HANDS Hosts Congressman Payne on Walking Tour of the Valley
Celebrating $217,500 Grant Funding from NeighborWorks America and Federal
Appropriation of $196,000 for Commercial/Community Arts Center in the
ValleyArts District.
Left to Right: HANDS Board Member Harold Simon, HANDS Board President
Anita Rainford, Congressman Donald Payne, HANDS Board Member Craig Sawyer,
NeighborWorks America Representative Keith Getter, Orange City Council
Member Hassan Abdul-Rasheed, HANDS Board Member Karen Wells, HANDS
Director Patrick Morrissy, HANDS Board Member Yolanda Silverio.
HANDS recently held its 9th Annual Community Leadership Awards and Arts Expo. Artists displayed and sold their work, there was a fashion show, and the Orange Middle School dancers were excellent.
Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Award
Ceremony
November 6, 2006
HANDS was awarded the Neighborhood Builders Award,
one of two for Northern and Central New Jersey, that includes $200,000 in
funding over two years and leadership training.
Left to Right: Ann Limberg, President, Bank
of America New Jersey; Anita Rainford, HANDS Board Chair;
Patrick Morrissy, HANDS Director; Abby O’Neill, Senior Vice
President, Market Development Manager, Bank of America; Patrick Kelly,
Senior Vice President, Community Development Market Manager, Bank of
America
ValleyArts Launches Artists Network Page on
Website
ValleyArts announced today it has launched an Artist Network
page on its website. The website is being revitalized, but remains
accessible from HANDS’ website. The URL is: www.handsinc.org/ValleyArts.htm.
“The Artists Network page is the continuation of our efforts to create a
community in the Valley where the arts are part of everyday life,” says
ValleyArts Director Nathea Lee. “We are really fortunate to have many
artists living, working and caring about the work ValleyArts and its
partners – HANDS, Valley Settlement House, Arts Unbound, Studioworks,
Orange Board of Education and the City of Orange – are doing to breathe
life into the Valley Arts District. We want to create a place on our
website to showcase their work.”
ValleyArts will be reaching out to artists for inclusion in our Artists
Network and looks forward to welcoming greater participation. For
information, contact Dorothy White:
Dorothy@handsinc.org.
February 2, 2007 – HANDS, Inc. announced that its
latest mixed-use arts space will be available for lease this spring.
Located in the heart of the burgeoning “Valley Arts District” in Orange,
NJ, 542 Freeman Street will include a 1325 sf storefront on the first
floor and a similarly sized second-floor loft apartment. The building is
anchored by Blackberries II, an African art gallery and gift shop at 540
Freeman Street and Arts Unbound, an art gallery and workshop for adults
living with disabilities at 544 Freeman Street. The businesses are
associated with ValleyArts, a community-based collaborative organized by
HANDS that is utilizing the arts to promote economic and cultural
revitalization in Orange.
Once
known as the West Orange Brass Company, the Freeman Street complex is part
of the Valley Revitalization Initiative, a plan proposed by HANDS to usher
in a renaissance for Orange that is centered in the Valley neighborhood
spanning Orange and West Orange. The plan includes development of up to
100 arts-related spaces in several abandoned and underutilized industrial
sites. “We want the Valley to become known as a destination for visitors
and as a vibrant community for artists and non-artists to live, work and
enjoy the arts,” according to HANDS’ founder and executive director Pat
Morrissy.
“Working closely with residents, educators, artists,
city leaders and a committed cadre of volunteers, ValleyArts has education
programs in the schools, helps create a favorable climate for arts-related
businesses to succeed and produces cultural events throughout the Valley
and beyond,” ValleyArts director Nathea Lee added.
ValleyArts’ programming Partners include: The City of
Orange, Orange Board of Education, Arts Unbound, Communities in Schools of
NJ/Studioworks, HANDS, Inc., and Valley Settlement House. Specific
ValleyArts programs and activities are designed to provide opportunities
for talented high school students to acquire artistic skills and
employment in the arts; expose middle school students to a wide range of
creative options; create opportunities for artist residencies in the
schools; increase recreation programs and events; attract arts-related
entrepreneurs; increase tax revenues; and revitalize streets in the Valley
neighborhood left desolate by abandoned and underutilized industrial
sites.
Morrissy stated that a subsidy could be available for
the right arts-related, first-floor tenant at 542 Freeman Street. The
commercial space would be perfect for a bookstore, gallery, or coffee
shop. It can be built out to specifications and has a full basement
suitable for storage or office space. He also added that the large
windows, 14’ ceilings, and spacious, open floor plan of the loft apartment
would be ideal for an artist to live and work. For leasing information,
contact HANDS Property Manager Marvin Wyche at (973) 678-3110. Additional
information about the Valley Revitalization Initiative is available at
www.handsinc.org/valley_renaissance.htm.
