The New Jersey Community Development Corporation and the Paterson Habitat for Humanity have been awarded $1.21 million in grant funding through the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit (NRTC) program, announced the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs on Friday afternoon.
Habitat received an award of $245,500 for its Building Homes and Opportunity initiative and the New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) is the recipient of $965,400 for its Park Corners Apartments.
NJCDC will also use some of its award to fund the Paterson Youth Arts Project which provides art education to neighborhood youths.
”This program continues to have positive impacts in New Jersey and has allowed the state to work with local organizations to foster revitalization in communities throughout Passaic County,” Richard E. Constable, commissioners of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, said. “We will continue to invest in innovative programs such as this that will support New Jersey’s working families, seniors, and children.”
Constable said the Chris Christie Administration continues to support the NRTC to encourage new housing options and economic development opportunities for small businesses in the state’s urban neighborhoods.
The award will aid Habitat in the construction and sales of homeownership units to stabilize transitional neighborhoods through property ownership. The non-profit has had an approved NRTC plan for the city’s Northside neighborhood since 2013.
Similarly, the NJCDC had an approved NRTC plan for the Greater Spruce Street neighborhood since 2009.
Funding for the grants come from private corporations. NJCDC’s grant is funded by Boiling Springs Savings Bank, Horizon Healthcare, JPMorgan Chase, Public Service Enterprise Group, TD Bank, and Thomson Reuters.
Companies that provide funding to the program receive a 100-percent tax credit against some state taxes for their investment in helping revitalize poor neighborhoods in New Jersey’s cities.
Habitat’s grant was made possible by Accurate Box Co., Business Furniture Inc., Lakeland Bank, TD Bank and Valley National Bank.
The NRTC program is run by the New Jersey Division of Housing and Community Resources. It provides community organizations with corporate funding to implement plans to revitalize disadvantaged areas of the state.
Non-profits are required to allot at least 60-percent of the funding to housing or economic development. Remainder of the funds can be used for supportive services streetscape improvement, public open space projects, and community outreach.
So far the NRTC has approved 96 grants state-wide totaling $77 million.