New Community Corporation

New Community Corporation (NCC) is a nonprofit community development corporation headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. It was created in 1968 after the civil unrest that affected Newark in July 1967, when local residents, clergy, and community organizers sought practical ways to address poverty, deteriorated housing, unemployment, and limited access to services in the city's Central Ward. From its beginning, NCC was designed around resident participation: its initial board was composed entirely of community residents, and its operating model connected physical redevelopment with social services and local organizing. NCC's first major undertaking was affordable housing. After several years of planning and negotiations with public agencies, the organization secured land and financing for a 120-unit family development, which opened in 1975. It subsequently developed, rehabilitated, acquired, and managed subsidized housing for low- and very-low-income households, including family communities, senior housing, supportive housing, and later homeownership projects. Its housing work expanded beyond Newark to other New Jersey communities. In 1998, NCC opened Community Hills, a 206-unit homeownership development built on the former site of the Hayes Homes public housing towers with support from the federal HOPE 1 program. The organization later pursued additional homeownership units and neighborhood redevelopment. NCC gradually broadened its mission beyond housing. During the 1970s it helped develop facilities associated with Babyland Nursery, later Babyland Family Services, and in 1978 assumed management, maintenance, and security functions for its properties while adding resident social workers. It entered health care in 1986 with an extended-care facility serving primarily Medicaid patients. Later initiatives included medical day care, home health care, homemaker assistance, mental-health services, and visiting-nurse programs. The 1999 integration of Newark's Family Service Bureau and the 2000 combination with Essex Valley Visiting Nurse Association significantly widened its health and social-service capacity. The corporation also created programs for youth, families, immigrants, and job seekers. These included a youth activity program, a credit union, job referral services, HIV/AIDS-related programs, bilingual Hispanic outreach, and the Neighborhood Center, which opened in 1997 with space for performances, sports, classes, and community activities. NCC developed Harmony House in 1988 with Hartz Mountain Corporation and the State of New Jersey as supportive housing for homeless families. Residents received access to child care, counseling, education, substance-abuse referrals, employment assistance, and help moving into permanent housing. Economic development became another prominent part of NCC's work. In the 1980s it converted a former church into the Saint Joseph's office and entertainment complex and developed a supermarket center with Pathmark in a Newark area that had lacked a full-service grocery store since the 1967 unrest. The Pathmark project included adjacent small businesses and became a frequently cited example of inner-city supermarket redevelopment. NCC also experimented with manufacturing through New Community Technologies, a facility producing prefabricated housing and school components, and with small-business lending and low-income-housing tax-credit investment through Garden State Affordable Housing. Education and workforce preparation formed additional parts of the organization. NCC established vocational courses in 1993, consolidated many programs in a Workforce Development Center in 1999, and operated an automotive-mechanic training program developed with Ford Motor Company and a local Ford dealer. It also sponsored New Horizons Charter School, opened in 1999, Lady Liberty Academy, authorized in 2000 and opened in 2001, and an early-learning center at Community Hills. Rapid expansion eventually created financial strain. By 2001, NCC and direct affiliates employed roughly 2,000 people and managed or had developed 2,818 housing units, but accumulated debt, reductions in federal housing support, and the difficulty of sustaining grant-dependent and commercial ventures led to a reassessment of priorities. Several businesses closed by late 2004, including the building-components factory, print shop, fast-food outlet, mailbox and shipping store, and exercise spa. The aging Douglass-Harrison complex was closed in 2005, with plans for replacement housing. Despite these retrenchments, NCC continued its core housing, health-care, education, workforce, and neighborhood-reinvestment activities and remains identified with Newark's long-term community development infrastructure.

