shocking. You would never think in Bergen County [that there are] so many people on different programs,” Yacoub said.Lynn Bartlett, executive director of the Housing Authority of Bergen County, said the demand stretches into affordable housing. The wait list for the programs that her authority administers is more than seven years, she said.“I have applications in excess of 600 for 50 units — the reality of the demand for affordable housing,” Bartlett said.Kate Duggan, executive director of Family Promise of Bergen County, which helps homeless working families, said the recession, the mortgage crisis and Superstorm Sandy all contributed to an increase in poverty and the homeless population in Bergen County.Duggan said a single parent with one child needs to make at least $25.49 an hour to afford food, housing, child care, health care, transportation and clothing. But at $8.25 an hour, the minimum wage puts the parent far behind. A fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Bergen County is $1,400 to $1,500 a month, she said.She said many are surprised to learn homeless families often are working families caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, she said.“Our families don’t just need housing; they need opportunity, they need education, support and guidance,” Duggan said. “And they need time.”

Established in 1994 as an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International

our mission is to provide decent, affordable homes

for hard-working Bergen County families.

VOLUNTEER

HOURS

VOLUNTEERS

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers support Habitat Bergen in various

ways including critical

home repairs, gift

wrapping, advocacy

and much more.

34,199

2227

PROJECTS

“REPAIR. REBUILD. RESTORE.”

Habitat Bergen continues to actively work in southern Bergen County on the Sandy Restoration

Project. The affiliate is taking a block-by-block approach, repairing the damage of multiple homes, with the ultimate goal of

revitalizing the town. 70 HOME REPAIRS

COMPLETED

CARS FOR HOMES

PROFIT FROM CARS FOR HOMES SINCE 2005

$166,138

Bergen County residents are encouraged to

donate their used

cars in order to raise a

profit

for Habitat Bergen. The money earned from Cars for Homes goes toward the affiliate’s affordable

housing projects.

CONTACT INFORMATION

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF BERGEN COUNTY

690 Kinderkamack Rd Suite 300

Oradell, NJ 07649

201.457.1020

habitatbergen.org

98*

%***

PARTNER

FAMILIES &

NEW HOMES

Every family who is selected for a Habitat home is required to put in 400 hours of sweat

equity helping build their own home. Families are selected based on WILLINGNESS to

partner with Habitat, NEED

and ability to REPAY mortgage on their home.

FAMILIES

Habitat Bergen holds the mortgages and uses the monthly

payments to fund the construction of more new homes! *Includes 60.2 tithed partner homes in ARMENIA & MEXICO