St. Joseph's Health executive details supportive affordable housing project

On October 24, the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy hosted an event called "Fostering Health Equity by Creating Equitable Housing: An Anchor Institution's Journey."

Kenneth Morris Jr., the vice president of External Affairs at St. Joseph's Health, discussed New Jersey's first supportive affordable housing development, Barclay Place.

This project addresses both health care and housing by providing families and individuals with affordable apartments as well as health and social services from St. Joseph's Health.

Morris started his presentation by showing that 40 percent of health is based on social and economic factors such as housing, while only 20 percent of health is based on clinical care. Of the people residing near St. Joseph's Paterson campus, 32 percent have a severe housing problem, and much of the available housing is overpriced or in poor condition, Morris said.

"It was critically important that we meet the affordability needs of our potential tenants," Morris said.

He discussed the high cost of the project, particularly because the hospital was required by the state to pay $4.5 million. In its entirety, the project cost $26.4 million.

Morris described the tenant application process for Barclay Place as "extremely burdensome" because it was only available in English, and extensive documentation was needed to apply. In response to this issue, Morris provided an FAQ sheet and a mock application to help prospective tenants learn about the project and the application process. These resources were made available to the entirety of the community.

Due to this increased accessibility, more than 1,500 applications were received for 56 units. There are also still 400 people on the waiting list.

Barclay Place includes services such as in-home child care, job training and a 24/7 crisis hotline. The housing was also designed to be usable by people of all ages and abilities.

"We wanted to ensure that folks were able to age in place. So, the project was designed to address physical challenges around mobility, balance and stamina," Morris said.

The program also works to prepare tenants for eventual home ownership as their financial stability increases.

Affordable housing projects can be unpopular with municipalities, particularly ones in urban areas, because they do not provide high tax revenue. Morris discussed the various benefits of affordable housing investments, such as financial returns in the short term and lower overall hospital costs due to less frequent visits in the long term.

Although Barclay Place is the first project of its kind in New Jersey, a similar program is underway at University Hospital in Newark.

"We make sure we make significant investments in our community because we not only have a responsibility to address the health concerns of our populations, particularly our vulnerable populations, (but) we also have a responsibility to contribute to the economic stability of our first host community of Paterson," Morris said.