East Trenton gets a $725K shot in the arm
September 2008 - The East Trenton Collaborative, or ETC - comprised of organizations CityWorks, City of Trenton, Habitat for Humanity, Isles, Martin House, Better Community Housing of Trenton and the East Trenton Initiative - remains a work in progress.
These organizations and others hope to revitalize an East Trenton neighborhood that once served as an industrial hub but fell on hard times when factories and shops closed. “We are funding this project because we believe in the power of collaboration," said Denise Gregor Armbrister, executive director of the Wachovia Regional Foundation. Armbrister voiced confidence that CityWorks and the other members of the East Trenton Collaborative will utilize these funds to improve the lives of children and families in East Trenton.
ETC focused attention on housing and mixed-use retail development to improve the neighborhood, reaching out to local residents for their input.
The collaborative hired architectural firm Anton Nelessen Associates as a community consultant. "We trained over 40 East Trenton residents on how to evaluate the neighborhood's infrastructure and building stock," Nelessen said, "and we used the Visual Preference Survey that I developed to get community input. All in all, we presented ETC with a plan that represents the wishes of the local community, the city and professionals."
The East Trenton neighborhood has been approved by the state Department of Community Affairs for its Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program. That program provides state credits on corporate taxes to corporations making contributions to nonprofit groups that develop projects in eligible neighborhoods The DCA designation makes it possible for ETC partners to secure the corporate contributions necessayr to finance housing economic development projects. Officials expect a nearby 99-acre Assunpink Creek Greenway Park project to impact positively the East Trenton redevelopment project. Upgrades in the area are expected to alleviate frequent flooding of the Assunpink Creek.
By: L.A. Parker
(c) 2008 trentonian.com
CUH2A Makes Generous Donation to Habitat for Humanity-Trenton Area
for 3rd Year in a Row!
February 2008 - CUH2A, a large architecture, engineering, and planning firm headquartered in Princeton, NJ has donated $13,376 to the Trenton chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The donation was a result of many year-long fundraising events held at the headquarters offices, including monthly Pizzathons, spare change collection, an Easter Plant sale, and a silent auction.
This is the third year in a row in which CUH2A has raised funds for Habitat for Humanity, and this year’s amount is over 10% larger than the amount raised in 2006. The funds raised to date by CUH2A for this cause total over $40,000, which equals nearly half the cost of one of Habitat for Humanity’s houses.
Pictured above (left to right) is Steve Brame, Executive Director, Greg Trosko, Director of Administrative Services for CUH2A, and Mike Konsko, Managing Director for CUH2A