Neighbor News
Community Investment Strategies and Beam Housing Services Set up Children's Lending Library in Local Communities
Youth-focused library will be introduced into several multifamily communities
Community Investment Strategies, Inc. (CIS) has partnered with nonprofit social services provider Beam Housing Services, in collaboration with Monmouth County-based Bridges of Books Foundation, to introduce youth-focused libraries into several of its multifamily communities.
On June 22, individuals from Volunteer Center of South Jersey and Family Strengthening Network helped prepare the book inventory at CIS’ Whitney Crescent and Oaks at Weatherby communities in Glassboro to kick-start the communities’ children’s literacy program. Volunteers and their families donated their time to label and color-code books by reading grade level and set up each library.
The program will build upon a summer reading program that Beam implemented two years ago aimed at assisting children in completing their summer reading assignments. At the end of the program, children will receive an e-reader in recognition of their hard work.
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“Partnering with an organization like BEAM is important to us,” said Christiana Foglio, founder and president, Community Investment Strategies. “We invest in the communities we develop, and working with social service programs to create new libraries provides a wonderful opportunity to encourage children and families to read.”
Bridges of Books Foundation, an organization that provides books to underprivileged and at-risk children in New Jersey, donated an assortment of new and used books for different grade levels.
Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“Books have the power to change lives, so all children should have access to age-appropriate reading material,” said Abigail Daly, founder and executive director of Bridges of Books Foundation. “We are thrilled to be able to help these Glassboro communities by putting books in the hands of children who will benefit from them.”
PHOTO CAPTION:
Two individuals from Volunteer Center of South Jersey and Family Strengthening Network helped prepare the book inventory at Community Investment Strategies, Inc.’s Whitney Crescent and Oaks at Weatherby communities in Glassboro. They are assorting books by reading level to help prepare for the communities’ children’s literacy program.
About CIS
Since 1994, Community Investment Strategies has been a leading developer of multifamily housing, including 55-plus, senior housing and mixed-use redevelopments, as well as market-rate and affordable housing. The company’s diverse portfolio includes more than 3,000 apartment-rental units throughout New Jersey. CIS has been recognized for its award-winning communities, corporate citizenship and advocacy, as well as its people-first philosophy. A woman-owned business enterprise, the firm is committed to promoting gender and ethnic diversity throughout its own organization as well as the communities in which its projects are located. For more information, visit www.communityinvestmentstrategies.com.
About Beam
Established in 2011, Beam Housing Services, Inc. was created to assist owners of affordable housing projects in providing their residents with innovative, flexible, and focused community-based services and programs. Beam works with a variety of established services providers throughout New Jersey, and will design a social service plan that takes advantage of services within you community, then follows through to ensure that services are utilized by residents.
