In the News

  • Peter J. O’Connor’s May 5 Speech at Berea College “Social Justice in a Changing World”

    Peter J. O’Connor spoke of “Social Justice in a Changing World” during remarks delivered at Berea College’s 141st commencement on May 5, 2013 in Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea was the first interracial and coeducational college in the South.

    Published in Berea College on May 8th, 2013 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • Noted Civil Rights Advocate Peter J. O’Connor to Speak at Berea College Commencement

    Peter J. O’Connor, a longtime civil rights activist, will address 232 candidates for graduation during Berea College’s 141st commencement service in Kentucky on May 5 at 2 p.m. in the main arena of Seabury Center. O’Connor will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

    Published in Berea College Press Release on May 3rd, 2013 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • In South Jersey, New Options for Primary Care Are Slow To Take Hold

    Camden, N.J., has serious health problems, with too many people going to local emergency rooms unnecessarily. But progress is being made, albeit slowly at FSHD’s Northgate II affordable housing complex, which boasts a medical office on the ground floor of the apartment building. The goal of the practice is to improve care while reducing healthcare costs for hundreds of low-income seniors, families and people with special needs.

    Published in Shots: Health News From NPR on April 3rd, 2013 | View PDF

  • The Mount Laurel Doctrine

    The New Jersey Supreme Court’s 1983 ruling in the Mount Laurel fair-housing case is rightly regarded as one of the most important civil rights decisions of modern times. Yet despite its clear benefits, Governor Chris Christie and some wealthy communities have sought to weaken the law in two cases now before the court. The New York Times asks the court to strongly reaffirm the Mount Laurel Doctrine, and makes a strong case for the benefits of affordable housing citing the research of Princeton University Professor Doug Massey who studied FSHD’s Ethel R. Lawrence Homes and found that our residents enjoyed higher rates of employment and less dependence on welfare than similar families who had applied for housing but wound up elsewhere.

    Published in The New York Times on January 28th, 2013 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • Location, Location, Location: The Real Determinant for Success in Schools

    New study indicates Camden students flourish when moved out of dysfunctional schools and neighborhoods.

    Published in NJ Spotlight on November 20th, 2012 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • Learning From Mount Laurel

    In the suburb whose exclusive zoning led to New Jersey’s fair share affordable housing law, new research explores what the affordable housing finally built there has meant to the town—and to the people who have gotten to move there.

    Published in Shelterforce: The Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Building on October 10th, 2012 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • Home Remedy: Doctor’s Office in Camden High-Rise is an ER Alternative

    WHYY reporter Taunya English visits FSHD’s Northgate II to see how our tenants are responding to an innovative healthcare program that aims to get residents to cut down on unnecessary ER visits by going instead to a new medical clinic located on the ground floor of this Camden affordable housing high-rise. The program, which involves a partnership between FSHD’s affiliate nonprofit Fair Share Northgate II, Reliance Medical Group and the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, seeks to improve medical outcomes for our tenants while reducing Medicaid costs.

    Published in WHYY Public Radio on October 3rd, 2012 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • Uncertain Fate for Decision That Paved the Way for Affordable Housing in NJ

    Residents of a controversial affordable housing complex in Mount Laurel, N.J., have a better quality of life than those who applied but never moved into the complex, a new study by Princeton University shows. The study was unveiled just as the court rulings that helped build the complex – known as the Mount Laurel decisions – are coming back to the New Jersey Supreme Court for the first time in more than two decades. Click here to hear Nancy Solomon’s report on National Public Radio (WNYC).

    Published in National Public Radio on May 7th, 2012 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • Important New Research on Housing Mobility from Doug Massey

    In the May/June issue of Poverty & Race, Princeton Professor Doug Massey presents a summary of new research on outcomes for families and children at Ethel Lawrence Homes, a low income housing development in a relatively affluent suburban town outside of Philadelphia (Mount Laurel). Tracking residents over time, and comparing them with unsuccessful applicants from similar city neighborhoods, Massey found that the residents displayed higher rates of employment, larger share of income from work, greater total incomes, and lower rates of welfare dependency - while children experienced dramatically improved school quality and reduced exposure to school disorder and violence.

    Published in Poverty & Race on May 3rd, 2012 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF

  • New Princeton University Study Says Fears About Ill-Effects of Affordable Housing are “Misplaced”

    Douglas Massey of Princeton University spent more than a year studying the effects of the Ethel Lawrence Homes on the fearful community that fought it, and on the hopeful people — many from Camden — who ultimately moved in. “We looked at property taxes, crime and home values, and the trends were no different between Mount Laurel and similar townships nearby. And as a result of moving into Ethel Lawrence, residents experienced much better neighborhoods, lower rates of violence and social disorder, better mental health, fewer negative life events, higher rates of employment and higher wages.”

    Published in The Star-Ledger on April 22nd, 2012 Fair Share Housing Development | View PDF