Categorias: Todos - housing - services - community - support

por Beth R 10 meses atrás

63

Spotlight Newark - Copy

Newark, located in Essex County, has a significant portion of its residents facing housing challenges, with 78% of them renting and 67% considered asset poor. The prevalence of slumlords and lack of quality housing options exacerbate these issues.

Spotlight Newark - Copy

Newark, Essex County

Create sustainable jobs
Small businesses inherently have some instability in their ability to employ.
Fill jobs with Newark residents
There is not a technical knowledge gap, there is an awareness gap. People don't know how to apply.
Students that grow up in the pubic K-12 system in Newark stay in Newark.
Newark has double the unemployment as the rest of the state. There are many returning citizens that need employment opportunities.

Unemployment: 7.8% in Newark, 6% in Essex County and 4.6% in New Jersey

The education system isn't preparing Newark students for the jobs available to them. Unemployment creates a cycle where where education, mental health and drug use are all tied back to joblessness.
The gap is getting bigger between what is available and what can be filled by residents.
Attract Talent to Newark companies
There is a residential boom and change in the community. Repurposing or knocking down buildings for new residential. But there are no amenities in the city. There aren't very many restaurants beyond Ironbound, no movie theater, pharmacy, Target, only Whole Foods downtown for a grocery store.
It is hard to attract talent to Newark because they feel like they have to commute and it does not feel safe for those commuting or living in the City.
Newark 2020
Live Local
Hire Local

There are people that are qualified to be hired, but biases are keeping them from being hired in Newark. There are 189 hired for 2020 goal, 700 people in database, 60 people with MA degrees.

Buy Local

Gentrification

How do we do beautification without displacement? Riverfront Park is an example where there park was redone and now the city is trying to force people out of the housing development adjacent saying it is rundown. No one cared until the park was there.
People feel like they "can't have nice things" because then others will come in and want their neighborhood.

Justice system

Juvenile Justice
8 or 9 juvenile justice centers have been closed recently by shifting to probation model.
Need: Connect juvenile justice with mental health and counseling staff.
High number of formerly incarcerated indiiduals in Newark.
Estimates that up to XX percent of Newark residents have had some interaction with the justice system.

Health

Mental
Oral
Oral health is underutilized in children. children don't know that pain is not normal.
Asthma
Impacts of pollution

Enormous volume of trucks going through that worsen the air quality. The older trucks are worse.

Lead poisoning
Need: map or data on where to intervene with lead poisoning.
Department of Health has maps that show where lead poisoning exists, but they are sealed because of HIPAA.
25% of kids have been affected by lead.

Education

Behavior and interaction with mental health
Kids are getting expelled from pre-k -- Walter Gilliam.
Need: train teachers how to handle behavior and provide trauma informed care.
Pre-K
Court required there to be high quality pre-k and demanded open checkbook from state.

Community programs, Headstart and school districts are providing

State has mandated pre-k but revenue is frozen and decrease by 3%. This pay causes high turnover in teachers. We have had to turn over 19 of 39 teachers in pre-k.
Graduation rate
Students are tracked by 8th grade
There are no vocational programs at schools
40% of students go to charter schools
30% turnover in school enrollment in the South Ward
Hard to keep track of students when move around
Philips Academy Charter School
Poor quality schools
Chronic absenteeism of teachers
Absenteeism
Causes

There is a lack of connection to students at school. Students say that there is no one that cares if they show up.

Safety is a problem walking to school.

The Lack of stability of housing leads to no safety net or network of friends for the families. Parent have no ability to get kids to school if anything arises. There are also health causes like asthma.

No transportation to schools - give students a public bus pass instead.

School culture is lacking.

5 years ago Cami Anderson cut truancy officers out of the budget. The reforms may have had something to do with the absentee rate.
48% absentee rate for 11-12th grade. (ACNJ)

Was upwards of 90% in some high schools last year

48% absenteeism overall

Transportation

Transportation problems prevent people from accessing care.

Government coordination

Policy
Policy environment does not support minority and women owned businesses

There is so much paperwork with the Department of Tax that people don't see the benefit. If they only get $5K contract, don't see benefit.

