CCDOM housing project renovated
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
PERTH AMBOY — A collaboration between Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, and the city received an official thumbs up from both parties during an inspection of the newly-renovated Hall Avenue Housing Facility.
Mayor Joseph Vas and Michael Keller, director of the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development, toured the facility with Catholic Charities’ executive director Marianne Majewski; Marlene Sigman, director, property development and management, Catholic Charities; and Msgr. William Benwell, chairman of the agency’s board of trustees.
“As part of our continuing efforts to improve the Hall Avenue area, the city of Perth Amboy, through its Housing and Urban Development HOME program, was able to provide $344,850 of grants so that this facility could be fully renovated,” Mayor Vas said. “This housing meets the growing needs of the urban areas in New Jersey, where rent and housing costs are increasingly unaffordable for its residents.”
Providing affordable housing for low-income families is one of the numerous services provided by Catholic Charities. The Hall Avenue Housing Facility, which sits at the corner of State Street, is one of more than a dozen sites that Catholic Charities provides for low-income families in Perth Amboy alone, Majewski said. The facility has been owned and operated by Catholic Charities for 12 years.
“I am very pleased and I think the renovations not only improve the outward appearance of the building but they made it a safer environment,” she said. “It was heartwarming for me to watch the outcome of the work knowing how it will improve the lives of everyone who lives there. Without Mayor Vas and the city of Perth Amboy and Michael Keller these renovations would not be possible.
“It is still a drop in the bucket,” she added. “It is great and necessary but not meeting the demand.”
New construction included exterior stucco façade, a metal exterior stairway, roofing, windows, parking lot paving, hallway floors and exterior and hall lighting.
The building has seven apartments for low-income families: Six of the units have three bedrooms, and the seventh is a two-bedroom unit.
Two of the units are subsidized through the state’s Rental Assistance Program, where the tenants (who earn a maximum of 40 percent of the median income) pay 30 percent of their income for rent. The rest of the apartments are affordable for people earning no more than 60 percent of the median income.
Renovation took about eight months to complete, Sigman said.
Jonathan Pitchford, 58, and his wife, Minnie Wright Pitchford, who are both disabled, moved into the facility seven years ago after seeking help from Catholic Charities.
“We needed a place badly and they really came through for us,” Pitchford said. “They’ve done a great job with the improvements.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law