By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
In a worship celebration that interspersed Biblical quotations with personal reminiscences, about 100 people gathered at the First Baptist Church of Eggerts Crossing last week to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Eggerts Crossing Village housing development.
Setting the stage for the gathering, a Scripture lesson based on Jeremiah 29:1-7 was offered — "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
Fred Vereen Jr. — one of the driving forces behind the creation of the 100-unit affordable housing development — took to the podium and explained the background of the project on Johnson Avenue, around the corner from the church.
"When (my family) moved here in the 1940s, Eggerts Crossing didn’t look like it does today," Mr. Vereen said at the June 29 gathering.
There was a railroad track for the trolley that ferried passengers between Princeton and Trenton, and that later handled trains that carried coal to The Lawrenceville School and the Lawrenceville Fuel Co.
Most of the houses in the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood had outdoor toilets, and wells for drinking water nearby, Mr. Vereen said. Many of the residents in the predominantly black neighborhood raised chickens and also had a pigpen for their pigs.
In the 1960s, Eggerts Crossing was "the worst physical area" in Lawrence Township, Mr. Vereen said. The streets, which were unpaved, were dusty in the summer and muddy whenever it rained. The trolley tracks separated the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood from the rest of the township, he said.
But in the mid-1960s, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson launched a "war on poverty." This led to the creation of the Community Action Council in Lawrence and other towns aimed at helping the poor. The recognition of the need to replace the dilapidated houses in Eggerts Crossing grew out of the Community Action Council.
"We often, more than sometimes, hear the word ‘faith.’ But sometimes, faith is hard to follow," Mr. Vereen said. He outlined the opposition that Lawrence Non-Profit Housing Inc. — the group that was formed to build affordable housing on Johnson Avenue — had to overcome.
Edith Pike, who is one of the original members of Lawrence Non-Profit Housing, picked up the story. She said that she was delivering remarks that were intended to be delivered by the late Rev. H. Dana Fearon III, who was one of the backers of the development. He died in May.
Rev. Fearon, who was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, became aware of the poor condition of the housing in Eggerts Crossing when he delivered Thanksgiving turkeys to some residents, Ms. Pike said. He was distressed to find cracks in the floorboards, and a lack of heat in some of the houses.
"He believed the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville had to help. He had the power of the pulpit," Ms. Pike said. Rev. Fearon asked her to serve on the board of Lawrence Non-Profit Housing, which she agreed to do.
There was much opposition to the proposed development, but the supporters of Eggerts Crossing Village prevailed and the first tenants moved into the development in June 1974, Ms. Pike said. And to the detractors who predicted it would be "in shambles" within six months — "Here we are, 40 years later," she said.
Then, Mr. Vereen read a list of names of its supporters who had died during the past 40 years — from Rev. Fearon to the Rev. C.J. Carter of the First Baptist Church of Eggerts Crossing and the Rev. Norman Kent of the Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church.
The list also included community members who belonged to civic organizations that backed the development of Eggerts Crossing Village — from the Eggerts Crossing Civic League to the Community Action Council, the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center, the Lawrence Lions Club, the Lawrence Kiwanis Club, and a handful of Lawrence Township officials.
If it were not for the proponents of Eggerts Crossing Village, Cassandra Riggins and her four daughters would not have had a chance to live there. The 10-year resident said she is grateful for the opportunity to raise her four daughters in the affordable housing development.
"I told Mr. Vereen that I wanted to live in Lawrence Township," Ms. Riggins said. "Eggerts Crossing Village looked like a nice place to live, and it has a sense of community. To other people, it might be just another affordable housing townhouse (development), but to me, it is my home."
Ms. Riggins also praised the Every Child Valued after-school program, which offers tutoring, homework assistance and enrichment activities. It was launched during Eggerts Crossing Village’s 25th anniversary celebration in 1999.
Aaliya Walker, who grew up in Eggerts Crossing Village and who is a junior at Montclair State University, told the attendees that she had a "great childhood." She felt safe and secure. Now, she tries to be a role model to her siblings and young people. She has volunteered at Every Child Valued since 2008.
Wrapping up the interfaith service — which included Rabbi Daniel Grossman and Cantor Arthur Katlin of Adath Israel Congregation, Rabbi Vicki Tuckman of Temple Micah, Sister Beth Dempsey of The Church of St. Ann and the Rev. William Burnett of the First Baptist Church of Eggerts Crossing — the Rev. Jeffrey Vamos thanked the civic and religious leaders who took part in the service.
"It is good that we are here. It is really good to celebrate the past. Look around at the people around us. The people who did such good things seem like giants," said Rev. Vamos, who is the minister at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville.
Rev. Vamos left the attendees with several thoughts — to have dinner with one another after the service; to talk to someone they do not know at the after-service dinner; and to talk about what is needed, going forward into the future.
