ABOUT NJCDC

Hundreds of students regularly visit our Great Falls Youth Center, which has a music room and a recording studio

Inspiring and empowering people with opportunities to transform their lives…

New Jersey Community Development Corporation

ration (NJCDC) is a non-profit community development and social service agency headquartered in the City of Paterson with a mission of creating opportunities to transform lives.

NJCDC was created in 1994 and has 27 years of experience in the areas of education, youth development, affordable/supportive housing, and community building. Starting with two employees, NJCDC has grown into a nearly $12 million agency employing more than 130 individuals who perform a wide variety of services that allow our comprehensive cradle-to-college pipeline of programs and services to thrive. Through this pipeline, NJCDC serves 4,000 children, teens, and families daily.

NJCDC implements a place-based approach targeting the Great Falls Promise Neighborhood, a 95-block area surrounding the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park that is home to 14,000 people. The residents of the Great Falls Promise Neighborhood are diverse in race, religion, nationality, and need. Overall, it is a poor neighborhood—the median household income is about one-third the state’s average and only 11% of residents have earned a college degree—but it is also a neighborhood with a rich history and a great deal of hope and promise.

Our vision is that all 8,000 children living or going to school in our neighborhood will reach adulthood ready for college and a career. To that end, NJCDC continues to expand its substantial base of successful programs for children and their families to grow our pipeline of services that address the needs of children throughout every phase of their childhood, from birth through high school graduation—and beyond.

The 2021-2022 school year is off to a great start at our Community Charter School of Paterson!

Education, Another Word For Opportunity

We offer high-quality education for Paterson students from preschool through grade 12. We believe that education is another word for opportunity, and that our efforts to instill a love of learning and to promote student success will help the more than one thousand students we educate to ultimately reach their greatest potential. It’s a responsibility that we take very seriously, and we do it with a host of partners—from parents to community organizations and stakeholders.

NJCDC founded and supports the operation of three schools:

Our Paterson Family Center preschool provides 105 children with an evidence-based curriculum delivered by highly qualified staff in order to promote learning among our youngest students. The preschool also offers support to the entire family through before-school and after-school programming, as well as specialized staff who connect families to vital resources.

The Community Charter School of Paterson (CCSP) was founded by NJCDC in 2008 to help advance educational excellence in Paterson while promoting positive youth development and strengthening families. CCSP opened in 2008 as a K-3 school serving 400 students and now serves 900+ students in grades K-8 across two campuses. CCSP also has a strong connection to the Paterson community, drawing on a variety of resources to help students and families succeed.

Garrett Morgan Academy, a high school with nearly 175 students in grades 9-12, places a special focus on science, technology, engineering, and math. We opened Garrett Morgan in 2000 and have since graduated hundreds of students who have gone on to college and successful careers. Named for the turn-ofthe-century African-American inventor of the traffic light, the school provides students with a curriculum that makes STEM instruction relevant and accessible.

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Barclay Street Healthy Homes this past September

Affordable Housing For Our Most Vulnerable Residents

We believe having a place to call home is one of the most fundamental human rights and is necessary to foster stability and personal growth—now more than ever. NJCDC prides itself on providing affordable and supportive housing in Paterson and the surrounding area to those vulnerable individuals and families who need it most.

Wayne Avenue Apartment Building

We build and operate housing with on-site social services for individuals with special needs including those who are homeless, mentally ill, those with developmental disabilities, grandparents raising grandchildren, and youth who are homeless or aging out of the foster care system.

Our goal is to offer those we serve a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home, to provide assistance in navigating everyday challenges, and, most importantly, to instill hope, confidence, and optimism among those we serve. These programs not only provide opportunities to transform individual lives, but serve as catalysts to help build social stability and safer neighborhoods.

Spruce Terrace Apartments

To date, we have built 150 units of affordable and supportive housing. And we have more projects in development that will allow us to expand our work in this area. One such project is the Barclay Street Housing Development; built in partnership with St. Joseph’s Health and New Jersey Community Capital, it will provide 56 units of affordable “healthy home” housing for hard-working Patersonians. We’re also in the process of turning two vacant properties into multi-family homes to create more affordable housing for neighborhood families.

Our Bridge to Success summer program helped prepare incoming freshmen for high school

Fostering The Next Generation of Citizens

In helping to foster the next generation of engaged Paterson citizens, NJCDC reaches beyond the classroom. We invest in the future residents and leaders of our community at their individual points of development—particularly during afterschool hours in youth and teen centers, in nontraditional educational programs, and through unique leadership opportunities. By doing so, we are consistently investing in the human potential of the great City of Paterson.

Our Youth Development programs include our Paterson Youth Council, a year-long leadership development program that is the premier voice for the city’s young people; our Great Falls Youth Center, which provides a safe place for hundreds of neighborhood teens to study, learn computer skills, play instruments, socialize, and more; our Paterson Community School Corps (our AmeriCorps program), whose members work in several Paterson schools to eliminate barriers to academic achievement; an array of summer programs; comprehensive Teen Centers at four area high schools to promote healthy lifestyles, educational enrichment, and support services to increase academic performance; and our Full Service Community Schools at School #5 and JFK High School.

We held a Day of Service to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, with 150+ volunteers beautifying three parks

Community Building For A Brighter Paterson

Since 1994, NJCDC has taken a lead in rebuilding and strengthening our community through the empowerment of—and in partnership with—those who live and work in our neighborhood.

Since 2014, our Neighborhood Help Center has served as a one-stop-shop for assistance on a broad range of topics that concern neighborhood residents, including housing, immigration, job readiness, educational opportunities, and financial literacy. We host a variety of educational workshops, community forums, and family-friendly events to provide those we serve with valuable information and life-changing resources.

We also regularly carry out neighborhood cleanups and have built 15 playgrounds and gardens to help revitalize our neighborhood. Gardens allow residents to spend time outside in a relaxing atmosphere, while playgrounds encourage outdoor play, which is an integral part of a child’s development.

We are also finalizing a resident-led and residentdriven 10-year plan to further improve the neighborhood we serve. With the help of our friends and partners, together we’ll continue to make the Great Falls Promise Neighborhood—our home—an example of a comeback community by bringing people together, working on common interests, and advocating for change.

Hundreds of students regularly visit our Great Falls Youth Center, which has a music room and a recording studio