Town Clock CDC

The Town Clock CDC is concentrating its efforts this year on raising funds. Sound all too familiar? Yes! Well, with the funding cuts to all the social service agencies within New Jersey, all trust funds and grant providers for affordable housing are having difficulty. That means that we must concentrate our efforts to raise funds outside of these “typical” agencies, such as the city, county, and state. Frustrating, but it is the reality of the day.

With that being said, we invite you to consider philanthropists you may know, or persons who have board affiliations to organizations which provide grants. We would be delighted to hear about any contacts. This project is an amazing opportunity to do something unique to an historic structure. Just today, I explained to Erie about how the fire in the sanctuary in 1971 was laid by a man, whose girlfriend we were supporting. He was abusing her, and we were giving her shelter. Our choice for building 11 units of permanent supportive housing for women and their children stems from this event. What a wonderful way to make something good out of something that destroyed the interior so long ago!

Speaking of fundraising, we are also working on just letting folks know about this great project. In March, I was invited by Women Aware, Inc. to speak at their main fundraising breakfast. Three hundred people were in attendance! Wow! Perhaps you know of another such opportunity? Don’t hesitate to contact me, please.

MPG, our general contractor has been extremely caring regarding warranty and damage issues. Earlier last month, they replaced broken leaded glass in a door in the steeple that most of us do not even know exists (please see the attached picture). In addition, their subcontractor for painting the steeple louvers came right back when we discovered a small paint problem. Due to inclement weather, we are a little bit behind schedule regarding the replacement of the church roof.

However, we still believe the majority of the work to be accomplished before Easter. In addition, Paul Nulton will be back for the Sexton’s House this month. The current white color of the façade is just primer and will soon give way to a reddish brown with the shingles on the second floor dark brown. The amber of the trim will stay. In all this, we follow Margaret Westfield’s specifications. Remediation of groundwater following the removal of the underground oil tank is ongoing. We are currently in a phase of data collecting in order to decide on next steps. I am very happy that Lauren and Gary Bernhofer have accepted the appointment from Consistory to join me in a little Remediation Task Force. Lauren and Gary’s background in science has already provided great help in better understanding not only the reports from our contractor PTS but also the requirements from N DEP. I am also happy to report that we received this past month another reimbursement from the state for the work being done.

Unfortunately, as of now, there is no indication on when we might be able to close the case.

On July 16th, we were privileged to use the Crossroads Theater for a fund-raising concert we called A Spiritual Crossroads. The theater’s own name and philosophy inspired us to think about our congregation’s experience over the years of engaging with people from many origins and faith traditions.

Three of those origins and traditions were represented by the gifts of music at the concert. Raíces Cultural Center Ensemble played music from Afro-Cuban rumba spiritual masses and batá chanting and drumming from the Orishas or forces of nature. Jeanel LeBlanc sang hymns and spirituals originating in or important to the African American experience. And Wind of Anatolia played Turkish folk music in the Anatolian tradition. By evening’s end, audience members were dancing first in the aisles and then, at Pastor Susan’s invitation, on stage with Wind of Anatolia.

We truly experienced a time at a spiritual crossroads. And the historic preservation fund is $2,000 larger, thanks to ticket sales, to ads purchased for the program, and to donations beyond the ticket price.

Many thank-yous to many folks have been expressed, but we thank Ben Berman again for his leadership in planning and organizing the event, and Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission who, through the auspices of Johnson & Johnson, offered us the space and technical staff.

It has been another busy two months for the TCCDC, which I will just report with bullet points in order to make it easier on our readers.

1. Applications for various funds have been made to the Middlesex County Continuum of Care, Middlesex County Homeless Trust Fund, Johnson & Johnson Volunteer Grants, Housing Mortgage and Finance Agency, HOME Dollars through the city of New Brunswick.
2. The architectural agency Design Ideas met with the Consistory, presenting the next draft of their redesign plans.
3. Two program agencies have been identified as partners for the social services which will be offered to the residents. These are Women Aware Domestic Violence agency and University Behavioral Health Care. Meetings with these two social service providers have taken place in order to coordinate the program offerings.
4. An intern from Rutgers School of Social Work has joined the board for a year. His name is Jaime Johnson.

