I had a call last week from a man who had recently lost both his job and the room that he rented. His was certainly not an uncommon story but it was a heartwrenching all the same. Because on the day that I spoke to him, one of the coldest days of the year, he explained that he had found temporary refuge…in a shed. It is stories like this that spur us forward, compel us to do something to alleviate the distress that we feel when we realize that in this, one of the wealthiest and most advanced countries in the world, people still go homeless.

That's why we work as hard as we do…to extinguish stories like these.

And we are making progress. In each of the last three years we have had a new property to improve and furnish with the help of our volunteers. This year is no exception. Our two family home, purchased late last year, is seeing the end of a modest kitchen renovation to the second floor unit. Once the other cosmetics are complete a family will move in. Then we will start on the first floor with more modest improvements. With your help, the house will be completely finished inside and rented by the end of April. Our new tenants will pay their fair share…thirty percent of their income…to rent, because we provide a leg up not a handout.

We all are looking forward to doing some gardening around this property to enhance both its livability and the neighborhood. Our two family house puts us slightly ahead of our board's goal of acquiring a new housing unit each year. And we continue to look for additional properties to complete the LINKs Project.

More good news came in the form of a grant award to the DACKKs Group from the New Jersey Department of Human Services. The grant award will allow us to make much needed improvements to one of our existing units. Until now, we have been able to make only emergency repairs to this unit while the overall condition of the kitchen and bath needed attention. That the repairs are needed is not unusual since the property has seen no improvements since the eighties when it was first renovated as a condominium. With this grant we can make the modest improvements needed to protect our investment.

And we continue working toward meeting our challenge grant goal to raise $35,000 by the end of September.

We move forward only with the support and generosity of our expanding group of dedicated volunteers and donors whose generosity allows us to direct nearly 94% of every donated dollar toward maintaining our existing properties and saving for more. With your help we are able to continue to make safe, decent and affordable housing a reality. Be a part of it.

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

Karen E. Amy
President

March 2005