Category: Public Info

Union County Freeholder Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski met with Jardine Academy Principal Cynthia Isaksen, YMCA Executive Director Rodger Koerber, YMCA Art Instructor Rachel Jameson and students David V. and Carlos R. at the Jardine Academy in Cranford for during an art class for students sponsored by a Union County Heart Grant.

The HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) grant program recognizes the importance of culture and the arts for economic development and quality of life. It was established by the Freeholder Board in 1998 to support programming that connects Union County residents with innovative projects related to history, the arts and humanities.

The Jardine Academy is operated by the Cerebral Palsy League and provides elementary and secondary education for children and young adults, ages 3-21, with multiple disabilities.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

The Thursday, February 2, 2017 Freeholder Agenda Setting Meeting has been cancelled and is rescheduled to be part of a double meeting next week on Thursday, February 9, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders reminds honorably discharged veterans that they will benefit from a new state tax cut that became effective in January 2017.

“When veterans file their state income tax next year they will be able to take the new $3,000 annual tax exemption,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen. “This is a modest but important recognition of service for the Union County residents who have served our country with honor.”

The new exemption applies to income earned in 2017. Veterans with honorable discharges or who were released from service under honorable circumstances will be able to include it in their 2018 filing.

“The new exemption does not replace or duplicate other tax benefits that veterans currently receive, so it will provide some much-needed additional relief for households on a budget,” said Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, who is the liaison to the Human Services Advisory Board.

The new exemption for veterans was part of a five-item tax cut package that also covered sales and estate taxes, retirement income and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

More information about the new exemption for veterans is available from the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, at state.nj.us/treasury.

Chairman Bergen encouraged veterans seeking other programs and resources to visit UC-HERO, the County’s new online directory for veterans, at ucnj.org/uc-hero.

“Veterans in need of additional assistance can also contact the Union County Office of Veterans Affairs, by calling 908-659-7407,” said Bergen. “Please don’t hesitate to call if you need a helping hand.”

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

Connect with Union County on social media.

Workforce Innovation Center to hold informational sessions for Blue Apron on Feb. 1st and 10th at Mills at Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce that the County’s Workforce Innovation Business Center is recruiting qualified Union County residents to fill 500 full-time positions for employment at Blue Apron in Linden.

“We welcome Blue Apron to Union County, and thank them for their efforts in working with us to identify residents for employment,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen. “This is a unique service that provides nutritional meals in a convenient way for consumers.”

Informational sessions will be held for interested candidates at the Innovation Center’s offices at the Mills at Jersey Gardens Mall, 651 Kapkowski Road, in Elizabeth on February 1^st and 10^th, from 2-5 p.m. Prospective candidates must be Union County residents and should first register online at www.ucnj.org/job-event  to secure a spot. Anyone with further questions can call the Innovation Business Center at 908-355-4444 during regular business hours.

“Union County is a great place to do business, and our investment through the Workforce Innovation Business Center continues to pay dividends for our residents,” said Freeholder Vice Chairman Sergio Granados, who is the Freeholder Liaison to the Workforce Development Board. “We thank Blue Apron for giving preference to Union County residents, and we look forward to helping this company and many other companies throughout Union County reach their hiring goals.”

Blue Apron (www.blueapron.com) delivers fresh, proportioned ingredients that are used in accompaniment with recipes for home-made meals. The starting rate is $13 and rises depending upon experience and the position. In addition to entry-level, there are a variety of supervisor and managerial positions available. Blue Apron has employment available in three departments: the Kitchen, packing, shipping and receiving areas.

Union County Freeholders Linda Carter and Mohamed S. Jalloh present a resolution to Lee Starks of Plainfield, owner of the Plainfield Boxing Academy, congratulating and commending him for all his time and tremendous effort put forth to benefit the youth of Plainfield. Starks’ aim is to keep local youth off the streets by offering underprivileged children boxing lessons and fitness classes after school and during school vacations at his gym. The program is also intended to reduce crime and urban violence.

