Lorena Gaibor is program director of the Unity Square Partnership, a recipient of local Catholic Campaign for Human Development funds in the Diocese of Metuchen. — Kathleen Ogle photo

 

 

 

 

 

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the anti-poverty effort of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CCHD’s mission is to address the root causes of poverty in America through promotion and support of community-controlled self-help organizations and through transformative education. Many of these groups do their work through community organizing and economic development efforts. Last week, part one reported on the Intersect Fund. This week, part two looks at the Unity Square Partnership. Next week's installment will feature New Labor, and the final article in the series will explore the origins of the CCHD and how the campaign is supported in the Diocese of Metuchen.

By Kathleen Ogle
Managing Editor

NEW BRUNSWICK ­— Cynthia Ortiz, 18, lives at home with her parents and younger siblings in the north end of a neighborhood known as Unity Square. She is a full-time student at Middlesex County College, Edison, where she is studying business administration, and she works part-time taking orders at a fast-food restaurant. She does not have a car so she takes the bus to college and either walks or takes a cab to and from work.

Counselors at her high school helped her apply to college, but she did not know how to apply for financial aid. That’s where a social worker at the Unity Square Partnership stepped in. The social worker helped Ortiz get financial aid to help cover tuition and connected her with other resources at MCC to assist her with her studies.

After she earns her associate’s degree Ortiz is planning to transfer to a four-year college, possibly Rutgers University or Rider College. Her parents — Mexican immigrants who came to the United States to help support their families and build a better life for themselves — want their daughter to focus on her education so she can have a fulfilling career.

Many teenagers in her neighborhood are not so fortunate. Instead of advancing their education, they feel pressured to go to work to help support their families. But without a high school or college education, they are only qualified for menial jobs.

“Education is more important than other stuff. Without education you are nothing. You have to work in a factory or a restaurant,” Ortiz said.

Helping residents of the 37-block neighborhood improve their lives is the mission of the Unity Square Partnership. ordered by Commercial and Livingston Avenues and Sandford and Welton Streets, the neighborhood, which is primarily Latino and African-American, has a population of 5,900 people of which 24 percent live in poverty.

The roots of the Unity Square project were planted in November 2004, when Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, formed a partnership with Sacred Heart Parish for the purpose of working to revitalize the neighborhood surrounding the parish.

For several years, Unity Square has been the recipient of local Catholic Campaign for Human Development funding. Before the project was officially launched, CCHD funds were used to lay the groundwork for the project.

Nancy E. Finn, Unity Square’s founding program director, said CCHD funding was critical to launching the partnership. t was used to pay her part-time salary and covered the supplies to conduct nine community meetings at which the residents and community leaders developed a plan to revitalize the neighborhood.

With the assistance of students from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, residents developed the plan which called for the renovation of substandard housing for rental or ownership for qualified low-income residents, a micro-lending program that provides loans to individuals interested in developing small businesses as well as providing financial literacy training, scholarships to Elijah’s Promise Culinary Institute, child care training for in-home providers, a recreational area for teens and immigration and health care services.

The majority of funding for Unity Square comes through the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program. With the plan’s approval by the New Jersey Department Community Affairs, Unity Square became qualified to receive grants through the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program. The program allows corporations who contribute to nonprofit organizations carrying out revitalization projects to receive a 100 percent tax credit.

To date, Unity Square has received NRTC grants from Sanofi-Aventis, PSE&G and PNC Bank. Additional NRTC grants from Sanofi-Aventis and J&J are awaiting approval. Unity Square has also received funds from the Wachovia Regional Foundation, whose primary mission is to support resident-led community revitalization in New Jersey, Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania, and North Fork Bank.

Through such grants, Unity Square addresses the residents’ most pressing concern — the lack of affordable housing as well as overcrowding, overcharging, pest control, unlivable conditions — by refurbishing buildings in the neighborhood and purchasing empty lots to build affordable housing. In addition, services at a neighborhood health clinic have been expanded, English as a second language classes are offered, community gardens have been created and crime watches established.

New leadership
Unity Square faced a significant transition last summer when Finn retired to care for her husband, who was diagnosed with cancer. In September, Lorena Gaibor became Unity Square’s program director.

Gaibor, who lives just outside the Unity Square neighborhood, had participated in the resident visioning process as a community member and activist. She also served as Unity Square’s first housing resource coordinator before returning to graduate school to earn a Master of Social Work Degree.

Gaibor believes Unity Square’s mission correlates perfectly with CCHD’s mission to break the cycle of poverty.

“Everything we do is about really dealing with poverty, how to bring people out of poverty,” Gaibor said.

Although thrilled with the opportunity to lead the project, she acknowledged that Finn would be a tough act to follow.

“Nancy did a great job, and I have big shoes to fill,” she said.

Gaibor knows the community and the City of New Brunswick well. She previously worked for Rutgers University’s Community Health Environmental Coalition, which helped establish a community garden on Suydam Street, and for five years she was a social worker at Elijah’s Promise.

