To the Editor:
Thank you to the more than 200 friends and supporters who recently filled the Frick Laboratory Atrium for Housing Initiatives of Princeton’s annual Rent Party. This year’s theme, “The Elements of Change,” playfully referenced the party venue and perfectly captured the spirit of the event. Like the rent parties of the Harlem Renaissance, this gathering brought together the true elements for changing housing insecurity in our area: an energetic community, pooled resources, and the belief that by fulfilling one neighbor’s immediate need, we may all benefit.
This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and its success means that when someone faces an unexpected hardship or emergency — sudden job loss, illness, divorce, deportation, and the list goes on — we can provide temporary eviction prevention funds so one calamity doesn’t lead to another. It means that rather than allowing a family to live in their car or couch surf among the homes of friends and relatives indefinitely, we can provide them with a transitional home of their own, plus additional services, skills, and training that they may need to find long-term stable housing. And it means that we can continue to advocate for more equitable, sustainable housing policies so that families and individuals are less likely to find themselves in need of HIP’s help in the future.
This achievement could not happen without the gracious support of Herring Properties, Etsuko and Dan Chamby, Northfield Bank, Shah Happiness Foundation (In Loving Memory of Jaya and Pranjivan Shah), Margot Lurie Zimmerman, Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund, Pinneo Construction, Carol Golden, Heidi Hartmann Homes, Kristina and David Hill, Kathy Taylor and Mark Boulding, and Suki and Matthew Wasserman — and dozens of other generous sponsors. Thank you also to HIP’s Rent Party co-chairs, Cathy Reicheg and Marisabel Fernandez, and the team of volunteers who helped to organize and run this event.
We’re especially grateful to Wiktoria Butler of WDK photography, this year’s keynote speaker, for sharing her experience as a former HIP client. Her young family was stuck living in a windowless basement and feeling hopeless to change their situation — until HIP provided transitional housing and the confidence and tools for them to build a better future.
Wiktoria and her family are just a few of the 477 children and adults that HIP helped to stay stably housed through its Eviction Prevention and Transitional Housing programs in 2024. We know the housing demands ahead will be significant but we will face them together, well-provisioned by our community’s engagement and generosity.