Stronger Together

The magnitude of the destruction left by Tropical Storm Ida had not been seen in New Jersey since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Tropical Storm Ida left Route 1 in Lawrencecompletely underwater, destroyed homes in Mullica Hill from tornados, flooded TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, left commuter trains unusable, and became New Jersey’s deadliest storm to date.

In the wake of natural disasters, NJ Realtors® is there to help support homeowners throughout the Garden State. The day after Tropical Storm Ida wreaked havoc, the association sprang into action conducting safety calls to local boards/associations and disaster response team members to assess damage in their areas. A few days later, NJ Realtors® applied for grant monies from the Realtors ® Relief Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to providing housing-related relief to those impacted by disasters. The application was approved just days later.

As of Oct. 20, 471 NJ Tropical Storm Ida relief applications have been submitted and over $130,000 in grants has been distributed to help homeowners. Our disaster response team has been hard at work reviewing applications to see if they fit the requirements for mortgage assistance or temporary shelter.

This is all thanks to the Realtors® Relief Foundation, which is also commemorating its 20th anniversary this year. The foundation began with the goal to help families remain in their homes following the deadly 9/11 terrorist attacks. Since then, the foundation has helped more than 17,000 families remain in their homes. Currently, the Realtor® Relief Foundation is running a 20-year commemorative campaign, Hope Rising. Current NAR President and NJ Realtors® Past President Charlie Oppler is spearheading this campaign with his own call to action—Charlie’s Challenge. He’s calling on all Realtors ® to donate to the foundation and to take the lead before the need.

I hope the disaster work the RRF has been doing in our own state encourages you to support the foundation. If you have the means, I encourage you to donate towards the foundation’s $8.5 million goal. Any amount helps. You can donate at nar.realtor/rrf.