At Unity Square, Gaibor is assisted by three Rutgers University students: A graduate student from the Bloustein School of Public Planning is the program’s housing resource coordinator, while two undergrads are doing social work internships.

Raised by a working single mother after her parents — first-generation immigrants who came to the United State from Ecuador in the mid-1960s — divorced, Gaibor knows firsthand the struggles of many families in the neighborhood.

“My mother often had to work two jobs, sometimes three jobs. We were never beholden to the system, she just worked really hard, but I didn’t have Mom at home. So I can empathize with the struggles that working class people have and I think that’s why I do social work,” she said.

Gaibor, who is bilingual, often translated for her mother and recalled how her mother was treated differently because of her accent. Social justice became her passion, and a career in social work was a natural way to try to make the world a better place.

In addition to building affordable housing, Gaibor’s efforts during her first few months at Unity Square have been focused on assisting tenants who are having problems with their landlords, economic development, public safety and mentoring teens.

“Because a lot of the residents are undocumented there is a lot of abuse, landlords who illegally overcharge,” Gaibor said. “The word is out that we are here to assist people. An informed resident is powerful and we can help tenants file complaints with the city’s rent control board.”

In addition, Gaibor said they are trying to resurrect a mediation board comprising residents, tenants and landlords, who are usually not residents. Ideally, the board will allow people to come together to mediate solutions without having to go to the Rent Control Board.

Economic development is largely focused on the commercial district of Remsen Avenue.

“There are thriving businesses on that street but there’s a lot that can be done to help the businesses expand and grow and serve the needs of the community better,” Gaibor said.

Unity Square recently presented a plan developed by the Metro Corporation to the city economic development planner. he plan would expand the sidewalks with bump-outs (slimming the road to slow down traffic by expanding pieces of the sidewalk around corners of intersections) and increased parking for customers.

“We’re waiting to hear back from the mayor’s office,” Gaibor said. “It seems they liked our proposal. They probably have some modifications they want to make to it. We are hopeful that we will be able to move forward with that soon.”

Gaibor is also concerned about the rate of crime in the neighborhood and hopes to rally the residents around the issue of public safety.

“This has not been a safe neighborhood for a long time,” she said. “I see it has an opportunity to build bridges among the communities because it affects everyone who lives here and everyone who worships here. It’s an issue that’s important to all of us. As I go and meet with community leaders and church leaders I’m going to talk about that issue and how can we as a community come together to address it.”

Mentoring teens
Close to Gaibor’s heart is mentoring the teens that live within the boundaries of Unity Square.

Gaibor grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Highland Park where many of her peers were preparing to attend college. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University, but knows that if she had grown up in New Brunswick that might not have been the case.

While she had good models, Gaibor feels she lacked guidance. She would like to see the teens of Unity Square benefit from good models and guidance.

“No one sat me down and talked to me about what direction I could go in. It just sort of happened. I think it should be different. There should be more guidance to encourage teens to move on with their education, to bring up their grades, to go to college, to aspire to more than maybe the models they have now.”

Gaibor is especially looking forward to the renovation and conversion of a firehouse on Remsen Avenue into a community center that would offer activities and programs for teens. A firehouse museum is located on the second floor, and the community center would be on the first floor. Unity Square is accepting architect proposals and anticipates the center could open in 2011.

Biggest challenges
In her new role, Gaibor is facing two significant challenges. First, she and everyone associated with Unity Square is holding their breath as they await the fate of the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit when Gov.-elect Chris Christie takes office. Christie has promised to cut state spending.

“That’s how Unity Square came to be, taking advantage of this wonderful tax credit program. That will be a huge blow if that were taken away,” Gaibor said.

A second challenge is to create a sense of unity among the residents of a neighborhood that aspires to live up to its new name, Unity Square. Many African-American families participated in the original meetings that created the Unity Square partnership, but today most residents active in the partnership are Latino, which is something Gaibor would like to change.

“Part of my job in these next few months is going out and meeting with other community leaders, other congregations in the neighborhood, to build those bridges and get more of the community involved,” she said.

There has been some conflict between the African-American and Latino communities, which Gaibor attributes to scapegoating.

“When you have people living in poverty they look for someone to blame. Unfortunately, they don’t blame the people in power that they should be demanding justice from, they blame each other. A lot of African-Americans believe it’s the Mexicans who are taking their jobs, when the reality is that before the Mexicans got here they didn’t have those jobs. The Mexicans are filling a need in the community. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t getting those jobs,” Gaibor said.

“Part of Unity Square’s mission is to integrate the community more, give a sense of ownership to both of those very separate communities,” she continued. “We need to create more possibilities for both communities and make them realize really we have the same issues, the same desires, we’re all human, let’s struggle together to make this community a better place to live.”

Next week: The voice of low-wage immigrant workers in Central Jersey.