Northern Ocean Habitat Receives $100K from Berkeley Housing Trust Fund

Northern Ocean Habitat Receives $100K from Berkeley Housing Trust Fund

For the fifth year in a row, Berkeley Township is partnering with Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity to build homes for the working poor. Mayor Carmen Amato and members of the town council presented a check for $100,000 to Habitat in a recent ceremony at the municipal building.  The funds, distributed from the township’s housing trust fund (not from tax dollars), will support the construction of an affordable home in the Manitou Park neighborhood.

The partnership began in 2014 with an agreement for Northern Ocean Habitat to build affordable homes in Manitou Park as part of Berkeley’s commitment to its 2015 Master Plan for Redevelopment, and to date, five homes have been built. The funding from the Township helps to defray the cost of land acquisition, a huge expense in an area like northern Ocean County.

Northern Ocean Habitat has a long history in Manitou Park, building on the momentum generated in 2010 when Homes for All, a non-profit builder, came into the community to build 82 rental homes and improve the infrastructure through city water and sewer. Northern Ocean Habitat swung into action in 2011, with its first Aging in Place/Critical Home Repair in the community for Eunice Grant, the 92-year-old matriarch of Manitou Park, whose home was in dire need of a roof repair.

We purchased our first piece of property in Manitou Park while completing the repairs on Mrs. Grant’s home, and went on from there to build strong ties in the community.  Since then, Habitat has built four workforce housing homes there, giving hardworking low-income residents a chance at being a homeowner.

“Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity is a blessing to our community,” said Reverend Dr. William Greene Jr., pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Manitou Park.