All our efforts of late have been focused on nurturing the LINKS Project and having it fully funded. Yes, we have been very successful in our fundraising efforts thus far. Our first success was the receipt of $674,000 from a HUD McKinney-Vento matching grant. In part, this success was based on our ability to leverage, an important word in the world of matching grants. Leveraging is bringing together multiple sources to fully fund a project rather than relying on one grant source to foot the entire bill. We have leveraged several sources so far. First, The DACKKs Group has committed to providing matching funds for operating expenses of the five units we will purchase under the LINKS Project. Next, we secured a commitment for matching funds from Vantage Health System to provide our tenants with the supportive services they may need to live independently. And most recently, we were notified of our successful application for $400,000 from Bergen County’s HOME program to match the acquisition funds from HUD. Finally, because those funds will not be available before fall we needed to leverage bridge financing for property acquisition and were able to do so through the generous support of Bergen County’s United Way. Its bridge loan will be repaid when the county HOME dollars become available.

There is another layer of leveraging that we have had to pursue under the terms of the HOME program grant. That is we must secure the support of the municipality in which we want to purchase a property in order to spend the HOME dollars on that purchase. This is done in the form of a municipal endorsing resolution that supports our expenditure. Reaction to our request has been mixed. Some towns have chosen to turn a blind eye to the obvious and ongoing need for affordable housing and on the homeless and disabled. But other more enlightened communities have realized that as long as people continue to be homeless then we must continue to provide affordable options for them. To date, we have endorsing resolutions from Teaneck, Englewood, Bergenfield, Lyndhurst and Garfield. To all of those towns we send our sincere thanks. They too have played an important role in our leveraging support for our LINKS Project.

But there is much more work to be done. The $800,000 we have been awarded from HUD and from the county must purchase five housing units. At least one of the units must be made handicapped accessible under the grant terms and all are generally in need of some sort of rehabilitation to make them safe and decent homes. You can see that in this county $800,000 does not go nearly far enough to purchase five homes. And because we are determined to fully fund, not finance our purchases, we will continue working to find sources of support. Our ability to match HUD money for operating expenses was made possible by the generosity of our donors. Our ability to deliver mortgage-free housing can also be made possible by the generosity of our donors.

Our annual fundraiser will be held on October 25th. Please mark your calendars and bring your friends. If your company has a matching grant or sponsorship program, please tell its director about us. And please reserve some time to help out when you get our notice in the mail of another property just waiting for the TLC that will turn it into a home for someone disabled and homeless.

Because everyone should have a safe, decent and affordable place to live....


Karen E. Amy
President

July 2004