Following all this construction, there was some understandable damage: Tire grooves in the cemetery, broken tile pavers in the front of the church, and cracked handrails at the main entrance. Not all of this was caused by the construction work, but together with the new damages, it has reached a point where action is required. Fortunately both, MPG and D.D.S. proved to be very cooperative. D.D.S. filled in the tire grooves and organized the replacement of tile pavers, and MPG is producing a proposal for the handrails that takes into account the origin of the old and the new damages.
In September, MPG will continue to work on our premises when its teams will replace the church roof.

We hope very much for this to be completed by Christmas, so that we can celebrate our candlelight service in a newly restored environment.

Middlesex County Continuum of Care Grant – An application for this grant was submitted on June 13th with the request of $200,000. The TCCDC Board has been called in for a presentation the end of July. An announcement of the grant funding will come in the fall.

Johnson & Johnson Volunteer Grant – An application for this was completed June 28th and is made possible through Lauren Bernhofer’s volunteering at FRC. The amount may be up to $10,000 and is awarded in the fourth quarter.

There are still a few other grants that the CDC Fund-raising Team will be approaching in the next couple of weeks. Donations – John Keller has formulated a donations request letter which will be reviewed by the TCCDC Board at its next meeting.

Architectural Designs
There have been two meetings with the architectural agency Design Ideas Group, AIA (Jeffrey Venezia and Kevin Scott Dunn). At the first meeting, the regulations about the size of the permanent, supportive, affordable housing units and the amount of the units – at least ten – was of particular concern, as well as the entryway to the housing section. At the second meeting, Jeffrey Venezia, who had visited the church during a worship service and had sat in on the Visioning Event in June, felt that there needed to be some adjustments made to the developing design. There will be further meetings in July with the architect and another Visioning Event is planned for Aug 14th at noon.

There was some discussion about Design Ideas Group, AIA being the architectural firm for the re-design of the worship space in order to keep the communications flowing. Further discussions will follow.

Contracts and leases
All agreements – Lease with FRC, Contract with Lawyer Steven Hambro, READS, and Design Ideas Group, AIA are on hold until the loan approval with CSH has come in.

With that division being so determined, there are then many other incidentals to consider, some of which the RCA architect, David Cooper inspired us to reflect upon. Therefore, a special Visioning Event is scheduled for May 13, beginning at 6:00 pm with a potluck dinner and ending by 8:30 pm. Lauren and Gary Bernhofer, 24 Poplar Avenue, North Brunswick, have generously opened their homes for this event.

Please, if you need a ride, contact me and I will arrange a pick up. All our church members are welcome to attend, since this is about how our future sanctuary will be designed.

New Member-At-Large: Maria Paradiso, a Rutgers professor at the School of Social Work will be sitting at the board meetings and providing support, guidance, and suggestions. She comes with ample experience in community outreach and development.

The Finance Chair reported on our proposed budget. A collection of donations from the board members was made; $125 was received. Thus the Treasurer and President were able to open a bank account Amboy Bank on George Street, New Brunswick and to make a deposit.

Fund-raising: The board approved the recommendation to meet with the Finance Committee of First Reformed Church, requesting that the church be named as the CDC’s Guarantor for the $50,000 Pre-development Loan with the Corporation of Supportive Housing.

The board approved the final version of the application to become a Community Housing Development Organization with the city of New Brunswick. The application has been submitted to Glenn Patterson at the Department of Planning & Development.

A separate meeting with a small team for fund-raising was determined, which would then look into other grant and funding sources.

Progress may feel slow, but it is steady. And what is more important, it has proven to be sustainable! It is truly remarkable how far we have come.
Meanwhile, we have to thank Paul Nulton from our Regional Synod. He used his skills last month to renovate the little entry foyer to the Randolph Room. This means that, whenever we worship again in the Randolph Room, latecomers will not have to fear that the glass door entrance to the education building might be locked. It may very well be, but now we can enter the Randolph Room directly from the outside.

