Looking to New Jersey’s Future

April 9th, 2020 by Peter Kasabach

Creating strong, healthy, resilient communities

Dear Friends,

As we continue to face crisis and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, we can draw strength and knowledge from its emerging lessons.

For one, we are learning just how important and central “places” are to our lives. It might be the woods or neighborhood park where we go to escape alone for a few minutes or the bike path where we exercise with our family. It might be our child’s beloved community playground, our downtown square, or our favorite boardwalk along the beach that are currently off limits. It might be the street that we walk our dog down, wave to neighbors from, or hustle along to pick up essential goods. For many of us, it is the homes that we live in and the rooms that we have had to rethink and rearrange, which now double as our schools, offices, and play spaces.

We shape our places today and then they shape us forever. Every day we are revisiting our relationship with the spaces and places we have grown accustomed to and that have made us who we are—home, work, neighborhood, places to play and to be entertained. What made these places work for us before and how will our relationship to them change in a post COVID-19 world? How can we use the lessons learned and the new perspectives gained? How can we emerge stronger and more just?

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing with you the lessons that we are learning on how we can move from crisis to recovery while making New Jersey an even better place. And we look forward to working with you to turn those lessons into powerful new policies and practice that will make New Jersey stronger.

New Jersey Future has a history of helping communities emerge stronger from crises. We were there after Superstorm Sandy, taking the lead at every level of government in helping communities rebuild and become more resilient. We were there to address the recent crisis of lead in New Jersey drinking water, making our state’s communities healthier and safer. And we will be there during the COVID-19 recovery, leading efforts to create strong, healthy, resilient communities for everyone.

In strength and community,

Peter Kasabach
Executive Director

P.S. It’s more important than ever to stay connected. We’ll be updating njfuture.org regularly with important information and resources. Make sure you’re getting our newsletters and following us on social media. Please encourage others to do so as well. Above all, stay healthy and safe.