In an effort to raise funds to support the program for the children, Lee ran the 100-mile Devil Dog Ultra Marathon on December 17-18, 2016.  He finished in 30 hours, 43 minutes and 43 seconds, making it to the finish line ahead of the 32 hour cut-off despite the sleet and rainy conditions.  There were 250 runners and only 47 completed the race and Lee placed 35th overall.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholders Linda Carter and Alexander Mirabella presented resolutions to members of Team Orange from the Union County Student Training and Enrichment Program (UC STEP) congratulating them on winning the Civic Engagement Challenge of 2016 UC STEP. They were joined by Union County Economic Development Director Amy Wagner and Deana Mesaros of the Department of Economic Development.

UC STEP was created to provide high school students the opportunity to develop a countywide community service around a topic they feel is important, while teaching them leadership and personal growth skills and responsibility within their communities.

A total of 195 sophomores and junior high school students from 21 high schools throughout Union County participated in the annual program, which took place in December 2016 at Kean University in Union.

Team Orange’s campaign “Kans for Kids” is a collection project that focuses on the gathering nutritious canned items that they turned into “canstruction.”  The structure building competition is the finale of the project as each strived to have the best looking display. All proceeds benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Team Orange members attend the following high schools:  Arthur L. Johnson High School, Cranford High School, David Brearley High School, Governor Livingston High School, Linden High School, John E. Dwyer Technology Academy, Jonathan Dayton High School, Plainfield High School, New Providence High School, Rahway High School, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Union County TEAMS Charter School, Union County Vocational-Technical High School and the Barack Obama Academy for Academic & Civic Development.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/ County of Union)

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders presented the City of Elizabeth with a new, 15-passenger van that will provide free transport for seniors citizens. The vans are being awarded to a total of 18 municipalities this year through Freeholder Chairman Bruce Bergen’s “Seniors in  Motion” initiative to assist seniors with free, local transport.

1. to R. Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Jessica Martinez of the Elizabeth’s Senior Citizen Activities Division,  Elizabeth Board of Education President Stan Neron, Union County Manager Alfred J. Faella, Elizabeth Health and Human Services Director Krishna Garlic, Elizabeth Councilman Manny Grova, Union County Freeholder Vernell Wright, Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Sergio Granados, Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, Elizabeth Fifth Ward Councilman Bill Gallman, and Alonzo Jones of the Elizabeth Office on Aging.

(photo by James Lowney, Division of Public Information, County of Union)

For more information, call 908-355-4444.

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Following is a condensed version of the Monarch Housing press release for the 2017 Point in Time Homeless Survey. The Union County Department of Human Services is participating in the count. For a full version of the press release contact Monarch Housing.

2016 NJ Counts report on Union County:  2016PITReportUnion

2016 NJ Counts full report: NJCounts  2016

#NJCounts 2017 Reaches out to Homeless, Families, Youth and Veterans

January 23, 2017 – #NJCounts 2017 – The statewide Point-in-Time count of the homeless will take place across the state counting individuals and households who experience homelessness on January 25, 2017.  Exact times of the count may vary by county.

Organizations,  agencies  and  others  that  plan  community  efforts  to  end  homelessness  will  conduct  the local counts.    Local count contacts are available here.   For the fourth year, Monarch Housing Associates is coordinating the statewide NJCounts.  

NJCounts 2016 found 8,941 homeless men, women and children across the state of New Jersey. This  showed  a  decrease  of  1,270  persons  (12.4%)  from  2015.  Statewide  and  individual  county  NJCounts  2016 reports are available.

Many  NJ  communities  are making great strides in ending homelessness using a Housing First approach, Rapidly Re-Housing homeless households, and implementing Coordinated Assessment to strategically prioritize scarce resources,” said Jay Everett, an associate with Monarch Housing which is directing NJCounts 2017.  

