To the Editor:

Two-and-a-half months after the tragic December 27, 2017 fire at Griggs Farm, nearly all of the 34 displaced residents who needed to find temporary housing have secured affordable homes in the area, enabling them to maintain key community, school, and employment connections over the next 10-12 months while the building is being reconstructed. Princeton Community Housing (PCH), a nonprofit organization, and the Human Services Department (HSD) of the municipality of Princeton have been working closely with the residents throughout this time.

PCH greatly thanks all the donors who provided generous support to help the residents. Recent gifts have provided financial support to all the displaced residents, including instances where funds were needed for security deposits or to close the gap between the monthly rent for temporary affordable homes and the monthly rent a resident was paying at Griggs Farm (approximately 30 percent of their income). Previous gifts, as noted earlier, helped PCH to pay for six weeks of emergency housing, as well as to provide money, gift cards, food, clothing, and other items directly to the residents.

Because we have reached this temporary housing milestone and distributed this financial and other support to the displaced residents, we know we have helped them regain a measure of stability and independence to move forward with their efforts to bring normalcy back to their lives. We will continue to work with residents to help them identify the area organizations that can best provide the resources other than temporary housing that the residents may need. While PCH will be transitioning from active solicitation for donations to the Griggs Farm Fire Relief Fund, we will distribute to residents any additional contributions we may receive.

We will be focusing efforts on working with the Griggs Farm Condo Association to restore the building — and on moving forward with our larger mission to build, manage, and advocate for affordable housing opportunities in Princeton. The challenges PCH and HSD faced in locating temporary affordable homes for the residents demonstrate the significant need for additional affordable homes in the area. PCH was not able to place the Griggs Farm residents in other PCH apartments because there are no vacancies and wait lists are 12-24 months long.

In Princeton, six percent of families are below the federal poverty level and another 18 percent are below the “ALICE Threshold” (the United Way’s measuring a Household Survival Budget). Additionally, because only about 10 percent of Princeton homes are deed-restricted as affordable for low- or moderate-income households to rent or buy, there’s a wide gap between the supply and demand for affordable housing.

We continue to welcome unrestricted contributions for PCH to support our mission. These gifts will be used for the programs benefiting the over 1,000 current residents, as well as ongoing efforts to expand the inventory of affordable homes in the area. To make a gift, please see our website: www.princetoncommunityhousing.org.

Edward Truscelli

Executive Director