LISC New Jersey to Lead Paterson One Square Mile Housing Plan

Paterson One Square Mile (OSM), a comprehensive, cross-sector collective impact initiative guided by Montclair State University, today announced a significant expansion of its work by selecting LISC New Jersey (LISC-NJ) as the lead organization for its strategic housing component. The Paterson OSM initiative encompasses multiple integrated projects focused on equitable outcomes in housing, health, and economic opportunity, and has designated LISC-NJ to guide the implementation of its community-led strategic action plan, “Housing in Paterson One Square Mile: A Foundation for the Future.”

Supported by funding from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the strategic action plan outlines five key housing goals:

• Expand Housing Affordability
• Increase Supply and Stability
• Improve Housing Quality
• Create Housing and Safe Neighborhoods
• Build Assets and Wealth

As the lead organization for the housing initiative, LISC-NJ will serve as the backbone agency for this specific collective impact component. Its key responsibilities include guiding the housing plan’s implementation, convening and coordinating partners focused on housing, managing related data collection, and securing the financial resources needed to support these goals.

“LISC New Jersey brings experience as a Community Development Financial Institution and a hyperlocal focus to this partnership,” Bryan Murdock, associate vice president for community partnerships at Montclair State University, says. “Their expertise will help bring this community-driven housing plan to life as a critical piece of the larger OSM strategy, and we look forward to working side-by-side to implement it.”

LISC-NJ, established in 1986, has a long history of supporting under-resourced communities. The organization has invested more than $487 million in low- to moderate-income communities throughout New Jersey, leveraging $1.5 billion to help create more than 5,000 units of housing.

“We are honored to be selected and are ready to get to work on this vital housing component,” says Jorge Cruz, executive director of LISC-NJ. “We believe deeply in the power of this plan, which was built by the community. Our role is to convene, support, and help mobilize the resources needed to create a more equitable and thriving Paterson, starting with the foundation of safe, stable, and affordable housing.

The partnership marks a pivotal next step in moving from planning to action, as local leaders and partners unite behind a shared vision for equitable housing and stronger neighborhoods in Paterson.

“This is a great moment for the Paterson One Square Mile team that brings university and community together,” says Jonathan Koppell, president of Montclair State University. “The planning process showed what’s possible when residents, partners, and institutions like Montclair come together around a common purpose. Now, with LISC-NJ joining as the lead on the critical housing piece, we have the opportunity to turn that shared, multi-dimensional vision into real, integrated change for the people of Paterson.”

Paterson One Square Mile is an initiative of Montclair State University that seeks to create change by comprehensively addressing the needs of the community in a defined area, demonstrating that change is possible when we work collaboratively to take on complex challenges.