April 29, 2015

In Time of Need Local Resident Finds It Takes a (Princeton Community) Village

HOME SWEET HOME: Yvonne Jackson beams at her new circumstances as a resident of Princeton Community Village (PCV) and a beneficiary of the New Jersey Affordable Housing Management Association (JAHMA) “In Time of Need” program through which she received a furniture donation from American Furniture Rental. From left: Princeton Community Housing Director Edward Truscelli, Ms. Jackson, JAHMA’s Bruce W. Johnson, and PCV administrative staff Susan O’Malley, and Mary Maybury.

HOME SWEET HOME: Yvonne Jackson beams at her new circumstances as a resident of Princeton Community Village (PCV) and a beneficiary of the New Jersey Affordable Housing Management Association (JAHMA) “In Time of Need” program through which she received a furniture donation from American Furniture Rental. From left: Princeton Community Housing Director Edward Truscelli, Ms. Jackson, JAHMA’s Bruce W. Johnson, and PCV administrative staff Susan O’Malley, and Mary Maybury.

Thanks to a program run by the New Jersey Affordable Housing Management Association (JAHMA) in conjunction with American Furniture Rental (AFR), Princeton resident Yvonne Jackson is finally able to enjoy her own new sofa, not to mention sleep in her own full size bed and sit down to dinner at her own table. Items that most of us take for granted were lost to Ms. Jackson when she became homeless.

But now, after waiting several months, her apartment in Holly House in Princeton Community Village (PCV) has new furniture courtesy of “In Time of Need,” a furniture distribution program for individuals like Ms. Jackson with compelling situations caused by fire, poverty, or similar circumstances.

A breast cancer survivor who continues to struggle with ill health — she’s had 28 operations, most recently for throat problems — Ms. Jackson moved into her PCV apartment about five months ago and just recently received her new dining room, living room and bedroom furniture.

Bruce W. Johnson, who runs the “In Time of Need” program, was on site to see the furniture’s arrival and installation by AFR, the New Jersey-based company founded in 1975 and the nation’s third largest rental provider of residential, office, home staging, and special events furniture. “Yvonne is a delightful person and was happy to have the new furniture that she had waited for so patiently while living in an empty apartment,” he said.

Interviewed at home, Ms. Jackson was thankful for her new circumstances. “I am grateful to Edward Truscelli, Susan O’Malley, Mary Maybury, and Edith Juarez for all their help and their kindness; I thank God there are still people like them. I feel very blessed.”

After months of sleeping on an air mattress on the floor, she especially appreciates her new bed. “I can roll around in comfort,” she laughed.

So how was it that the former cashier found herself in such need? “I was in the process of moving when my ID was stolen and that put a hold on everything,” she explained. “They ran up a bill and by the time the whole thing cleared I’d lost the affordable housing place that I was due to move into.” Because the apartment she was planning to move to was small, she’d already given away most of her possessions. Now in addition to no furniture, she had nowhere to go. “I was stuck,” she said.

In spite of the recent brutally cold winter weather, Ms. Jackson contemplated living in her car. Her daughter, Yolanda Shahied, lives in Maryland; her son Robert Jackson lives at Princeton Community Village, so she ended up sharing his small apartment there.

“Yvonne stayed with her son for a short time and when an apartment became free she was on top of the affordable housing waiting list,” said Susan O’Malley, who, along with PCV office staff members Ms. Juarez and Ms. Maybury, recommended Ms. Jackson to the “In Time of Need” program.

Site personnel at any JAHMA-affiliated property may submit an application on behalf of a needy resident to the program, which receives donations from AFR and Thomasville.

According to Mr. Johnson, the program has completed 49 such installations with a grand total of some $800,000 to low-income families since May 2006. “That’s retail value,” said Mr. Johnson, adding that for an organization the size of JAHMA, the amount is a significant one. “Although small in size JAHMA is a very active and effective organization, which does a tremendous amount with its resources through two programs that benefit affordable housing residents: “In Time of Need” and the JAHMA scholarships for high school students going to college.

Ms. Jackson, who enjoyed her former work as a cashier for several Shoprite stores before her ill health, grew up in the Princeton area and attended the Valley Road School. Her father Ivory Jackson and her mother Dolly Mae Jackson worked for Mount Farm apple orchards.

Born in 1955, she now looks forward to celebrating her 60th birthday in her new apartment. “My own apartment,” she laughed. “It’s so roomy!”

Before the donation, Ms. Jackson had just a few bits and pieces of furniture that friends and neighbors had given her. Above her new sofa, there’s a painted scene, a woodland path under trees in full summer foliage, a housewarming gift from her son. On the end table nearby are pictures of Ms. Jackson’s parents.

Her apartment is on the fifth floor of a six-story building at Princeton Community Village. There are elevators and a laundry room and social gathering room in the basement. The Free B shuttle and NJ Transit bus stop right outside the building and the large window of her apartment looks out onto trees and the rest of the village.

JAHMA is a nonprofit professional organization of property managers and owners who specialize in the development and operation of government assisted/affordable housing.

For more about In Time of Need and the donations that it depends upon, visit: www.jahma.org.