Vision Statement

Goals and Outcomes

The Housing and Community Development Network of NJ seeks to promote the affordable housing and community development sector as a critical vehicle for fostering healthy, viable communities.  The Network aims to achieve the following outcomes with respect to the sector and the communities that it represents:  

·        Individuals and families can access a wide range of affordable housing as well as educational and employment opportunities that allow them to thrive and reach their full potential.   People have adequate income, assets and tools to support themselves and their families.

·        Communities are racially, ethnically, and economically integrated, and are well-designed, safe, and economically viable.

·        The affordable housing and community development sector has the capacity and resources to connect with and be accountable to residents, build on communities’ assets and strengths, and create affordable housing and healthy neighborhoods.

·        The sector participates in strategic alliances and collaborations to put in place the elements required for communities to survive and flourish.

·        CDCs work with families and communities to exercise power and influence public policy. Residents are politically empowered; decisions affecting neighborhoods are made with the full participation of the people that live there.

·        Widespread use of improved measurements allows us to share best practices and communicate the success of the sector.

·        The public understands the importance of quality affordable housing and revitalized neighborhoods and dedicates adequate resources to meeting these needs.  

Ways of Working Together

  The Network’s capacity building, resource development and public policy work is rooted in the experience of our members and depends upon an interactive relationship based on mutuality and respect. The technical assistance and training provided by the Network are responsive, innovative and of the highest quality.  Through these efforts, the Network helps to create an environment in which effective organizations can be sustained.

Staff exemplify and model the highest standards of knowledge, preparation, team work, competence and resourcefulness.  They have created a sharing and learning environment that values and promotes diversity and offers opportunities for personal and organizational development.  

Building Strategic Alliances

  The Network seeks to build partnerships with groups whose agendas complement our own, particularly those working on issues that promote a higher quality of life in New Jersey’s low income communities.  We will prioritize those issues that will most directly contribute to our core issues of affordable housing, economic development, and community building.

Emerging Themes to Explore  

·        Find new ways to import community development best practices and cutting edge thinking in the field and adapt them for use by New Jersey CDCs.

·        Explore the community development sector’s role in education reform.

·        Investigate ways for communities to set quality of life standards and measure CDC progress toward reaching them.

·        Promote and support the development of environmentally sustainable communities.

·        Explore the potential of regional strategies as a tool for addressing neighborhood issues.