NHA Helps to Beautify Newark

On Friday, April 20, 2007, an unusually sunny day, more than 300 NHA employees and 500 residents donned jeans and sweat shirts to beautify numerous affordable housing communities throughout Newark as part of Beautiful Newark. Beautiful Newark is much more than a one-day clean-up.  It is a larger campaign to encourage residents to take ownership and responsibility for a cleaner city.   In partnership with corporate sponsors, community-based organizations, the Newark Board of Education, and others, Beautiful Newark conceived April 20, 2007 as the start of a culture of cleanliness in Newark.  42,000 children were released early from school in order to participate in this historical city-wide effort.

The NHA fully embraced the mandate of Beautiful Newark as this effort nicely dovetailed with its recent initiative to thoroughly clean the interior and exterior of each building. Enhancing the curb appeal was the logical next step for the Authority.   This initiative also included the repair of fencing, sidewalks, and lighting and graffiti removal.  The Executive Management Team, janitors, accountants, lawyers, social workers and secretary pruned trees, organized transportation, and solicited donations from local vendors.  At the north ward’s Stephen Crane Village, residents and employees from Boiler Operations raked lawns, spread mulch and trimmed shrubs. White picket fences, erected by the staff of NHA’s Workforce Learning Center, now surround rows of blooming annuals at the Seth Boyden Family and Elderly residences.   The signage welcoming visitors to James C. White Manor is now flanked by a colorful assortment of tulips and daffodils thanks to the Family Services Division.

Keith Kinard, the Executive Director, recognized the employees at a volunteer luncheon for their dedication and resourcefulness in obtaining donations of plantings, flowers, and materials.  The NHA intends to participate in Beautiful Newark’s next city-wide event on Saturday, October 6 to plant a million bulbs in Newark.