November 21, 2006 – Travelers along Scotland Road in
Orange, New Jersey’s Valley neighborhood are being greeted by a new sight:
a bright, colorful mural depicting young people engaged in creative
activities. The 8ft. X 12ft. artwork sits high atop the side of 540-A
Freeman Street, the home of Blackberries II, one of the burgeoning Valley
Arts District’s pioneering retailers.
Designed
by Montclair student-artist Andrea Williamson, the mural was produced this
summer by ValleyArts’ first class of apprentice-artists, under the
tutelage of master artist Russell A. Murray. More than a dozen students
from Montclair, Newark and Orange honed their skills in drawing, executing
and presenting public art projects as part of ValleyArts’ Studioworks
program. Communities In Schools of NJ established Studioworks during the
summer of 1999 in Newark, NJ. The program works in partnership with the
communities in which it operates.
Studioworks
was founded upon the premise that the arts are one of the most effective
ways of engaging youth in the learning process, and that employment
motivates and promotes self-sufficiency. To date, Studioworks has provided
over 300 Essex County youth with free training and summer employment in
the arts.
ValleyArts is a community organization that utilizes
the arts to promote cultural and economic development in the City of
Orange, NJ. ValleyArts Partners include: The City of Orange, Orange Board
of Education, Arts Unbound, Communities in Schools of NJ/Studioworks,
HANDS, Inc., and Valley Settlement House. The collaborative also includes
parents, community leaders, artists, educators and volunteers bringing
arts-related programs, services and events to the Valley neighborhood
bordering Orange and West Orange.
Specific ValleyArts programs and activities are
designed to enhance educational achievement; offer students to a wide
range of creative options; increase cultural programs and events; attract
arts-related entrepreneurs; increase tax revenues; and revitalize streets
in the Valley neighborhood left desolate by abandoned industrial sites.
For more information, contact
Dorothy@handsinc.org or
973-678-3110.
On May 19th, 2006, Patrick Morrissy and ValleyArts
director Nathea Lee accepted The New Jersey Planning Officials Achievement
in Planning Award on behalf of all
who participated in creating the ValleyArts neighborhood plan.
Receiving the Wachovia Grant for $700,000 over 4 years
for ValleyArts are Denise McGregor Armbrister, Wachovia Regional
Foundation Executive Director; Vanessa Connor, ValleyArts Artists
Committee Chair; Cate Lazen, Arts Unbound Executive Director; Maxine
Singleton, Valley Settlement House Executive Director; Dorothy White,
HANDS staff; Nate Hutson, ValleyArts Events Committee Chair.
Nathan Parker, Orange Superintendent of
Schools; Maxine Johnson, Orange Board of Education member; Denise McGregor
Armbrister, Wachovia Regional Foundation Executive Director; Patrick
Morrissy, HANDS Executive Director; Mayor Mims Hackett, Jr., City of
Orange.
World Renown Jazz Master, Slide Hampton
and his Brazilian band – Slide Plays Jobim
From the left:
John Alford, Project Architect; Patrick Morrissy, HANDS Director; Mark
Miller, Project Contractor; Queen Pearson, HANDS Board Member; E.Michael
Taylor, Director of Essex County Division of Housing and Community
Development; Lavonne Burke-Douse, HANDS HomeBuyers Club Graduate and
Future Home Buyer; Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr, Essex County Executive; Gerard
Joab, Director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Greater Newark
and Jersey City; Mims Hackett, Jr., Mayor of the City of Orange.
HANDS, Inc.
has received Zoning Board of Adjustment approval to begin building on five
new single family home sites scattered throughout The City of Orange. The
County of Essex is providing $225,000 in Federal HOME funds to make the
homes affordable to low and moderate income, first time buyers. The Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is lending HANDS $464,000 to
finance the construction of the homes.
The sites
were occupied by eyesore properties that had been abandoned for years.
The structures were so deteriorated that they had to be torn down. The new
single-family homes replacing them will range in size from 1350 square
feet to 1700 square feet. Each new home will have three bedrooms and two
baths.
“These new
homes are the result of a dynamic partnership between the City of Orange
and HANDS,” said Thurmon Cohen, HANDS’ Director of Operations. “All five
properties became City owned, following foreclosure for nonpayment of
property taxes," he said. "They were a blight on the community,
discouraged homeowners from investing in their own properties, and they
created a strong disincentive for businesses to invest in the area.”
The project,
known as "Cornerstone Homes," is scheduled to begin in September at 376
Hawthorne Street, 133 North Day Street, 29 Oakwood Avenue, and 504 South
Jefferson Street. One more is being finalized. It will take an
estimated six months to complete each one – building will start on the
first two homes in October. When completed, the five homes will be
affordable to low and moderate income homebuyers at $165,000. Buyers will
be graduates of the HANDS First Time HomeBuyers Club. These will be the
first single-family detached homes to be built in Orange over 20 years.
Read more about it.
Susan Bass Levin, Commissioner of the NJ Department of Community Affairs, presented the HANDS Board and Staff with the Governor's 2004 Excellence in Housing Award for Community Revitalization, recognizing HANDS' success
in revitalizing the East Ward and Valley neighborhoods in Orange. Read the
press release.