“However,  there  are  still  thousands  of  our  fellow  New  Jerseyans  who  do  not  have  a  home  in  the  middle  of  winter.    This  year,  the  State  of  New  Jersey’s  new  Housing  First  Initiative,  Moving  On Initiative, and some small increases of federal Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) funds will help some of our disabled homeless neighbors.  However, our resolution to end homelessness for everyone in our state calls for understanding the need through NJCounts,  wisely utilizing our existing resources, and advocating for what  is  needed  to  finish  the work.”

Monarch Housing expects to make the final report available in spring 2017. 

HUD mandates that local communities conduct a sheltered count each year and additionally an  unsheltered count every other year. 2017 is a mandated unsheltered count year. This year, getting an accurate count of youth  experiencing homelessness to use as a baseline number is a priority. “We know all-too-well at Covenant House – in New Jersey and across the United States — the critical need to identify and engage young people who find themselves on the streets and homeless,” said Covenant House President and CEO Kevin Ryan. “Every second matters when young people are in dangerous circumstances forced to do whatever it takes to survive. That’s why NJCounts2017 is so important and why we’re glad HUD is bringing a focus to ending youth homelessness.”

According  to  Monarch  Housing  Associates,  factors  that  will  contribute  to  this  year’s count of homeless families, youth and veterans include:

• Shelters reporting lack of capacity to house homeless families throughout 2016; New Jersey state emergency assistance no longer reimburses shelters,
• A shortage of rental housing driving up demand and costs,
• Failure by Congress to increase funding for the federal Housing Choice Voucher program harming progress in creating affordable and supportive housing,
• New Jersey continues to have a higher than national average foreclosure rate; foreclosures cause many owners and renters to lose their homes, and
• Too many jobs in New Jersey do not pay a living wage and those that do pay a living wage are leaving the state.

 “The NJ Counts 2017 event is critical to understanding the homeless conditions individuals and families in New Jersey experience,” says Laura Rodgers, LCSW, Chief Program Officer, Jewish Family Service of Atlantic & Cape May Counties.  “Each year, this day is spent listening to stories of poverty and struggle while counting those who do not have a home.  This annual count  event combined with the daily outreach and services provided at coordinated entry centers for the homeless gives us our charge to target advocacy efforts to end homelessness.”

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), in 2015, a family in New Jersey must earn a housing wage of $26.52/hour to rent a two-bedroom apartment and the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in is $1,379/month.

 “Recent figures show that homelessness is trending downward across the country and state.  In New Jersey, Middlesex and Bergen Counties have been federally certified as having reached functional zero for veterans homelessness,” said Everett.  “We need to fight cuts to federal funding that ends homelessness. I urge service providers, advocates and concerned citizens to join Monarch Housing in Washington, D.C. in July to advocate for increased federal funding for vouchers and homeless services.”

The solution to homelessness includes creating the necessary supply of supportive housing – permanent, affordable  and  independent  rental  housing  with  available  support  services.  The NJCounts 2016 results will help to implement and expand on strategies proven to be best practices in ending homelessness.

Volunteers will seek out homeless residents who spent the night of January 24, 2017 in shelters, in the woods, under bridges, in vacant buildings and at other locations where they are forced to live because there is insufficient affordable or supportive housing.  On January 25, 2017, many local communities will hold Project Homelessness Connect events that connect homeless individuals with a hot meal, warm clothes, services and housing applications.

HUD mandates that local communities conduct a sheltered count each year and additionally an unsheltered count every other year. 2017 is a mandated unsheltered count year.

For more information about Monarch Housing’s work to ensure that every person will have quality affordable, permanent supportive housing that fosters freedom, independence and community integration, visit http://www.monarchhousing.org.

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Media contacts for Monarch Housing:

Kate Kelly, Monarch Housing , 908-272-5363 x 226  

Richard Brown, Monarch Housing,  908-272-5363 x 225