Creating Opportunities To Transform Lives
About Us New Jersey Community Development Corporation Founded in 1994 by Bob Guarasci, New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) is a private, nonprofit organization located in the City of Paterson, New Jersey serving over 4,000 children, teens, and families every day. Our mission is to create opportunities to transform lives in the neighborhood we serve—Paterson’s Great Falls Neighborhood— through education, youth development, affordable/supportive housing, and community building.
The Great Falls of the Passaic River
Our Vision
NJCDC’s vision is that all 8,000 children living or going to school in the Great Falls Neighborhood will graduate from high school— ready for college and a career.
A Message from our Founder & CEO Back in 1994, I founded NJCDC based on a simple idea: that we could make a difference in the City of Paterson. And behind that idea was a powerful belief that good people could make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors. Paterson, our state’s third-largest city, is full of striking contrasts—it’s dense and urban, yet home to the majestic Great Falls, which fueled America’s Industrial Revolution; vibrant and growing, yet distressed and suffering from a number of challenges, including poverty and unemployment; only 12 miles from Manhattan, yet in many ways unknown and unseen. For the past 30 years, we’ve been working with those we serve to turn things around. We founded and support the operation of three
schools, which collectively educate more than 1,100 students; we run over 20 youth development programs; we’ve built over 200 units of affordable/supportive housing; we’ve created 15 playgrounds and gardens; and we’ve invested over $100 million in our community. We’ve grown to now serve well over 4,000 children and families each day through our pipeline of programs, supporting our neighborhood with education, youth development, affordable housing, and community building initiatives. We take a place-based approach to our work, and largely focus on a 95-block area that we call the Great Falls Neighborhood. While we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more work to be done. Our charge is clear—to keep working as hard as we can to make as much change as we can. And with the help of our friends and supporters, change is happening every day. Thank you for your support!
Our Goal
About Us
OUR GOAL :
e Areas Transforming Lives Through Four Cor
Youth Development
Education
NJCDC Affordable & Supportive Housing
Community Building
Our Place
The Great Falls Neighborhood In 2012, we created the Great Falls Neighborhood Plan, a place-based initiative to improve educational and developmental outcomes for all children in the Great Falls Neighborhood through a holistic, community-based pipeline of supportive programs and services. GREAT FALLS NEIGHBORHOOD MAP Paterson, New Jersey
The Great Falls Neighborhood is 95 city blocks in Paterson, New Jersey, with the Great Falls at its center. It is home to 14,000 people and 8,000 kids who live or go to school in our neighborhood.
Education Education: Another Word for Opportunity At NJCDC, we believe that the goal of education should be to instill in children a love of learning that lasts throughout their entire lives and helps them reach their fullest potential. We offer high-quality, no-cost education for Paterson students in pre-K through 12th grade, designed to help our scholars open their minds and prepare them to excel in life.
Excellence Our Schools Paterson Family Center
Understanding the importance of establishing a strong and enthusiastic foundation for learning, we opened our Paterson Family Center (PFC) preschool in 2003. Each year, PFC educates 105 three- and four-year-old children through an evidence-based curriculum and dedicated staff committed to their growth and development. PFC provides a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where children develop physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. The preschool also offers support to the entire family through after-school programming that assists working parents, as well as family workers to connect families to needed resources.
Community Charter School of Paterson
CCSP’s mission is to advance racial equity through an excellent education. CCSP purposefully cultivates positive and academically excellent schools that prepare students with social and academic skills to pursue a choice-filled life and make meaningful contributions to Paterson and the world.
Education
In 2006, NJCDC convened a small group of Paterson parents and community stakeholders to introduce an idea—the creation of a new charter school located in our neighborhood—to provide parents with options. Our vision soon became a reality: a K-8 charter school for 900+ students. The school serves as a full-service community school, opening early, closing late, and providing weekend and summer programming for students and families.
Quality
Garrett Morgan Academy Founded by NJCDC in 2000 and operated in partnership with Paterson Public Schools, Garrett Morgan Academy (GMA) provides students interested in building a career in STEM with a curriculum that makes STEM instruction relevant and accessible. Named for the turn-of-the-century African-American inventor of the traffic light, GMA was the first STEM high school in Paterson and educates nearly 175 students yearly. GMA’s mission is to provide a safe, caring, and challenging educational environment for students who are passionate about exploring college and
Success
career options in engineering and its curriculum allows students to gain the pre-requisite skills needed to do so.
Youth Development Fostering the Next Generation of Engaged Citizens In helping to foster the next generation of engaged Patersonians, we reach beyond the classroom. We invest in the future leaders of our community during after-school hours through our youth and teen centers, with engaging summer and weekend programs, and through unique leadership opportunities.
Future Leadership Opportunities Youth Leadership Programs
Our Paterson Youth Council serves as the voice of the city’s youth and regularly meets with city and community leaders on decisions that affect them and their peers. Operated in partnership with the National Park Service, our Great Falls Youth Corps program allows stu-
dents to study the Park and its ecology, organize cleanups and beautification projects, and offer guided tours. Our summer youth employment program, Junior YouthBuild, allows high school students to earn a paycheck while building a better Paterson through neighborhood cleanups and improvement projects.
Teen Centers and Youth Center We help 3,000 teens succeed through our four Teen Centers located at area high schools. Our Teen Centers provide students with year-round academic support, tutoring, counseling, drug and alcohol prevention, gang prevention, sexual health education, college application assistance, and more. Our Compete For Life program, promoting a career- and college-bound focus, operates out of John F. Kennedy High School. Opened in 2018, our Great Falls Youth Center has become a second home for 500+ Paterson teens. There, they find a place to study, cook, play music, dance, and just be themselves. In 2023, we expanded the Youth Center to serve more kids with enhancements like a multi-purpose room and a podcast studio.
Engagement NJCDC is the lead agency in Paterson’s Full Service Community Schools (FSCS) at PS #5, Joseph A. Taub School, International High School, and JFK High School, offering a variety of programs and services designed to keep the schools open late, on weekends, and during the summer to support student success and strengthen families and the community. Through community partnerships, the FSCS initiative also works to solve learning barriers, such as hunger, physical health, and social/emotional health.
After School, Weekend, and Summer Programs Through our AmeriCorps national service program, we work in several neighborhood schools to provide supportive services for children and families, leading to improved student learning, stronger families, and a healthier community. We offer engaging weekend programming, including our Saturday Youth Arts program, field trips, family workshops, and beautification and clean-up activities. To minimize summer learning loss, which by the 5th grade can leave low-income students 2.5 to 3 years behind their peers from more affluent towns, we run a variety of summer programs, including our Summer STEAM program and Bridge to Success, a program for preparing incoming freshman for high school.
Fun
Youth Development
Full Service Community Schools
Housing Affordable/Supportive Housing for Our Most Vulnerable Residents We believe having a place to call home is one of the most fundamental human needs necessary for stability and personal growth. We pride ourselves on providing affordable and supportive housing in the City of Paterson and the surrounding area to vulnerable individuals and families who need it most.
Stability Our Homes Turning Housing into Homes Our goal is to offer a safe place to call home, to provide assistance in navigating everyday challenges, and, most importantly, to instill hope, confidence, and optimism amongst those we serve. These programs not only provide opportunities to trans-
form individual lives, but also serve as catalysts to help build social stability and safe neighborhoods. To date, we have built more than 200 affordable/supportive housing units. We also operate a large Housing First initiative, designed to provide
housing and supportive services to Paterson residents who are now formerly homeless and who have a disability. Through this initiative, we’ve succeeded in moving over 90 men and women from homelessness to apartments of their own.
NJCDC Residences: Barclay Place Apartments • Birch Arms Apartments • Congdon Mill Apartments • Elm Street Apartments • Hawthorne Heights • Marion Street Apartments • Multi-Family Housing • Park Corner Plaza • Spruce Terrace Apartments • William Waldman Independence House •
Our Residents We build and operate housing with on-site social services for individuals with unique needs, including those who are mentally ill, those with developmental disabilities, youth aging out of foster care, and those who are formerly homeless.
Compassion Multi-Family Housing We’ve developed two small apartment buildings as part of a new strategy to transform vacant lots to meet affordable housing needs.
Barclay Place Apartments We’ve built 56 units of healthy home housing, in partnership with St. Joseph’s Health and New Jersey Community Capital under the state’s Healthy Housing initiative.
Housing
Innovation
Community Building 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.
Camaraderie Community Engagement We engage local residents and business owners to care for and speak out on behalf of our shared neighborhood through a variety of initiatives, including an active Community Advisory Board. During a two-year period, NJCDC facilitated a community-led planning process which resulted in our new Great Falls Neighborhood Plan, released in March 2023. With the input of community residents and stakeholders, this new neighborhood plan will guide our revitalization work over the next decade. We also organize and lead neighborhood clean-ups and beautification projects, and provide social activities for families—including the Annual Holiday Toy Drive and the Annual Great Falls Neighborhood Block Party.
Neighborhood Help Center Since 2014, our Neighborhood Help Center (NHC) 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 also operate the City of Paterson’s Financial Empowerment Center, which provides free one-on-one financial counseling to all Paterson residents. The NHC offers residents ongoing one-on-one assistance to help address their specific needs. We help troubleshoot whatever issue they are facing, and also connect them with much-needed resources. The NHC also holds seminars and workshops on a broad range of topics.
Neighborhood Revitalization To help revitalize our neighborhood we have invested over $100 million. We’ve built 15 playgrounds and community gardens and transformed once-abandoned mill buildings into neighborhood anchors, including schools, offices, and affordable housing. We also played a prominent role in the planning and creation of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. We frequently partner with the National Park Service and with The Hamilton Partnership—another non-profit that serves as the “Friends of” the park—in carrying out special programming to highlight the rich history and culture of Paterson and the area surrounding the Falls.
Beautification Oliver Street Well 4 Theme: Silk City
Murals we created on Spruce Street, a gateway street to the Great Falls National Park
New Programs 59 SPRUCE STREET MURAL PROPOSAL
In addition, we’ll work with the City of Paterson to rehabilitate Paterson’s Westside Park, demolish old structures to build new affordable housing, implement a new 10-year plan to revitalize the Great Falls Neighborhood, and start new programs that address the needs of the children and families we serve.
Promise
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Community Building
While we have accomplished a great deal since 1994, there is still much work to be done. We are optimistic about the future, especially our upcoming projects, which include creating a Youth Performing Arts Center, building new units of affordable housing, and providing mental health services to students across Passaic County as the lead agency for the NJ Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S) program.
Our Focus on Programs Management & General
Programs & Services
92% Of Every Dollar Goes Directly To Our Programs
GET INVOLVED MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Together, we can do so much more. With friends like you, we can empower those we serve and create more opportunities to transform lives. HOW CAN YOU HELP? SPONSOR a program or event PARTNER with us. Join our team of individual and corporate partners working to make an impact through opportunities like sponsoring an event, reading to our preschool students, participating in a large scale cleanup, or presenting to our teen leaders.
VOLUNTEER. We’re always looking for inspiring people to work with us! LIKE us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @njcdc to stay up to date with our latest news, photos, and videos. We’re also on LinkedIn! TO GET INVOLVED please contact NJCDC’s development team at development@njcdc.org or 973-413-1639.
NJCDC Board of Trustees Martin Vergara II, Chair Morgan Stanley
Donald F. Buckley TD Bank
Ulises Diaz Horizon
Victor J. Herlinsky, Jr. Sills Cummis
Anthony Coscia, Vice Chair Windels Marx
Eric Daleo Gateway Development Commission
Robert Garrison Laborers’ International Union
William Pascrell III Princeton Public Affairs Group
Robert Guarasci Ex-Officio, NJCDC Founder & CEO
Kenyatta Stewart City of Newark
David Berninger, Treasurer OceanFirst Bank Carline Morrison, Secretary BD
Nita Das Etta Denk Bank of America
Contact Us! New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) 32 Spruce Street, 3rd Floor, Paterson, NJ 07501 E-mail: info@njcdc.org Phone: 973-413-1600
Creating Opportunities To Transform Lives
Looking to support NJCDC? Please contact us at development@njcdc.org
njcdc.org