Hoboken will distribute approximately $2 million to local nonprofits and public agencies to help them provide vital services for low- and moderate-income residents and respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Ravi Bhalla announced Friday.
The Hoboken Community Center will receive the largest allocation of funds ($864,075). The Hoboken Food Pantry, which the HCC houses and operates, will receive an additional $74,119.
These funds will help replace the center’s HVAC system and assist the pantry as it continues to feed food-insecure residents.
“Hoboken witnessed firsthand how critical of a lifeline our nonprofit community was to residents during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bhalla said. “This funding will help ensure they can continue their services to those in need in the months to come.”
Here’s a look at the funding, which still must be approved by the Hoboken City Council on July 21:
- Hoboken Community Center: $864,075;
- Hoboken Housing Authority: $500,000;
- Jubilee Center: $207,604;
- The Hoboken Shelter: $120,000;
- Hoboken Food Pantry: $74,119;
- TRUE Mentors: $50,000;
- Boys & Girls Clubs: $33,726;
- Hoboken Family Planning Inc.: $22,679;
- Community Lifestyles: $21,888;
- HOPES: $20,000;
- Act Now Foundation Inc.: $15,000;
- Computers 4 People: $15,000.
The HCC, at 1301 Washington St., provides an affordable housing program that serves 96 low-income men and houses the Hoboken Food Pantry.
The building’s HVAC system requires repair work to ensure the long-term operation of the affordable housing program, which currently receives no project-based housing vouchers, is funded through rental income, social service agency support and private donations.
Hoboken Community Center board member and Secretary Toni Tomarazzo said the center greatly appreciates the funding.
“We are grateful for the funding that will be used to strengthen the HCC’s decades-long commitment to serving our community, including the Hoboken Food Pantry, which has served over 15,000 bags of groceries and meals since March 2020.”
The funding comes in the form of Community Development Block Grants, with additional CARES Act money allocated to the city through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Bhalla thanked U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) along with U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.) for their support.
Menendez returned the praise.
“Many local nonprofits came to the rescue to help residents at their greatest time of need. They stepped up in meaningful ways during the pandemic to provide critically important services and resources to individuals and families as donations to nonprofits plummeted,” he said.
“Whether it was providing meals to the hungry or housing to those who couldn’t afford rent or educational support for students or mental health services to those who struggled with isolation, New Jersey couldn’t have made it through the pandemic without the nonprofit community’s contributions. I am pleased that Mayor Bhalla is prioritizing the federal funding to support local nonprofits so they can continue serving the people of Hoboken.”
