Interfaith Neighbors Inc

1. To assist Monmouth County working families stave off homelessness through rental and mortgage assistance.
2. To ensure Monmouth County senior citizens have access to healthy, nutritious meals and companionship on a daily basis.
3. To expand the stock of affordable housing options in Monmouth County, specifically, the West Side neighborhood of Asbury Park.
4. To provide healthy food options, local employment, and community education about nutrition through the establishment of an urban farming program.
5. To help individuals launch their careers through personal development, specific career track training and mentoring.
6. To support economic investment on the west-side of Asbury Park though development initiatives, establishment of the Business Development Center, and support of local businesses and non-profit ventures.
7. To lead community investment in the west-side of Asbury Park through community planning and engagement initiatives.

1. Continue to provide direct rental and mortgage payments to landlords and mortgage lenders for up to 400 working families annually who are facing a short term financial crisis.
2. Continue to operate the Monmouth County Meals on Wheels program under contract with the county, serving over 1,100 meals daily with the assistance of 125 volunteers daily either door to door or at one of six congregate senior center sites across the county.
3. As a licensed home-builder, continue to identify and implement for-sale housing construction projects. This is accomplished working in partnership with the City of Asbury Park and the Township of Neptune in identifying under-utilized properties to be developed in conjunction with their master and redevelopment plans. In the short-term, complete the implementation of the Parkview AP project (10 for sale properties, each with a single-family home and detached garage with 1 bedroom apartment).
4. Identify additional sites for the Kula Urban Farm - Farm Without Borders program, providing additional healthy food options and employment opportunities for local businesses. Grow the Green Thumbs Program by developing additional community partnerships with schools and youth programs for afterschool STEM education. Additionally, continue to expand community outreach with the Kula Urban Farm workshop series and Farm to Table Dinner series. Expand and improve the existing Kula Urban Farm site through the acquisition of the adjacent parcel of land and expansion of growing space, the addition of a three-season pavilion for education and community engagement and improvement of the existing on-site garage to include restrooms and a catering kitchen.
6. Grow the SOAR Career Development program to full capacity, moving from curriculum testing, to full implementation and the addition of 3 new career tracks.
7. Rebrand the Business Development Center as the Launch Center, reorganizing program offerings to include personal development workshops, entrepreneur mentoring and small business planning, and serving as an entry point for all Interfaith Neighbors employment programs (including Level Up, Kula Farm Experience and SOAR.)
8. With the completion in 2018 of the West Side Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan, work with our collaborative partners to implement the projects and programs identified in the plan, advocate for the neighborhood, and seek funding to support these initiatives.

IFN has been in operation since 1988. It operates its programs with a staff of 24 full time employees and 26 part time employees. Most staff have been members of the IFN team for 10+ years and are dedicated to their work and the organization's success. Additionally, most have come to IFN after successful careers in their fields of expertise, bringing decades of experience, relationships and knowledge to the organization.

IFN has a dedicated Board of Trustees that oversees the organization's budget and general operations. Annually, IFN establishes an operating budget that results in between $0.89 and $0.96 of every dollar contributed supporting a benefiting activity. Overall, in the current fiscal year, IFN's budget is $8.1 million. Annually, IFN's budget may increase or decrease significantly due to the implementation of housing and economic development construction programs.

IFN carries no long-term debt. In 2018, IFN established an endowment and seeded the fund with $400,000 in general funds. Additionally, a restricted endowed fund to support the Rental & Mortgage Assistance Program, our founding program, was established in honor of IFN's founder Joe Marmora. This fund was established as a result of a specific fundraising campaign, and was established with $150,000 and has since grown to $193,000.

IFN is proud of its collaborative relationships with both its funding agencies and non-profit partners. IFN has long-standing contracts with local, county and state agencies that support our programming. Many private foundations and corporations have supported IFN for many years. Additionally, in 2018, IFN led the completion of the West Side Comprehensive Neighborhood plan, funded by the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, and engaging residents, local and county government, and non-profit partners. In 2019, IFN was awareded a Wells Fargo Regional Foundation Implementation Grant in partnership with three other area non-profit partners. The grant provides five years of funding for the implementation of the many projects and initiatives identified in the comprehensive plan. In 2020, IFN was awarded a three year Building Healthier and More Equitable Communities grant from the Reinvestment Fund to enhance it's work in the West Side neighborhood.

IFN is currently under construction on the Parkview AP project will result in 20 units of housing in the form of 10 for-sale properties each consisting of a 3 bedroom home with a detached garage with a 1 bedroom apartment. A minimum of these properties will be sold as affordable, with the remaining sold at market rate targeting first time homebuyers. The Rights of Passage II home was completed in 2019 and provides housing for 5 homeless young women and is a companion to our previous Rights of Passage I project. Our Pathway to Homeownership project, a two-family home, leased to two income-qualified families seeking to become first time home-buyers, was completed in 2020. This project is important to improving the rate of homeownership versus tenancy in the community.
In 2019, IFN completed the West Side Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan. The two year planning process included parcel assessments and community surveys, and lays out strategies for the West Side neighborhood in the areas of Employment & Economy, Housing & Neighborhood Quality, Placemaking, Healthy Lifestyles, Youth & Education, & Communication. In 2019, IFN was awarded a 5 year $1.25 million implementation grant in collaboration with three other non-profit community partners.
Also in 2019, IFN launched a new career development program called SOAR, with two cohorts participating in the program. During year one, program curriculum was tested and modified, candidate vetting and recruitment techniques fine-tuned and additional career tracks and employer partners identified. Since then, the program has grown enrolling up to 30 program participants per year with 5 career tracks and at many employer partners.
In 2021, IFN announced the establishment of the Launch Center, which is a reorganizing of program offerings and rebranding of IFN's workforce development programs and our Business Development Center. Later in 2021, the rebranded Launch Center opened a new community resource space adjacent to the existing Business Development Center, offering individual career and personal development workshops, becoming the entry point for all IFN workforce development programs including Level Up, SOAR, Farm Experience and Entrepreneurs.
In 2021, IFN launched an $18,000,000 capital campaign to fund the three strategic projects tied to the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan including the expansion of the Kula Urban Farm, construction and added programming of an Early Childhood Learning Center for children 3 months to 3 years, and the Marmora Family Community & Education Center. The Marmora Center will house IFN's Meals on Wheels program including its commercial kitchen, a second Early Childhood Learning Center for children 3 years to 5 years, IFN's administrative offices, and 10-15 affordable rental apartment units.