By Orlando Salas, FSHC Communications Strategist

Monarch Housing Associates is a nonprofit organization focused on creating affordable and supportive housing, as well as building and implementing plans to end homelessness. Their Housing Development Team has 30 years of experience working with clients to develop affordable and mixed-income rental housing for seniors, families and persons with special needs. Through their work, more than 3,000 units of affordable rental housing has been created and/or preserved in New Jersey.

Affordable housing developed by non-profit organizations like Monarch offers significant advantages. Nonprofits typically prioritize long-term affordability and work closely with local residents to ensure housing solutions address the unique needs of their community. They frequently offer additional services such as job training and healthcare. Many nonprofit developers are also better equipped to advocate for the needs of diverse communities.

Monarch exemplifies the best of nonprofit development. Their vision is for every person to have quality affordable, permanent housing that fosters freedom, independence and community integration. That’s why public policy and advocacy are core components of their work. Their support helped to get A4/S50, New Jersey’s landmark bill to greatly increase affordable housing production, passed earlier this year.

Heading the organization is CEO, Taiisa Kelly. She first joined Monarch in 2007 as a member of the Homelessness Planning Team, working with local governments, nonprofits, and community stakeholders to develop coordinated strategies to end homelessness. In 2019, she was appointed CEO of the organization. Taiisa is a dedicated advocate for social justice who has assisted Monarch in expanding services to include strategic planning, grant writing and administration, system oversight, project monitoring, innovative program development, and data analysis.

Learn more about Monarch and hear from Taiisa herself: