New Jersey
Trenton, NJ 08618
609-393-3752
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Homes for New Jersey Coalition Hires First Executive Director to Intensify Campaign for 100,000 Affordable Homes
TRENTON, N.J. -- In a substantial move to press state government on issues related to affordable housing, Homes for New Jersey has hired its first Executive Director. Ms. Alison Badgett will lead the coalition in an intensified call for the production, rehabilitation and preservation of 100,000 affordable homes over the next ten years.
Homes for New Jersey was founded in 2005 as a coalition of 270 prominent New Jersey builders, bankers, religious organizations, real estate companies, advocacy groups and service providers, who recognized the state's lack of affordable housing as a preeminent threat to New Jersey's future. Out of this concern, the coalition developed a detailed plan for housing reform, and made affordable housing a key issue in that year's gubernatorial campaign. Then candidate, Jon Corzine, accepted the coalition's challenge and committed to producing or preserving 100,000 units of affordable housing within 10 years should he be elected.
Despite repeated commitments to follow through on his pledge, 20 months into Governor Corzine's first term, Homes for New Jersey has seen few important reforms, and the administration has yet to release an effective statewide affordable housing plan. Just this past week, Governor Corzine suggested he may not be able to fulfill his pledge, based on cost estimates his administration provided to him.
"We're clearly at a critical juncture for the state of affordable housing development," observes Badgett. "New Jersey is experiencing a housing affordability crisis-from the homeless who can't afford even moderate rents, to the middle income employee priced out of even a starter home."
"The solution does not lie in unsustainable state appropriations," says Bruce Davidson, Co-Chair of Homes for New Jersey. "New Jersey can begin by implementing significant structural change, developing a plan to better utilize our existing resources, remove unnecessary barriers to affordable housing development, and integrate the many public and private systems that impact this issue."
Ms. Badgett recognizes that reform is complex, and the 100,000 home goal ambitious, but insists it is realistic with the right leadership: "Homes for New Jersey has as its members the state's preeminent developers, nonprofits and advocacy groups, who together have already proposed a detailed blueprint for housing reform. What we need now is a functioning partnership with government, and a commitment to move forward."
"Over the coming months, Homes for New Jersey will renew its call for a comprehensive housing plan," says Tim Touhey, Co-Chair of Homes for New Jersey. "The coalition's members will again offer their insight and energy to offer low-cost solutions that could significantly impact New Jersey's capacity to offer safe, decent and affordable housing. We are excited that Alison Badgett will bring this coalition strong leadership."
Prior to joining Homes for New Jersey, Alison Badgett was Executive Director of the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, a coalition of public and private sector leaders implementing a 10 Year Plan to end homelessness in Mercer County New Jersey. She has a degree in Politics from Princeton University, and is a resident of Pennington, New Jersey.