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Unified Vailsburg Services Organization

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Unified Vailsburg Services Organization

Newark, NJ

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Although it is home to an apartment complex that houses 10,000 people, the Ivy Hill neighborhood of Newark’s Vailsburg section lacked even a single child care facility for its preschool children. That was a situation the Unified Vailsburg Services Organization (UVSO) was determined to change.

Founded in 1972, UVSO is a neighborhood-based human community development agency that provides a wide range of programs and services to build a stronger and more stable Vailsburg. When UVSO decided to build a new child care facility in Ivy Hill—and realized it would need a lender that would finance almost 100 percent of the project’s costs—it turned to three local CDFIs with a longtime commitment to economic development in Vailsburg.
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Since the early 1990s, the three CDFIs—Leviticus 25:23 Alternative Fund Inc., Local Support Initiatives Corporation, and New Jersey Community Capital—had financed several community development projects for UVSO, including a six-classroom child care facility in another part of Vailsburg. For the Ivy Hill project, the three partnered to provide $4.8 million in construction financing. Prudential is providing permanent financing.

With 14 classrooms for preschool and infant/toddler care, the new Ivy Hill facility is providing an invaluable service to the neighborhood—and enabling apartment owners to attract new tenants who need a preschool nearby. “Leviticus, New Jersey Community Capital, and Local Support Initiatives Corporation have been critical to UVSO’s success,” says Michael Farley, UVSO’s Executive Director. “They have opened doors and given UVSO momentum to complete these projects. If they had said no, if their risk tolerance was lower, I don’t know that we’d be in real estate development of any kind.”