Media Coverage

The Star Ledger
By Lawrence Ragonese
Sept 3, 2008

Funding secured to house disabled

A small nonprofit group based in Hanover has gained funding for a $1.9 million project to create apartments that would allow a dozen young, developmentally disabled Morris County residents to live independently, according to principals in the project.

The Rose House will build eight apartments on a tract in the Cedar Knolls section of Hanover. The site off Ridgedale Avenue is near stores, jobs, churches and public transportation, said Mark Kramer, the Rose House executive director.

The group hopes to see construction begin this winter and tenants move in by the spring, said Kramer.

"The township has been very supportive of our effort," said Kramer, who noted a host of public and private groups contributed to the effort to raise the money.

Kramer said the new apartments will come with some assistance for the residents, to help them administer required medications and to assist them in shopping, meal planning and budgeting. But the residents will not require 24-hour supervision, he said.

NewBridge Services is co-developing the project. NewBridge executive director Robert Parker called Rose House "ahead of the curve in developing permanent and affordable housing for young adults with developmental disabilities."

"They have identified a population of young people who deserve to live on their own and have independent lives, and acted on dealing with that need," he said.

The 9-year old Rose House currently operates a home in Mount Olive and plans to open another there in the near future. Those homes will serve a total of eight adults with development disabilities, offering them 24-hour supervised care, said Kramer.

Among the funding sources for the Hanover apartments are $650,000 from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and a $110,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank, plus contributions from Morris County, the state Division of Developmental Disabilities, Hanover Township and the United Way, and assistance by Valley National Bank.

Money also comes from the state's special needs housing trust fund, created several years ago when Richard Codey was governor.

Parker said there is a great need for more affordable housing for people with special needs, including those who are developmentally disabled or mentally ill. His agency has set a goal of adding 100 new units in northern New Jersey by 2010.

The state has a housing waiting list of some 8,000 developmentally disabled people around New Jersey, said officials.