New Community Corporation emerged from Newark's post-1967 community-organizing movement. The July 1967 civic disorders exposed severe conditions in low-income neighborhoods, including inadequate housing, unemployment, weak commercial infrastructure, and limited access to social services. A local Roman Catholic parish helped convene residents and identify priorities. In 1968, the resulting organization was incorporated with a board made up of community residents. Housing was selected as its first major focus because residents regarded safe, affordable homes as the foundation for broader neighborhood improvement. The organization spent its first several years assembling property, raising funds, and negotiating with municipal, state, and federal authorities. Its first 120-unit family development opened in 1975. NCC then developed a broad housing portfolio through new construction, rehabilitation of abandoned or repurposed buildings, and acquisition of existing complexes. Its designs evolved from mid-rise family buildings to townhouse-style developments and high-rise senior housing. By the mid-1990s, the housing network included properties in Newark, Jersey City, and Englewood, as well as a market-rate development in Eatontown. NCC later opened senior housing in Orange and moved into homeownership with Community Hills, a 206-unit project on the former Hayes Homes site supported by HUD's HOPE 1 program. NCC's housing operations were paired with increasingly comprehensive resident services. It took over maintenance, management, and security functions in 1978 and assigned social workers to its buildings. Its early relationship with Babyland Nursery, later Babyland Family Services, connected housing development with child care. A 1988 partnership with Hartz Mountain Corporation and New Jersey produced Harmony House, a 102-unit supportive-housing development for homeless families. The project combined housing with child care, counseling, education, employment support, substance-abuse referrals, and relocation assistance. Health care became a major organizational pillar in 1986, when NCC completed an extended-care facility with 180 beds and an approximate construction cost of $11 million. It added medical day care, home health care, homemaker assistance, and other services during the following decade. The acquisition of the Family Service Bureau of Newark in 1999 strengthened mental-health provision. In 2000, a relationship with Essex Valley Visiting Nurse Association expanded the network's professional nursing services and client base. During the 1980s and 1990s, NCC also expanded into community services, economic development, education, and employment. It created youth activities, a credit union, job referrals, bilingual Hispanic outreach, and programs for people affected by HIV/AIDS. The Neighborhood Center opened in 1997 as a multipurpose facility for sports, performances, classes, and family programs. Vocational training began in 1993 and was later centralized in a Workforce Development Center. A specialized automotive program, developed with Ford Motor Company and a local dealership, trained low-income urban residents for mechanic careers. NCC's economic-development projects sought to restore services and commerce in areas underserved by conventional investment. The Saint Joseph's complex converted a former 1882 church into offices, dining, entertainment, meeting, and recreational space. A more prominent project was the Pathmark supermarket center, developed with Pathmark and opened in 1989 after an extended site-control, zoning, and financing process. The project included satellite businesses and was widely used as an example of grocery-led inner-city redevelopment. NCC also established small-business lending and a tax-credit investment mechanism for affordable-housing developers. New Community Technologies, opened in 2001 after preliminary production began in 1999, manufactured prefabricated housing and school components. NCC became involved in education through an earlier relationship with a parish elementary school and later through New Jersey's charter-school framework. New Horizons Charter School opened in 1999 for elementary students. Lady Liberty Academy was authorized in 2000 and began operating in 2001. An early-learning center opened at Community Hills in 2000. The scale and speed of diversification created financial challenges. In 2001, NCC and direct affiliates employed approximately 2,000 people and managed or had developed 2,818 housing units. Federal housing-subsidy reductions, accumulated debt, and insufficient support for some grant-funded or commercial activities led to program rationalization. Several businesses closed by 2004, and the outdated Douglass-Harrison complex was closed in 2005. The organization nevertheless retained its central role in affordable housing and community services and continued to pursue homeownership development, health-care administration, workforce contracts, and neighborhood reinvestment.

• 2005

  Douglass-Harrison complex closes

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC closes the aging 754-unit complex because of maintenance difficulties and design limitations, with replacement housing planned.

• 2001

  New Community Technologies facility opens

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC opens a manufacturing facility for prefabricated housing and school components after limited production in an adjacent facility.

• 2000

  Health and education network expands

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC integrates Essex Valley Visiting Nurse Association through shared governance, receives authorization for Lady Liberty Academy, and opens an early-learning center.

• 1999

  New Horizons Charter School opens

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC opens a Newark charter school serving approximately 500 kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students.

• 1998

  Community Hills homeownership development opens

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC opens a 206-unit working-family homeownership project on the former Hayes Homes site with HUD HOPE 1 support.

• 1997

  Neighborhood Center opens

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC opens a multipurpose community facility containing performance, sports, classroom, and family-program space.

• 1993

  Vocational training begins

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC introduces career training for low-income residents, initially emphasizing health care and food service.

• 1989

  Pathmark supermarket center opens

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  A new supermarket and adjoining businesses open in a Newark neighborhood that had lacked a full-service grocery store since the 1960s.

• 1988

  Harmony House partnership established

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC, Hartz Mountain Corporation, and New Jersey create a 102-unit supportive-housing project for homeless families.

• 1986

  Entry into health care

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC opens an 180-bed extended-care facility and begins developing medical day-care services.

• 1978

  Housing management and resident services expanded

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC assumes management, maintenance, and security functions and begins placing social workers in its housing properties.

• 1975

  First 120-unit family housing complex opens

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  NCC completes and occupies its first major affordable-housing development after several years of planning and financing.

• 1968

  New Community Corporation incorporated

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  Community leaders formally establish NCC with a resident-based board and an initial mission centered on affordable housing.

• 1967

  Newark civic disorders prompt community organizing

  [1]New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org

  The unrest in Newark becomes the immediate background for a resident-led effort to address housing and social conditions in low-income neighborhoods.

