LAKEWOOD — Mayor Raymond G. Coles and members of the not-for-profit Puerto Rican Action Board and the Lakewood Resource and Referral Center will take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 29 at 10 a.m. to celebrate the opening of the Lakewood Downtown Resource and Referral Center at 200 Clifton Ave.
The opening of the facility marks the township’s first outreach effort for residents in need of housing and human services, according to a press release.
The center became reality over the past year through local funding sources and the infusion of money from the township’s HUD-Community Development Block Grant program. The center will provide a place where residents can come to seek health care and child care referrals in addition to becoming part of the mayor’s affordable housing initiative.
In the affordable housing initiative two local not-for-profit developers will construct more than 425 units of affordable housing at two sites formerly owned by the township. Staff at the downtown center will be prepared to provide credit and mortgage counseling, and perform the actual lottery session for prequalified persons to actually occupy the units when they are constructed. Units are not expected to be ready for occupancy until sometime in 2006. The center will also be home to the fair housing officer who will be a watchdog over existing public or private discriminatory practices prevalent in the community.
“I promised at the outset of my term as mayor that the committee and myself would see that persons and families who are seeking help and information will find assistance instead of a cold shoulder,” Coles said. “This is the first step in creating a place where low- and moderate-income persons can seek help and receive real benefits. I am proud of this accomplishment because instead of us reinventing the wheel for these important services for low-income persons and families, we have established a collaborative effort with groups which are already providing assistance to persons in our community. And what a perfect time to begin, during the Christmas and Hanukkah season.”
Ervin E. Oross Jr., director of the Community Development Department, credited the effort of local officials and concerned groups and citizens.
“When there is a will, there is a way,” said Oross. “Mayor Coles, the Township Committee and these various groups came together to make this thing happen. It’s great to work for a town where ideas really do become reality. I am also excited to see the center take on a life of its own over time, with local and federal funding sources providing the initial spark.”