Policy environement does not support microenterprise and small business.
Transparency and corruption
Vacant buildings are big part of making Newark safer, but it is a nightmare to get permitting at the city. There is no incentive for making development easier.
There is a lack of coordination for the interests of the people. We need to create a community with self determination that can break down the silos and advocate for themselves.
There is low population churn, which creates a mistrust of outsiders and means that there is more pull for this work [urban entrepreneurship] outside of Newark than recognition and support for expansion inside Newark.
There is too much is happening at City Hall. They are not organized about interacting with residents. They don't involve the community. Newark is a very prideful community but the people don't have a voice. The Council people in the wards are politically motivated and people are jaded. There is not enough transparency.
Challenges to providing services.

People have childcare subsidy, but can't use it. There are too many increasing barriers to access it.

Services decline because there are not enough people taking them. But people aren't taking them because they can't qualify the way the program is set up.

Once people are identified, requires lots of paperwork to get them the services. For example, to get the low income heating credit you have to show a lease, but lots of landlords aren't doing them correctly, which means that La Casa then can't help them. The bureaucracy is causing them to lose out on clients and the help to which they are entitled.

Human Capital/ Talent

People are leaving because salaries are not high enough to keep them.

Need: More efficient and relevant application processes for subsidized programs.

No box to identify low income heating / energy support is needed on a box, like there are other medical conditions on forms.

The state has a fund to deal with lead poisoning and remediation but it is misusing and re-appropriating the funds.
Landlords try to get around zoning rules and no one is stopping them.

Language and immigration

50% of Newark is Spanish speaking and high proportion is monolingual. Need language access and hard to build trust.

Mental health resources

Children
Recently started giving mental health to under 5 years old.
Juvenile Justice System
There aren't enough mental health providers, especially for pediatrics (psychiatrists, psychologists, advanced practice nurses). This is because of pay, insurance is high and training is long.
Anxiety and depression

Need trauma sensitive environment

High ACE scores - Exposure to vilence and uncertainty
Vets
VA is not adequately addressing or servicing mental health, especially for female vets.

Safety

Newark Anti-Violence Coalition

Coalition

Every week (Wednesday) the Coalition has rallied in parts of Newark hardest hit by violence along with shutting down major commuter vessels in the city such as the NJPAC, Broad and Market streets, McCarter Highway and Route 280. Our mission is to awaken the masses both citizens and the administration of Newark to become accountable for its young people by creating the non-existing and utilizing the current resources available needed to save lives!

Resident engagement

Activists

Greater Newark LISC

Healthy and Resilient Communities

Safety is fundamental to the health and vitality of communities, and is also critical to attracting communi­ty-minded businesses and homeowners to neigh­borhoods. Of course, local economies can thrive only when residents and businesses aren't hampered by...

Community feedback

Crime data

Community safety program

Targeted Deterrence Strategy

The Newark Police Division (NPD) and the Safer Newark Council’s Law Enforcement Coordinator operated TDS in 2016. TDS uses data and intelligence to identify the gangs/groups and individuals who are the most at risk for becoming victims or suspects of violent crimes...

Violent crime data

Data analysis tools and expertise

Honeywell International

Building security

Honeywell’s comprehensive portfolio of building automation systems gives owners and managers the opportunity to select the best solution for their specific needs. These scalable solutions are the foundation of an integrated energy management and security

building automation tech systems

commercial combustion products

security services

Building automation software

Pomco

Personal Safety Device

POMCO is a personal safety device for the college community that provides a smarter and faster connection to emergency services.

Data: emergency response calls

Resource: emergency services connections

Security

Prudential secures all its facilities with cameras, security guards, etc

CCTV cameras

Security training

Security guards

In connection with the Newark Downtown District, Prudential has bike patrols on the streets

Data: crime response data

Essex County

Office of the Prosecutor

Victim Witness Advocacy

The Essex county Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy helps victims and witnesses deal with immediate life needs, especially those who live within Essex county’s lower-income neighborhoods, who are most at-risk of experiencing violent crime and whose lives a

Access to social services

City of Newark

Newark Community Street Team

Violence Prevention

NCST treats violence like a disease and uses public health strategies to control the spread of violence. NCST reduces violence by preventing retaliation.

community violence data

Police
The city of Newark wants to manage the cameras. If they wanted to view we would be fine, but they want to manage and so thats where we said no. They are starting a real time crime center.
We do have police officers on the ground but its just patching "the holes". There are teams during the day on the ground and walking the streets, which is a good change. But at night there aren't when its really needed.

