A QUARTERLY UPDATE FOR

SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS OF

PRINCETON COMMUNITY HOUSING

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR |

Edward Truscelli

Dear Edward,

Summer is a time for growing, and that goes for PCH too!

Thanks to generous funding from the Princeton Area Community Foundation as part of the Summer Initiatives effort, 39 children and teens residing in PCH communities received financial assistance to participate in and benefit from quality summer enrichment programs of their family's choosing. Whether attending summer camp or taking a music lesson, our youth are growing.

Resident gardeners at Elm Court and Harriet Bryan House made their horticultural magic happen in the Community Garden, and this year, offered their bounty as part of a multilingual free Farmer's Market stand available to their neighbors. They're not only growing herbs, flowers and vegetables, but our residents are growing community too.

And once more, students residing at Princeton Community Village and Griggs Farm shined at our recent celebration where they received $44,000 in funding as they pursue their educations. Our young scholars are growing their futures - and we couldn't be more proud!

Lastly, we're sowing seeds of success at our upcoming fall benefit "Community Roots, Opportunity Blossoms" on Friday, September 27 at Morven Museum & Garden. We hope you can join us!

We are grateful to YOU as we grow our organization, renewing our dedication to equal housing opportunities in Princeton and helping our vibrant and diverse community flourish.

Sincerely,

Pictured (left to right) are Dr. Bruce Johnson, Administrator, Affordable Housing Management Association Scholarship Program; Edward Truscelli, PCH Executive Director; Naomi Bazar (Mercer County Community College); Enmanuel Guzman Zambrano (Rider University); Bianca Orostizaga (University of Hartford); Isaiah Nazario (College of New Jersey); Oliver Malkowski (College of New Jersey); Monique Jones, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart; Maiyin Hobgood (Rider University); and Sara Just, PCH Trustee and Chair of the Princeton Community Village Management Committee. Other resident student recipients not pictured are: Kelly Kapatsoulia (Kean University); and Htway Min (Drew University). Collectively, eight students received $44,000 in scholarship funding.

On Wednesday evening, August 7, Princeton Community Housing celebrated eight students awarded scholarships totaling $44,000 from the NAHMA and JAHMA Foundations, hosted at the Center for Modern Aging’s Nancy S. Klath Center for Lifelong Learning. These students join the over 160 students who have resided in PCH’s Princeton Community Village (PCV) and Griggs Farm communities over the past 17 consecutive years to receive scholarships. They are eligible because PCV and Griggs Farm are affiliated properties of NAHMA, the National Affordable Housing Management Association, and JAHMA, the New Jersey Affordable Housing Management Association.  

In her opening remarks, longtime PCH Trustee and program emcee Sara Just highlighted that in total, just shy of a million dollars has been won by students residing at PCH properties. She credited the vitality and vibrancy of the community for this great triumph.

Following welcomes from Just and PCH Executive Director Edward Truscelli, keynote speaker Monique Jones, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, centered her remarks to the audience of students, family members, residents, PCH trustees, and friends about the power of “We”. 

Jones encouraged student recipients not only to celebrate their individual achievement that they worked hard to attain, but to recognize that it was not done alone. “I hope that you will take the lesson that your continued success is in partnership with others and working together behind a common purpose or goal,” she said, “so that when it becomes your turn to do it for someone else, you will remember the essence of community. You will remember the power of We.” 

Jones also noted that she was delighted to know personally many of the students from her time as the Director of Community Outreach with Princeton Public Schools several years ago. 

Dr. Bruce Johnson, Administrator at JAHMA and NAHMA, then introduced the program’s scholarship winners with personal anecdotes and highlights of students’ accomplishments for each. He remarked that since the JAHMA scholarship program began in 2002, it has provided just under $3.4 million dollars in awards to 760 students, and NAHMA had provided almost $1.4 million dollars.

He added that students residing at PCH properties often receive the lion’s share in the state and nationally, which he credited to the individual hard work, the community’s culture and PCH’s mission and commitment to support its residents.  In 2024, each NAHMA recipient received $3,500, and JAHMA recipients were eligible to receive up to $5,000 to pursue higher educational and vocational opportunities at accredited educational institutions.

This year's annual benefit theme highlights the importance of having a place to call home – whether a house or a larger community - in which to grow and thrive. 

Just as a well-tended garden nurtures seeds and helps them take root, a richly diverse and inclusive community creates opportunities for growth and success in life, benefiting everyone.

Providing affordable homes ensures that our community is a place where people from all backgrounds can put down roots, contribute to its vibrancy, enhance its ‘ecosystem’, and grow and blossom by accessing and adding to our abundant resources.

Pictured are members of the Event Committee: (l. to r.) Georgette Sturam, Ashley Lyu, Caroline Travers (Chair of the Event Committee), Abreah Hill, Ed Truscelli (PCH Executive Director), Sara Just, Karen Jezierny, (Chair, PCH Community Board), Sonia Chadha, and Liz Hock. Additional committee members not pictured are Holly Bauer, Daniela Bonafede-Chhabra, Karen Delk, Margaret Griffin, and Alice Small.

PCH WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

Alicia Defreitas

Alicia M. Defreitas, a seasoned professional administrator who has worked in the nonprofit humanitarian sector her entire career, has joined Princeton Community Housing’s senior leadership as its Director of Finance and Administration. She succeeds Janet McClafferty who capably served in the role for nine years and is transitioning to her retirement. Defreitas will round out PCH’s senior management team including Executive Director Edward Truscelli and Director of Mission Advancement Kate Bech.

Recently, Defreitas served as the Finance Director, Global Infectious Disease for the Henry M. Jackson Foundation which is dedicated to advancing military medicine. She also worked with the Catholic Medical Missions Board (CMMB), an international nonprofit organization that provides global health services to the world’s poor with an emphasis on mothers and children. Additionally, she served as the controller for Orbis International, a global humanitarian organization dedicated to saving sight and blindness prevention and worked with other nonprofits with a focus on reducing hunger and providing legal services. A former member of the Army National Guard for six years, she earned her B.B.A. degree in Accounting from Hunter College in New York City.

“We feel very fortunate to have Alicia on board,” Executive Director Ed Truscelli said, “she brings a wealth of experience and a wide range of skills to us, including strategic financial planning as well as operations, with focus on collaboration and team building.” In her role, Defreitas will manage PCH’s resources – financial and human – leading accounting, audit, and compliance functions, and overseeing human resources, information technology, and other administrative systems that support the success and work of PCH.

“After sixteen years of near constant international travel in my career, I’d been thinking a lot about the meaning of home,” Defreitas shared, “so I didn’t hesitate to pursue this opportunity. The PCH mission resonates deeply with me, and I appreciate the difference an affordable home can make in transforming one’s life and how fundamental it is as a foundation for health, safety, security and success. While the nature of the role isn’t new to me, understanding how affordable housing communities are developed and resourced is - so I not only benefit from additional professional growth, for which I’m grateful, I’m also excited to contribute my experience and skills to this important cause.”  

What is the PCH Difference? It is Princeton Community Housing's commitment to providing supportive services and projects to improve quality of life, through community-based partnerships coordinated by PCH's licensed social workers and staff, that result in a stronger, healthier outcomes for our residents and communities.