By Donald Gilpin

Jenny Schuetz

Leading a conversation focused on helping local families who are housing insecure, housing policy economist Jenny Schuetz, author of Fixer Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems, will be the lead speaker at the Housing Initiatives of Princeton (HIP) annual Spring Gathering on Sunday, May 4 from 4 to 7 p.m.

The public is invited for an afternoon of food, jazz, and discussion, with tickets and sponsorship information available at housinginitiativesofprinceton.org. All proceeds support HIP’s work to help local residents facing eviction, housing instability, and homelessness. The goal is to help individuals and families to acquire stable housing, improved employment, and a network of support services as they build toward a sustainable future.

“The conversation on how to remove barriers low-income families face to securing homes is especially critical at this moment,” said HIP Board Chair Tom Pinneo. We are delighted to host Dr. Schuetz, who is leveraging her research to help drive policies that will provide housing to more families.”

Mercer County has seen increasing numbers of homeless people in recent years, with NJ.com reporting a 24 percent increase in the homeless population in New Jersey in 2024 compared to 2023, and Mercer County registering an increase of almost 31 percent, according to NJ Point-in-Time Count. HomeFront, based in Lawrence and Ewing, states that it shelters more than 450 individuals on any given night, the majority being children.

“We are at a crisis point,” Schuetz stated, in a podcast interview with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein. “And the current approaches [to homelessness] are not working. They are not scaling up, but we haven’t tried something that’s radically different.”

At the HIP Spring Gathering event, Schuetz will explore the problems of housing affordability and supply, including commentary on macroeconomic conditions. She will also discuss policy changes that could help Princeton based on what she has seen in other mid-sized communities and college towns. A third focus of her talk will include how to change state and local relationships around housing policy, including the Mount Laurel decision and current statewide proposals for New Jersey.

In her more than 25 years in the field of economics and housing policy, Schuetz has worked with the Federal Reserve Bank, Brookings Metro, and currently as vice president of infrastructure and housing at Arnold Ventures, working to expand the housing supply and make it easier to build more and different types of housing.

Schuetz received a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University, an M.A. in city planning from M.I.T., and a B.A. in economics and political and social thought from the University of Virginia.

HIP, which has been assisting local residents for 24 years with transitional housing and emergency eviction prevention services, recently announced a new partnership with Arm In Arm and HomeFront, along with funding from Princeton University, that will help to provide rental assistance and security deposit support to neighbors in need.

In a recent newsletter, HIP Executive Director Lori Troilo also announced that HIP will be collaborating with the Princeton YWCA in providing a free computer skills training and workforce development workshop called “Career Kickstart.” HIP has also formed an advocacy team and is finding ways to support statewide and local housing policy discussion and legislation.

In 2024, HIP’s Eviction Prevention Program helped 350 Mercer County children and adults remain in their homes or secure a new one. Last year HIP’s Transitional Housing Program helped 30 parents and children move from homelessness toward a permanent, affordable home of their own, with improved employment, financial stability, and the necessary support services for long-term success.

A 2023-24 HIP impact study led by two Princeton University interns showed that 92 percent of families helped over the past 13 years through HIP’s Transitional Housing Program are still living in stable housing today, and they all reported that they are employed and better off financially. They also reported that their children had benefited from the academic and enrichment support provided by HIP.