Every year MEND must raise funds to fill the gap between the income we receive from our below-market rents and the expenses that we incur to keep the doors open and the lights on. MEND’s longevity is in no small part due to the tremendous generosity of the thousands of charitable donors who have been so kind to us over the years.

As MEND celebrates our 40th Anniversary in 2009, we wish we could tell you that the need for affordable housing in Burlington County is declining; that the development and financing of such housing is getting easier; and that the statutory, regulatory and legal environment for affordable housing production in our state is much simpler now than it used to be.

Unfortunately, we cannot tell you any of these things because, in each case, the exact opposite is true. The need for affordable housing is growing by leaps and bounds; the development process gets longer and more difficult each day; new construction and building maintenance are becoming more expensive; sources of public and private financing for new affordable housing are harder to find; and New Jersey’s continuing legal and political struggles with court-mandated affordable housing obligations (which began in 1975 with the NJ Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel I decision) are now in their third decade with no end in sight.

MEND is not immune from the strong, cold winds that are blowing through our national and state economies. Financial loss and hardship are all around us. The people we house now and the people who are waiting for our housing to become available need MEND now more than ever. As usual, we turn to our good friends and generous financial supporters and we ask you to open your hearts and your checkbooks and help MEND to continue our long-standing affordable housing mission in Burlington County. Our low-income residents who are struggling to keep their heads above water in this harsh climate need your support now more than ever.