Slideshow of Recent Activities: The Bigg Event - May 21, 2005 Neighborworks 2005 - June 11, 2005
ValleyArts - This was the launch extravaganza of
ValleyArts, a dynamic community arts program throughout the Valley.
ValleyArts partners announced their three year program that will attract
artists to the Valley and bring arts energy into the schools, the parks, the
streets and to Valley Settlement House. Learn
more here.
New Jersey Future's Smart Growth Awards 2005 Event. From left: Ralph
Izzo, President and Chief Operating Officer – PSE&G; Patrick
Morrissy, Executive Director – HANDS, Inc.; Dwight Holmes, Chair, Planning Board – Orange; Patrick Gillespie, New Jersey Smart Growth Ombudsman; Jewel Thompson Chin, Business Administrator – Orange; Leroy Webster, Community Advocate and Valley resident; Susan Borg, Director of Planning – West Orange; Susan McCartney, President – West Orange Council; Mayor John McKeon - West Orange; Ron Westin, Chair Planning Board – West Orange.
Read about the Smart Growth Award
given to HANDS by New Jersey Future on May 4, 2005. ******************************************
More good news for the Oranges and the revitalization efforts of HANDS!
On December 7, 2004 at the Valley Settlement House (33 Tompkins Street, West Orange), New Jersey Governor Codey, Orange Mayor Mims Hackett and West Orange Mayor John McKeon held a press conference announcing that The Valley Revitalization Plan has been approved by the State and that HANDS is the first not-for-profit organization designated as a recipient for donations that qualify for New Jersey’s Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credits. This means that corporations can now donate money to support HANDS' efforts in revitalizing the Valley and receive a 50% tax credit. This represents an incredible opportunity to bring increased dollars into the community!
Mayor Mims Hackett, HANDS Director Patrick Morrissy, PNC Bank Senior Vice
President William Best, Governor Richard J. Codey, DCA Commissioner Susan
Bass-Levin at Valley Settlement House.
According to Pat Morrissy, " The Valley Revitalization Plan was approved by
the state, making us the first organization and neighborhood to receive plan
approval under the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Act. PNC
Bank stepped up in a big way and made a $250,000 tax credit contribution in
support of two of our projects in the Valley - The Brass Company and Harvard
Printing site."
LISC Recognizes HANDS with Neighborhood Impact Award
The year ended on a high note for HANDS, Inc.The non-profit community development corporation, serving the cities
of Orange and East Orange, was honored with the 2003 Neighborhood Impact Award from the Local
Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) at an awards ceremony that took place
at Drumthwacket, the official residence of the Governor of New Jersey.
According to Gerard Joab, Program Director for Greater Newark/Jersey
City LISC, HANDS was recognized as an “exemplary CDC whose work has had a
significant long term impact on the revitalization of their community.”HANDS has built or rehabilitated 78 homes in
Orangeand
East Orange, all which have been sold to first time homebuyers.Gerard Joab and Joyce Harley, Program Director for New Jersey
Multi-Cities LISC and Lewis Hurd of Fleet Bank were there to present the
award to HANDS’ Board Co-Chairman and
East Orangeresident, Mustapha Sandi.In his
acceptance speech, Mr. Sandi praised HANDS for taking on the abandoned
properties with multiple title obstacles that no one else wants to deal
with, “those are usually the properties that are the biggest and most long
standing eyesores in a neighborhood and once they are acquired by HANDS and
rehabilitated they have a positive high-impact on the
neighborhood”.
HANDS Executive Director, Patrick Morrissy remarked,
“It’s truly an honor to receive such an award from LISC”, currently
the nation’s largest nonprofit supporter and funder of economic
development activities across the country with 25-years of proven strategies
for investing and turning around high-risk neighborhoods.LISC is successful by combining corporate, government and
philanthropic assistance to provide community development corporations with
the necessary resources to revitalize underserved communities.
Community Leadership Awards are given annually to
those exceptional individuals and groups who have given so much to the
community of Orange and East Orange.
Once
known as the West Orange Brass Company, the Freeman Street complex is part
of the Valley Revitalization Initiative, a plan proposed by HANDS to usher
in a renaissance for Orange that is centered in the Valley neighborhood
spanning Orange and West Orange. The plan includes development of up to
100 arts-related spaces in several abandoned and underutilized industrial
sites. “We want the Valley to become known as a destination for visitors
and as a vibrant community for artists and non-artists to live, work and
enjoy the arts,” according to HANDS’ founder and executive director Pat
Morrissy.
Designed
by Montclair student-artist Andrea Williamson, the mural was produced this
summer by ValleyArts’ first class of apprentice-artists, under the
tutelage of master artist Russell A. Murray. More than a dozen students
from Montclair, Newark and Orange honed their skills in drawing, executing
and presenting public art projects as part of ValleyArts’ Studioworks
program. Communities In Schools of NJ established Studioworks during the
summer of 1999 in Newark, NJ. The program works in partnership with the
communities in which it operates. 
