We invite you to explore our site and learn more about the communities we serve and the financial solutions we provide. Click here to visit our website!
Warm regards,
 Wayne T. Meyer, President
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Since 1987, New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) has invested hundreds of millions of dollars for high-quality housing, education, and employment opportunities in underserved communities across New Jersey. Every day we see new examples of how our work fosters community stability and empowerment. However, we still see far too many examples of long-struggling neighborhoods that are now dealing with the additional impacts of the foreclosure crisis and the lingering recession. Clearly, more resources are needed.
This summer, we focused ourselves for an unprecedented effort to expand our capacity, in order for us to be better able to respond to the persistent inequality faced by low-income communities in New Jersey. We have added an impressive cadre of new staff to join the exceptionally talented professionals who make up NJCC. The new staff includes: Cara Purcell, an Associate working for both Financial Products & Services and in Resource Development; Kelly Gh'Rael, our new Loan Closing Officer; Jeff Crum, our new Director of Real Estate at our subsidiary, CAPC; Rrezarta (Rreza) Veseli, our new Impact Assessment Coordinator; and Greg Stankiewicz, our new Chief Operating Officer. Moreover, we also brought on three exceptional young leaders as Summer Fellows--Julie Thibault, Daniel Kravetz, and Peter Schaeffing.
With this increase in staff, we have outgrown our Trenton headquarters, so this fall we will be moving into a larger office in New Brunswick. We also have developed several powerful partnerships to improve local-level capacity to effectively revitalize communities. We have finalized a new strategic plan, including a commitment to assessing the outcomes of our work to improve operations. And of course, we have continued to meet our fundamental objectives, making many essential new investments to meet the basic needs of our low-income communities.
This edition of our newsletter highlights our resolve in continuing to pursue our mission to transform at-risk communities through strategic investments of capital and knowledge. To do so, we are investing in the infrastructure we need to better face the community level challenges of the future.
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NJCC Joins Forces to Build Capacity
In March, NJCC joined with other public, private, and nonprofit organizations from Newark, Orange, Irvington, Jersey City, and Millville for the Center for Community Progress (CCP) Leadership Institute, held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After two days in an intensive learning environment, participants returned to New Jersey equipped with a toolkit for revitalizing neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosure, along with the support of an established network dedicated to collectively resolving the proliferation of vacant properties that the economic crisis has left behind. Partic ipants already have earned important victories, including passage of the Vacant Property Registration Ordinance in Newark. These results inspired NJCC and the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey (HCDNNJ) to work with CCP and the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association to craft an expanded program: the New Jersey Institute for Community Leadership. Read more.
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NJCC Welcomes Gregory M. Stankiewicz as Chief Operating Officer
 Gregory M. Stankiewicz--passionate community development activist, academic scholar, published author, and seasoned policy professional--recently joined NJCC as Chief Operating Officer. Greg assumes his leadership post as NJCC continues to increase its capacity while preparing to move from its current location in Trenton to a larger headquarters in New Brunswick. Read more.
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Borrower Spotlight: Hoboken Charter School Inspires its Students and Strengthens the Surrounding Community
August was a busy month for NJCC's lending department. In this month  alone, NJCC successfully closed more than $6.7 million in loans to support three charter schools located in Asbury Park, Jersey City, and Hoboken. These three transactions are providing nearly 1,000 families with the choice to access a quality education while strengthening the surrounding communities--accomplishments that make us very proud and that are central to our mission of transforming at-risk communities through strategic investments of capital and knowledge. The Hoboken Charter School is a prime example of a charter school that is inspiring children and enhancing the lives of residents in the community. Read more.
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Meet our Summer Fellows
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Daniel Kravetz, Julie Thibault, Peter Schaeffing
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Committed to fostering future generations of community development leaders, NJCC initiated its first Summer Fellowship Program this year. Thank you, Peter, Julie, and Dan, for using your skills and enthusiasm to help improve conditions in communities throughout New Jersey. Read More. For more information on how to become a summer intern and make a real difference in New Jersey's communities, contact McCaela Daffern at MDaffern@njclf.com. |
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NJCC Takes On Impact Assessment
 NJCC is pleased to announce the release of Assessing the Impact of Community Development Financial Institutions. This report documents impact evaluation trends and practices throughout the CDFI field and recommends ways that NJCC can more meaningfully assess its most important activities. Prepared for NJCC by a team of graduate students from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, the report helps us to better understand the impact our work has on the communities we serve. As evidence of our commitment to improved organizational assessment, we recently hired Rrezarta Veseli to more fully develop and systematize our impact assessment activities. Furthermore, we hope to use this report and our subsequent work in this area to inform a larger discussion of impact assessment industry-wide. Copy of the full report.
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NJCC in the News
NJCC Announces the Election of Noted Civil Rights Champion as New Board Chair
NJCC announced the election of noted civil rights attorney Kenneth H. Zimmerman as the new chair of its board of directors, effective May 18, 2011.
NJCC Awarded $1.5 Million by the CDFI Fund
The US Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awarded NJCC $1.5 million in financial assistance to expand its ground-breaking approaches to community wellness and revitalization.
Innovative Redevelopment Partnership Completes Affordable Housing Project in Jersey City
Community Asset Preservation Corporation, a subsidiary of NJCC, spearheaded an innovative partnership that paved the way for the acquisition and rehabilitation of a vacant apartment building in Jersey City that has been converted into 13 quality two-bedroom affordable housing units.
NJCC Partners with Hope Academy
NJCC played a pivotal role in helping an Asbury Park-based charter school acquire its existing building, preserving a quality educational environment and saving the building from falling into foreclosure and blight.
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Support Us
NJCC's efforts to transform at-risk communities would not be possible without the generous support of our socially-conscious investors and grantors. They provide us with the means to make strategic investments that have a lasting positive impact on the communities we serve. We are proud of our new and returning investors and grantors, for they are the foundation of everything we do at NJCC. For information on how to become more involved in NJCC's initiatives and how to support our work, please visit our website.
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