Healthy Housing
The Raritan Bay Area YMCA understands that where we live can help determine the state of our physical and mental health. Unfortunately, due to social and economic reasons, many Perth Amboy residents are living in unhealthy and substandard homes and apartments, making them more susceptible to fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, mold, and stress. Over the past two years, the Y has supported the creation of a new housing element of the City of Perth Amboy’s Master Plan which seeks to make positive policy and systems changes. Community engagement in this initiative is a critical element if it is to be successful. As a promoter of physical, mental, and spiritual health, the Y has launched an Educational Healthy Housing Campaign to speak with and inform residents about the components of a healthy home, tenant rights, and assistance in advocating for positive policy and systems changes.
The Raritan Bay Area YMCA, with funding from the New Jersey Healthy Communities Network, has hired two bilingual Healthy Housing Ambassadors. Both ambassadors have lived in Perth Amboy for over a decade, are embedded into the culture of their city, and are passionate about the wellbeing of their community. The Healthy Housing Ambassadors will begin conducting door-to-door Healthy Home Assessments with Perth Amboy residents. Ambassadors will also invite residents to Housing Meetings encouraging them to get involved in the effort. Additionally, a healthy housing information campaign will be started online. The YMCA is hoping with the help of its residents, positive change will come to our community.
For more information regarding Healthy Housing, email jroche@rbaymca.org or call 732.442.3632 ext. 6513
Perth Amboy residents- watch this playlist to learn healthy housing in our community!
Residentes de Perth Amboy: ¡miren esta lista de reproducción para aprender sobre viviendas saludables en nuestra comunidad!
Affordable & Supportive Housing
The YMCA provides the community with valuable resources for affordable and supportive housing. We are able to assist the community in navigating the system to find cost-effective living options with access to essential services to help individuals and families achieve stability and independence. Affordable housing ensures that residents with low to moderate incomes can secure safe, quality housing without financial strain. Supportive housing goes a step further by integrating services such as case management, mental health support, job training, and healthcare. Our model is especially beneficial for individuals experiencing homelessness, disabilities, or other challenges, providing a stable environment and resources to promote long-term success and community integration.
Walk-ins are welcome; however, scheduling an appointment is highly recommended.
Call 732.771.9910 to learn how we can support you in affordable & supportive housing.
Support for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
In May of 2018, staff at Rutgers partnered with the Raritan Bay Area YMCA and the City of Perth Amboy Housing Department to submit a project proposal to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation under their Upstream Action Acceleration Program for New Jersey Health Initiatives. The project, titled “Community Action for Safe Housing” for the City of Perth Amboy sought to provide the City with policy and programmatic recommendations to address the prevalence and reduce the amount of substandard housing currently present in the City.
Healthier Perth Amboy sought to create direction, alignment and commitment among tenants, landlords, realtors, residents, elected and appointed local officials, law enforcement and fire officials, schools and health providers to advance the shared goal of providing all Perth Amboy residents, regardless of whether they are renters or homeowners, with housing that promotes sound health and well-being. To that end, this project looked to gather the above-listed individuals and form a Safe Housing Stakeholder Group to form a consensus on the project’s messaging, focus, and recommended actions moving forward.
The Rutgers University Bloustein School provided support to Healthier Perth Amboy as part of its safe housing initiative by providing technical assistance associated with benchmarking the City’s housing-related policies to “best practices” for promoting healthy housing. Rutgers’ role was to review existing City policies that have a direct or indirect relationship to housing, compare those existing policies to approaches considered healthy housing “best practices” across the U.S., and outline options for the consideration of the Healthier Perth Amboy’s leadership team. The policies reviewed by the Bloustein School included local ordinances, master plan elements, zoning code, and local decision-making processes.
Community Action for Safe Housing Recommendations Report for Perth Amboy
