Community Corner

Twp. Committee Hears Update on Planned Veterans Housing

Ground could be broke in January on 62 proposed veterans housing at Lyons Veterans Administration facility off Valley Road.

The Township Committee on Tuesday heard an update on plans to break ground on new veterans housing in Lyons targeted to be built next year under the auspices of Community Hope, the support services agency that has provided transitional housing and job training at the Lyons Veterans Administration facility since 2004.

Ground could be broken by January on the proposed 62 units of housing, nearly one-bedroom units, that would provide for veterans in need of a place to live at the Lyons campus of the Veterans Administration New Jersey Health Care System, off Valley Road.

Mayor John Malay confirmed at the meeting that the proposed Valley Brook Village on the VA property was the same as a proposal presented last year before township officials, when 90 housing units had been planned.

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"This is entirely for veterans (and) and affordable units for low income veterans," Malay said. "The only change is the size," he said.

Malay and other Township Committee members praised the project as worthwhile for both the veterans and the township. The proposal, under discussion for about two years, would be part of Bernards Township's state plan for providing affordable housing within the township.

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The planners of the housing had just learned on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had awarded the project 50 special rental vouchers for veterans in need of housing, said Larry Oaks, a representative for Peabody Properties in Braintree, Mass. The commitment is for $4 million, he said.

Peabody is set to construct the roughly $15- to $16-million multi-family housing complex that would be managed by Parsippany-based Community Hope.

Oaks said that if the groundbreaking takes place next January, weather permitting, construction on the housing complex, three stories high at some points, should take about 12 months.

He and Michael Armstrong, Community Hope's CEO, said the final step in a lengthy process of obtaining funding and approvals is for the project to go before the state Housing and Mortgage Financing Authority on Aug. 18. 

Although the project — since it is located on federal property — does not require township approvals — the representatives said they intend to appear again before the Planning Board later this fall to answer any questions about the proposal.

"I think it's a great project, and congradulations on all your approvals," Deputy Mayor Mary Pavlini said during Tuesday's Township Committee meeting.

In response to Malay's question at the meeting about earlier discussions about having families live at Valley, the representatives said the planned housing now would be transitional housing for veterans who would be occupying a one-bedroom apartment.

Julia Ahmet, vice-president of development for Community Hope, said about a week ago that existing Hope for Veterans program at the Lyons VA Facility has for the past seven years been providing transitional housing while homeless veterans receive job training and personal support.

During the past ten years, Community Hope has been working in collaboration with the N.J. Veterans Affairs Healthcare System to address the issue of homelessness among veterans. Information on the non-profit organization's programs is on its website.

In July, Community Hope launched the Veterans Early Transition Services (VETS) Program, a 12-bed housing program in Newark where the nonprofit’s staff provide 24-hour support to homeless veterans.

The organization had in 2004 opened the Hope for Veterans Transitional Housing Program in Lyons as the largest program serving homeless veterans in New Jersey and in the New York metropolitan area, according to Community Hope. The program has space for 95 beds, and has helped nearly 500 veterans overcome homelessness, the Community Hope organization said.

Just about a week ago, Community Hope also released an announcement that it had received a grant for $1 million in federal funds to be used to provide housing assistance to very low-income veterans and their families.

That program would not be directly related to services provided in Lyons, Ahmet said. The funds will be used to assist veterans from five counties in New Jersey, including Somerset and Morris, who are at risk of losing their housing, or have lost housing and can be rapidly relocated to a new place to live, Ahmet said last week.

“We recognize that this is a tough time for our veterans and their families, particularly those who have been recently deployed and return to try to find jobs in this economy or struggle with the trauma of combat while trying to maintain their family responsibilities,” Armstrong said at that time.


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