CHERRY HILL (KYW Newsradio) — The independently run chapters of Habitat for Humanity in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden and Mercer counties are now working as one, called Habitat for Humanity of South Central New Jersey.
Lori Leonard, CEO of the consolidated Habitat for Humanity chapter, said combining the four will help unite resources and expand the overall reach of the organization, which is dedicated to finding permanent homes for people struggling with housing.
“For us, what this does is it gives us an additional geographic service area,” said Leonard.
All Habitat for Humanity affiliates are under the umbrella of the international organization, but they operate independent of one another. The new partnership in South Jersey specifically brings Camden and Atlantic City into the fold.
“We now have the opportunity to use our resources and our knowledge and our experts to help us build and serve those communities,” said Leonard.
The executive director of the Camden County chapter, Jeff Mihalek, said they have been understaffed for years. Atlantic City is plagued with the same problem. It’s limited the impact both chapters could have, but the new merger will solve the issue.
“Partnering with Lori and her development team, her staff, has been able to access more resources and more staff to be able to do more,” said Mihalek.
The new service area for Habitat for Humanity South Central New Jersey will include more than 100 municipalities across the four counties.