At an Oct. 24 event in Newark, JPMorganChase announced a $1.14 million investment in eight New Jersey nonprofits.

Held in the Clinton Hill section of the city, the event featured JPMorganChase senior leaders as well as local officials, nonprofits and other key stakeholders. The effort aims to increase and preserve the state’s affordable housing supply and provide homebuyer and financial health readiness to support people on the path to homeownership.

At the center of the initiative is a focus on preserving and rehabilitating two- to four-family homes in the area as a way to unlock wealth creation while adding to the supply.

Some of the commitments on that front include:

• Clinton Hill Community Action will provide estate planning workshops and preservation and wealth transfer programs for local senior citizens in Clinton Hill. In partnership with Greater Newark LISC, will provide forgivable home repair micro grants to local landlords to encourage them to rent units to those seeking affordable housing opportunities
• Invest Newark will build and rehabilitate 25 affordable single-family homes that will be sold to Housing Choice Voucher holders throughout Clinton Hill
• New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund is developing and implementing an outreach program to convene community leaders, landlords and key stakeholders to improve access to multi-family home ownership opportunities; and will promote homebuyer readiness resources

“Homeownership, and the ability to build wealth as a small landlord, are some of the most viable ways for families to gain a foothold in the middle class,” said Leila Amirhamzeh, New Jersey Citizen Action director of community reinvestment. “But too many New Jerseyans face significant barriers to these opportunities. Thanks to JPMorganChase and other key partners, our New Jersey Housing Security Project can address these barriers by equipping aspiring and current landlords in North Jersey with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to take advantage of multifamily homeownership opportunities, understand the dynamics of managing their rental units effectively, profitably, and in a manner that helps build strong communities.”

“Few things matter more to residents’ wellbeing than safe, affordable home ownership that creates stability and serves as a solid foundation for all other pursuits in life,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told NJBIZ. “I speak for all Newarkers when I thank JPMorganChase for its generous commitment to the economic growth of our City and the prosperity, financial literacy, and generational wealth of its people.”

Revitalizing neighborhoods

JPMorganChase is also supporting several organizations that are focused on economic mobility and housing affordability – working to revitalize neighborhoods across the Garden State and reduce barriers to homeownership for individuals and families.

Those organizations include:

• Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey
• Housing Partnership for Morris County
• The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
• Urban League of Essex County
• United Community Corp.

“At JPMorganChase, we are deeply committed to addressing housing access and affordability and working with nonprofit organizations that are anchored in the community to unlock critical wealth building opportunities,” said Marco Villegas, vice president of global philanthropy in New Jersey at JPMorganChase.

The financial services firm noted its ongoing commitment to New Jersey – with nearly 200 branches and more than 12,000 employees, seven New Jersey-based community managers providing homeownership workshops that focus on savings, budgets and credit building; and a team that works with local residents, businesses and elected officials and connect people to opportunities to build generational wealth.

Since 2023, that team has led about 1,280 financial health workshops – from Newark to Paterson to Trenton – reaching more than 20,000 people.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:50 p.m. Oct. 25, 2024, with a statement from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

See also:

• NJ’s fourth round of affordable housing guidelines details 150K units
• State agency works with hospitals to create affordable housing
• On affordable housing, Jersey City offers ‘incubator’ for new ideas