Need more night policing and safety resources

Community policing

Just starting to implement

Downtown
We can't fill retail space so how do we draw these companies in? It makes the city feel empty and causes problems for public safety.
Neighborhood safety
School

Walking to school can be dangerous. Gun violence is a problem.

We did roundtables with high school students and one of the things that came out is that there is violence in school that makes them not want to go.

Gangs and violence

Sometimes incongruently, gangs are being included in the some of the community safety programs.

Parks are in disrepair. There is limited safe places to recreate in the city. People have no where to go and with unemployment as high as it is, joblessness is connected to drug use.
Safer Newark Council
3 years ago did a 2 day retreat to try to get the nonprofits, city and business to come together around safety. Nonprofits backed out because of turf issues. Our goal for Newark 2020 was 20% reduction of violent crime by 2020.
No community voices in Safer Newark. We have community meetings to tell, note hear what the community wants. Its not a partnership and there is no trust.

Food security and access

Healthy habits
It is more than just access to health food, it is about affordability and a willingness to spend SNAP dollars when you're not sure if kids will try and will eat the food.
Kids are the key to changing eating habits. If we can get them to like salad at school they will ask their parents to get it at home.

Philips Academy has vertical farm and integrated STEM curriculum

Access to healthy food in Newark/Essex County
Seniors feel to vulnerable to talk to the store with their vouchers.
There is price gouging on payday and the cost of milk can go up to $8 and then it will go back down at the end up the month.
Newark is a food desert

Majority of Newark residents food shop at Bodegas

There is underenrollment in food access programs like SNAP.

Need: destigmatize SNAP

people think that the program is not for them because its not a good program, may think there is fraud.

red tape

immigration fears

RWJ Barnabas Health Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has started a SNAP certified garden, The Beth Garden.
We need to make change outside of food system policy. Hospital systems should shift the way that they do business to more community-centered work.

Financial security

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Bankruptcy Clinic

Through this full-representation program, volunteer attorneys represent clients through completion of a bankruptcy case. We can only help people with Chapter 7 bankruptcies and you must be a resident of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or

Legal expertise

Client data

United Way of Central Jersey

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program with United Way of Central Jersey offers free tax help to people who generally make $64,000 or less, persons with disabilities and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their

Financial literacy resources

Accounting expertise

MoCaFi

Mobile Financial Services Platform

MoCaFi is amobile financial services platform for people without access to traditional banking and credit. 55% of African Americans and 50% Hispanic Americans are unbanked or underbanked. MoCaFi’smission is to move 1M families from financial vulnerability...

Instant bank account creation

User data

Dream Forward Financial

Retirement Plans

Dream Forward Financial sells 401(k) plans with new technology designed to help employees get over whatever excuse they have for why they can’t save for retirement.

Active user data

Corporate Partners

Prudential

Financial Education

When it comes to finances, you can't fake it till you make it. You've come to the right place: practical tips, interactive tools and sound strategies for living your financial life.

Participant data

Financial advisors

Financial education curriculum

Individuals
People don't have credit history. Traditional credit building activity is not available to many.
25-50% of households are female headed in Newark. We need to create more opportunities for young black women.
Employment

Need to create jobs in the regional economy that support healthy eating and food access.

Small business
Access to Capital

Need: Funding for $50-100K growth companies. There is currently a gap. (Dr. Jeffrey Robinson @ RBS CUEEP)

Need: small pools of capital that don't require historical underwriting that most loans require.

It takes a track record of financial stability and steady credit to be able to get business financing. Most people don't realize they need another 6-36 months before they will be ready.Because CDFIs and other institutions underwrite historical behavior, can't just have taken a course. It is a 12 month cycle to show outcomes and qualify.

