Announcements

Lame Duck Session
There are just a few days left in the current NJ legislative session which means all pending legislative business must be wrapped up before the new session begins in January. On December 18, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Senator Troy Singleton, and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez held a press conference to announce legislation addressing enforcement of the state's Mount Laurel Doctrine. The Network will be reviewing details of the legislation, in the meantime, click here for an official statement on the announcement. Click here for full descriptions of all HCDNNJ's lame duck policy priorities.

Upcoming Events and Meetings

Monmouth County A-Team Meetings 2024
TBA

For more information, contact Matthew Hersh, Director of Policy and Advocacy at [email protected]

Upcoming Network Events:
First Friday Member Discussion
Friday, January 12, 2024 at 11AM

35th Anniversary Celebration
Friday, April 12, 2024 at Forsgate Country Club



Become a Member!

With over 250 members of affordable housing and community development corporations, individuals and others who support the creation of homes and economic opportunity for low- and moderate- income residents, the Network's goal is to make housing and community choices more balanced and equitable. We are proud to be NJ's premiere source for public policy advocacy, technical assistance and training resources, and cutting-edge research for our partners' community revitalization efforts. Click here to learn more!

Our members include:

  • Nonprofit affordable housing and 
    community development organizations
  • Community organizing agencies
  • Other community-based nonprofit organization
  • Technical assistance providers
  • Various social service agencies
  • Financial institutions
  • Builders and developers


County Background

Monmouth

Monmouth County, a sprawling, 53-town region outpaces the state in median household income, median property value, and boasts poverty rates that fall under the state average. But it’s an incubator for housing inequity, particularly as shore towns benefit from reinvestment and suffer from gentrification.

Asbury Park, for example, has a poverty rate more than four times (30 percent) the level of the county (7.5 percent), and has a median household income that is a third of the county. And yet, the city’s the median property value is $335,000, just a tick higher than the state average. In fact, property values continue to rise as people invest down the shore, but high poverty rates continue to hurt communities in places like Asbury Park, Neptune City, Long Branch.

With the median property value in Monmouth County now at $421,700 in 2017—nearly twice the national average--and with New Jersey’s shore towns developing stronger economies, there are concerns about rising rents, access to homeownership, and availability of affordable homes. There are also more economically depressed parts of the county, including northern county towns like Union Beach and Keansburg that lack economic investment and have higher poverty rates.

Our members are working to address these ongoing issues through a carefully-implemented policy agenda.

Key policy focus:

  • Affordable Housing Trust Fund availability

  • County Homelessness Trust Fund and its tie to Code Blue

  • COAH compliance

  • Tenant protections/Right to Counsel

Resources

The following is a list of food, healthcare, housing, and financial resources along with resources for families, children, and seniors. Additional resources can be found here on our main resources page.

Monmouth County Housing Resource Guide (English/Spanish)

Emergency Assistance
An explanation of Emergency Assistance from the NJ Department of Human Services Division of Family Development.

SEED: Growing our Communities Program
Sponsored in partnership by the Network and New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC), this program provides HCDNNJ members and non-members access to low-cost, pre-development loans to support their economic development projects.

New Jersey HUD Certified Housing Counseling Organizations
This listing is of the HUD certified housing counseling organization that are part of the Network's housing intermediary sub grantee group.

Homelessness Trust Fund
This toolkit is to assist advocates in their efforts to help create County Homeless Trust Funds. Here you'll find a fact sheet, endorsements, model ordinance and county plans.

The time is NOW for our elected officials to implement bold policies and investments address housing affordability, stability and security, making NJ more affordable for generations to come.

That’s why we are launching "House NJ," our new initiative to ensure housing security and stability for all NJ residents. Click here to urge our public officials at every level of government to invest crucial resources to create more homes that are safe and affordable, expand rental assistance and protect our most vulnerable neighbors. Together, we can "House NJ"!