Resident-centered nonprofit community development combining affordable housing with health care, education, workforce preparation, family services, and commercial neighborhood revitalization.

• Housing · 1975

  Affordable rental housing

  NCC's core activity is the development, rehabilitation, acquisition, and management of subsidized rental housing for low- and very-low-income households. Its portfolio has included family developments, senior apartment buildings, and properties in multiple New Jersey communities.

• Homeownership housing · 1998

  Community Hills

  Community Hills was NCC's first major homeownership project for working families. The 206-unit development replaced the former Hayes Homes high-rise public-housing site and was supported by HUD's HOPE 1 program. NCC later developed additional homeownership units and explored further ownership opportunities.

• Supportive housing · 1988

  Harmony House

  Harmony House is a 102-unit housing development for homeless families created with Hartz Mountain Corporation and the State of New Jersey. Its model combines housing with child care, counseling, education, employment assistance, substance-abuse referrals, and help transitioning to permanent housing.

• Health and social care · 1986

  Health-care services

  NCC's health network has included an extended-care facility, medical day care, home health care, homemaker assistance, mental-health services, and visiting-nurse programs. These services primarily address the needs of low-income, elderly, medically vulnerable, and otherwise underserved residents.

• Vocational education · 1999

  Workforce Development Center

  Opened in 1999, the Workforce Development Center consolidated many NCC career classes and connected training with welfare-to-work and other employment initiatives. Programs covered health care, food service, and additional occupational fields.

• Vocational education · 1996

  Automotive mechanic training

  NCC operated a specialized training program created with Ford Motor Company and a local Ford dealer. The program used a garage, classrooms, tools, and contemporary diagnostic equipment to prepare low-income urban residents for automotive service careers.

• Education · 1999

  New Horizons Charter School

  New Horizons Charter School opened in Newark in 1999 as an elementary charter school serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It represented NCC's expansion into publicly funded charter education.

• Education · 2001

  Lady Liberty Academy

  Lady Liberty Academy was authorized by New Jersey education authorities in 2000 and opened in 2001 in a rehabilitated former parish-school facility. It was designed to serve students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

• Neighborhood commercial development · 1989

  Pathmark supermarket center

  Developed with Pathmark, the supermarket center brought a full-service grocery store and satellite businesses to a Newark neighborhood that had lacked a supermarket. The project included approximately 55,000 square feet of supermarket space and a 227-car parking area and became a widely discussed model of inner-city retail reinvestment.

• Manufacturing · 2001

  New Community Technologies

  New Community Technologies was a manufacturing venture established in a former Borden's milk-processing facility. It produced prefabricated housing and school-building components for developers and school boards, but the venture was later closed during NCC's financial rationalization.

• 2005

  Close and plan replacement of Douglass-Harrison housingStrategy

  Background

  The 1930s-era complex had very small apartments, no elevators, and significant maintenance challenges.

  Action taken

  NCC closed the 754-unit Douglass-Harrison complex and planned to replace it with approximately 130 modern housing units.

  Aftermath

  The closure reflected NCC's effort to replace obsolete housing stock with units better aligned with contemporary housing standards.

  Source

• 2004

  Rationalize financially unsupported venturesStrategy

  Background

  Rapid expansion, accumulated debt, reductions in federal housing subsidies, and insufficient grant, fee, donation, or sales support placed pressure on NCC's finances.

  Action taken

  NCC closed several commercial and manufacturing activities, including the print shop, fast-food outlet, mailbox store, exercise spa, and building-components factory.

  Aftermath

  The organization reduced its diversification and concentrated more heavily on housing, health care, education, workforce programs, and core community services.

  Source

• 1989

  Develop a supermarket-led neighborhood retail centerStrategy

  Background

  A Newark neighborhood had lost its last supermarket around the time of the 1967 civic disorders and remained underserved by full-service grocery retail.

  Action taken

  NCC partnered with Pathmark and developed a supermarket and adjacent small-business complex after an extended land-acquisition, zoning, and financing process.

  Aftermath

  The center became a prominent example of inner-city commercial redevelopment and was visited by community-development groups from other American cities.

  Development cost. $12 million (1987-1989)

  Source

• 1975

  Make affordable housing the initial operating priorityStrategy

  Background

  Resident consultations after Newark's 1967 unrest identified housing as a central need in low-income neighborhoods.

  Action taken

  NCC concentrated its first major development effort on a 120-unit family housing complex and subsequently built a broad affordable-housing program.

  Aftermath

  Housing remained the foundation of NCC's later health, education, employment, and community-service activities.

  Source

1. 1New Community Corporationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2New Community Corporation official websitenewcommunity.org