There is enough capital but there is not the right coordination to get people the right financial products.

There is not enough early stage capital for entrepreneurs of color.

Entreprenurial training

business planning programs

We are recycling through the same people and they still aren't ready for financing. More training does not help, but we all need to keep our participation numbers up for funding.

Built environment

Waste and sustainability
City priorities

Mayor Baraka adopted Paris Accord

Flooding

Extreme heat and cold

Air quality

Climate resilience

Combined sewer overflow system causes pollution.
70% of Newark land is made up of impervious surfaces.
Can we see waste as a resource? Newark has 3 transfer centers.
Public buidings
Housing Authority buidings
Schools

1/3 of buildings have lead in water

Commercial corridors
Housing
Informal housing

Staying with family

Do not have any rights or ability to improve living conditions because do not have formal housing/landlord relationship.

Doubled up

Owner occupied properties
Rentals

Affordable housing

Wiki

Social

New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund

Financial Services

The New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund provides free services to more than 12,000 low- and moderate-income individuals and families across the state each year. Our services include free tax preparation, HUD-certified first-time homebuyer and foreclosure prevention counseling, in-person health care enrollment assistance, financial education and outreach, discounted oil heat to renters and homeowners who heat their homes with oil, and education and outreach on various issues and topics.

Utilities emergency financial support

Foreclosure prevention training

Home buyer education

Essex Properties Urban Renewal Associates Inc

Special Needs Housing

To construct, operate, administer and manage housing for disabled persons enabling them to live independent, healthy and secure lives.

Don Pedro Housing Corporation

Affordable Housing

Affordable housing arm of La Casa de Don Pero.

Private

Ivy Hill Park Section One

Apartments

Ivy Hill Park Apartments is New Jersey’s largest privately owned apartment complex, offering affordable apartments in a park-like setting.

City National Bank of New Jersey

Program: City National Urban Fund

City National Bank created the City National Urban Fund (CNUF) to provide financial support for socially conscious projects that strengthen urban areas in New Jersey and New York. The CNUF is a critical component of our mission to bolster economically challenged communities to give them a more level playing field to realize the American dream.

Resource: Affordable housing financing

St. Barnabas Realty Development Corporation

Healthcare support

Public

Newark

Department Of Recreation, Cultural Affairs And Senior Services

Residential Conerns and Issues

Many issues can all be reported to the 4311 system who will report to the department of Neighborhood and Recreational Services to ensure that the proper actions are taken. Some examples are: Lack of heat and/or hot, water burst pipes and sewage, no running...

Community needs data

State

NJ Housing Resource Center

The NJHRC is a FREE, online searchable registry of affordable and accessible housing units throughout the State of New Jersey, including: Affordable Rental Housing, Affordable For-sale Housing, Housing with Accessibility Features. Administered and funded

New Jersey Department of Community Affairs

Division of Housing & Community Affairs

To strengthen and revitalize communities through the delivery of affordable housing, supportive services and the provision of financial and technical assistance to communities, local government and community based organizations

Resource: Financing for affordable housing projects

Zoning and enforcement

Ordinance exists in City Hall to get landlords to deal with unsafe homes, but it is never enforced.

Quality

Evictions are high

Slumlords are using ICE for evictions.

Poor stock

Need: Property database that can track all landlords and monitor needed improvements.

50% of apartment units aren't registered correctly with the city. Every year landlord is supposed to provide information on housing units to see if they quality for rent control if they have 6 units or more + other criteria. 1/2 of that shouldn't be market rate when it is. There is no enforcement of regulations.

Uptake of remediation services is low.

La Casa has hard time finding remediation clients. There are free services but people don't take advantage. Parents are not aware of the impact of lead.

Awareness of health issues with lead is low.

Landlords are not interested in remediation.

Poor roof quality

Weatherization

Lead

Need: test homes not kids.

Testing is at 1 or 24 months of children, not buildings.

Quantity

78% of of Newark residents are renters.

67% of Newark residents are asset poor.

No options to deal with quality because of slumlords