Finally, a thought regarding the often-asked question whether it is not more important to donate towards one of our ministries and programs instead of the Preservation Fund: In conversation with various potential donors, this question has come up again in recent weeks.

Here is my response: Our preservation project is not luxurious at all. It is neither a beautifying project, nor is it primarily something that satisfies historians or people with special aesthetic interest. From the church’s point of view, the main purpose of the project is to protect us from calamities like leaking roofs or more collapsing walls. The old truism applies in our case especially well: If we did not provide dry and safe space for our programs and ministries, we would not have these programs and ministries much longer.

To prove my point, I’d like to point out the brownstone windowsills that fell off the building on the Bayard Street side. There are currently no plans of putting them back in. Why not? Even though they are unsightly, still they do not pose a safety threat. We have filled the holes behind them. Unfortunately, we cannot afford energy or resources at this time to correct the situation.

Truly, even with this huge preservation project, we are doing only what is absolutely necessary to keep our interior dry and safe. We are at a point where every single donation towards the Preservation Fund benefits almost directly our programs, such as our family feeding “House of Manna”, the rotating homeless men’s shelter, or even our great lunchtime recital series. So that’s why our preservation project is so important!

We have added two new board members: John Keller and Ursula Cargill. John, who lives within the bounds of the city of New Brunswick, and thus meets the board’s requirement of having a of its membership from the city. John is also a great connecter to various other organizations, including Collaborative Arts Group. Ursula’s expertise is with finance and will be our board’s Treasurer. Already she and Stef have been communicating
back and forth regarding which financial program would be best to use. We are thankful to have each of them on the board.

We have received from the IRS our official nonprofit status. This was thrilling because of all the paperwork that the application required. We are thankful and glad that it is finally completed.

We have several applications for funding sent in and are waiting for approval – without this funding we are in a holding pattern for the drafting of the plans for the sanctuary re-design. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or anyone else who is serving on the CDC Board.

A very positive part of the project is that the city of New Brunswick has begun repairing the faces and hands of the “Town Clock.”

As we step into the new year, two special events are on the January calendar. First, on Jan 19th, the Board of City Market, the association of businesses and organizations that advocates for New Brunswick and works for improvements, will have their monthly meeting at First Reformed Church. As a member of the board, Pastor Hartmut has been invited to present the preservation project to the group. Sherri Novack has given him technical help with the PowerPoint presentation, and the whole Fund-raising Committee will prepare breakfast.

At the coffee hour on Jan 23rd, we as a congregation will say “thank-you” to a group of individuals who have helped the church substantially the last few years with everything from legal assistance to advice about fund-raising. We hope that many will be on hand to recognize these folks for their gifts of time, enthusiasm, and expertise.

On Dec 12th, our Adult Choir performed at the State Theatre of New Brunswick as part of the Irish Christmas show of Eileen Ivers. This gave us yet another opportunity to make the general public aware of our preservation project — the program had an insert with pictures from the construction site.

On Wednesday, Dec 15th, we had an interesting meeting of the City Council. That night, the Council resolved to use the current opportunity of scaffolding around our steeple to restore the four faces and the corresponding hands of the town clock. As you know, the City owns the clock to this day. The restoration is no easy enterprise! There are four faces, and each is larger than a person. The work entails not only painting, but also carpentry, as parts of the faces are in need of repair or even missing. It was very rewarding for Susan and me to attend the meeting of the City Council. It gave us an opportunity to speak and to have more conversation afterwards. Several of these conversations were continued the following day when we were guests at the Mayor’s Holiday Party at City Hall.

