New Social Services for Residents at Public Housing Community

At Millennium Way, a new public housing community in the South Ward, some residents will be able to tap social services for the mentally disabled with tentative plans to bring similar programs to other city properties owned by the Newark Housing Authority (NHA).

These residents who live in special designated units are benefiting from a partnership that the NHA entered into with University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA).

That partnership was formally recognized late last month at the NHA offices when officials from the NJHMFA handed over a symbolic $1.5 million check for the program to NHA. UMDNJ, through its University Behavioral Health Care Department, will provide the social services.

Millennium Way, a sprawling townhouse-style community with 56 units, is broken up into four sites with two along the Irvine Turner Boulevard and Clinton Avenue area and two on Elizabeth Avenue, according to housing officials. Of those units, 15 are set aside for people who qualify for special need housing and will receive those social services from UMDNJ.

"This partnership is extremely vital because it's the link between housing and human services," said Keith Kinard, the NHA executive director, at the gathering last month.

Kinard later said, "(T)his is the first time we have embarked on a complete and holistic development."

Before, Kinard said, social services were provided at an ad hoc basis.

William Owen, president of UMDNJ, also praised the partnership and also remarked that UMDNJ has three missions: research, teaching, and health care delivery. But, he continued, the university also has a fourth mission: to pursue partnerships like the one with NHA in order to "be part of the community in a meaningful way."

Anthony Marchetta, executive director of NJHMFA, said he "(L)ooks forward to working with the housing authority and residents of the community like UMDNJ to provide financing for affordable housing." Particularly, he said, in regard to special needs populations like the ones being served at Millennium Way.

At the gathering, all three men expressed a desire to expand similar services to other NHA properties besides Millennium Way. Along with NHA staff, the three men then toured Millennium Way and other NHA complexes.

The symbolic ceremony capped the long journey that Millennium Way had undergone due to delays in construction and legal wrangling, according to Kinard. The community had opened earlier this year after a seven-year delay and is now mostly occupied, he said.

Construction for Millennium Way started in 2004 with developer Tony Gomes at the helm, said Kinard, who became head of NHA in 2006. 

After the NHA rejected the project due to construction issues and mold, the NHA entered a protracted legal battle with Gomes, Kinard said. The case was eventually settled.

Architect Summer Alhamash of Heritage Architecture in Paramus said she was brought in 2009 to rehab the project. The firm was also tapped to design a 4,100-square foot community center next to the Elizabeth Avenue sites, she said. A previous center that was never completed was demolished.

Construction on the community center is ongoing and should be completed by the end of the year, she said. It will incorporate green design elements such as solar panels and energy efficient lighting.

The center will host a management office, social service provider offices and a multipurpose room, according to NHA officials.

"We made sure the community is open and on a natural grid pattern," said Kinard about Millennium Way's design. "It's welcoming. It's a real community tied in with the neighborhood."