All in all, we can only be grateful for the role our church begins to play in town. Why is that important, you might ask? It is because it creates ties that benefit many. This year, we introduced our friends from Pine Grove Nursery School and from the Turkish Interfaith Dialog Center to the world of City Hall, and we hope that their arrival in town will make our wonderfully diverse community just a bit more complete. That’s what maps are all about — they should not have too many blank spots.

It was an ascent into dizzying heights. But I was impressed: together, we represented five levels of quality control. And the test was hard. Back on the ground, Margaret received us with a long questionnaire recording the answers in an extensive chart. It was especially helpful to have Glenn Ceponis as a state representative with us. After all, the State is spending as much money on the project as we are, and will have a natural desire for strict quality control. Similarly, it was good to have Tom Loughlin from the City of New Brunswick there. The City supports the project with $25,000 and restores the faces and hands of the clock in addition to this. Here, too, we can expect a natural desire for checking out the work.

Look also at the rest of the accompanying pictures. See how the steeple scaffolding dwarfs the two carpenters on it? Later, I took a close-up of the man. Too often, we pay respect only to the leaders of a project and not to those who are carrying out the physical work.

Then there is the aerial view of the education building. What looks imposing from street level is dwarfed from this perspective – almost a parable on life itself when viewed from the perspective of eternity.

Then see Christ Episcopal Church. I had to grin when I took the picture: The British may have taken our Dutch colony in 1664, but we are still taller!
Finally, enjoy the area views. The new Route 18 in the distance, the American flag shining through our scaffolding, the cemetery and the church entrance from above.

I also want to point out the angel head and the capitals on the wooden pillars and other details of that heavenly realm. You could not see any of this from the ground. Perhaps, these features were not really meant for human eyes to enjoy, but represent something like a praise offering to God whose house this is.

We are blessed to be able to do something for its preservation.

The Seventh Day Adventist congregation will be using the Randolph Room and a part of the Fellowship Hall on Saturdays starting in February. They are a group of folks from Kenya, but they are affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Livingston Avenue. The reason for them seeking another space is that they want to hold some of the worship in their own language.

Also, Sunday afternoons from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the Raices Cultural Center will be teaching music and dance. The co-directors are Francisco Gomez and Nicole Wines, both have been living and teaching in New Brunswick for many years now. They have already participated in two Lunchtime Recitals, and we are looking forward to their participation at the January inter-faith, multi-cultural dance event on Jan 22nd from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 pm.

During the congregational meeting on Oct 31st, a point was raised about seeking outside “Reformed” architectural expertise. John Coakley has been assisting us in that search. We are hoping to have a person lined up soon.

Finally, at the congregational meeting, a request was made that a survey of the congregation be made, which asks for their input as to how the re-designed sanctuary space should look like and what “must” be included. We hope to have something out to the congregation by the end of January, 2011.

The next steps include: determining which architectural firm to use; securing legal advice about writing a lease agreement between First Reformed Church and the CDC; developing a budget for 2011; securing funding and a pre-development loan; and settling the question about which population we will house in the units– with input from the congregation. There is still much to be done, and we oftentimes feel like we are moving slowly. We hope, though, that this slow pace will allow everyone to get acquainted with the project and its dreams. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask any of us on the board: Liz Hance, Ellen Hamilton, Joan Fekete, Stef Beemsterboer or myself.

It is truly amazing how many groups are seeking affordable space. It is our hope and vision to be able to accommodate many groups here in our buildings. Each one has their own constituency, which has proven beneficial in the long-run for supporting our facilities. As we have experienced in the past, our building usage groups have helped us out with upkeep, work days, painting, and donations. It is a true blessing to have so many groups interested.

The Board members (Elizabeth Hance, Ellen Hamilton, Joan Fekete, Stef Beemsterboer, Linda Lachesnez, and Pastor Susan) will review the designs. At some point we plan to present designs to the congregation, but we need to see how they develop.

In the meantime, we would like to have another Congregational Meeting in order to bring our membership up to date with what we have learned through many meetings and discussions. We know that the calendar is full so we propose a Congregational Meeting on Oct 31st after worship. We hope that many of you will be able to attend.