Catholic Campaign for Human Development Honors New Jersey Lawyer for 30-Year Effort to Secure Housing for the Poor
WASHINGTON (February 7, 2003) -- Peter J. O'Connor will receive the Year 2003 Sister Margaret Cafferty Development of People Award for his relentless efforts to establish decent housing for the poor in southern New Jersey. The award is given annually by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the domestic anti-poverty program of the Catholic Bishops of the United States. It will be presented here February 9 at the opening plenary session of the Annual Catholic Social Ministry gathering.
Mr. O'Connor is the founder and executive director of Fair Share Housing Development, Inc., of Cherry Hill, N.J. A non-profit corporation, Fair Share Housing built and now manages more than 800 units of affordable rental housing in Camden, New Jersey, and the surrounding suburban region. He was also one of the lead attorneys in two landmark state Supreme Court decisions, known as "the Mount Laurel Doctrines," which require each community in the state to provide affordable housing opportunities for all citizens. The practical effect has been to integrate suburban towns, such as Mount Laurel Township.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Camden said, "I know of no individual who has influenced public policy more in providing housing for the poor than Peter O'Connor."
Mr. O'Connor explains his 30-year quest for affordable housing as a moral issue, saying, "The major concern in my life is the elimination of racial injustice and concentrations of poverty." As a collegiate basketball player in the early 1960's, he was disturbed by the off-court segregation that was an accepted part of the era. A post-law school Rotary International fellowship to Argentina underscored the disparity between high income people and the vast majority of those living in poverty. "I came home to New Jersey to the 1967 race riots in Newark and realized that segregation was at the heart of the problem." His career has been dedicated to public interest law through Fair Share Housing Center, Inc, a non-profit law center he founded in 1975. His work has focused on legal, economic and practical efforts to integrate communities.
"School busing is a daytime solution to segregation," says Mr. O'Connor, "but affordable housing on a regional basis is a permanent one. And while housing gives people an entry into a better life, we need to help residents develop the skills to take advantage of the increased opportunities." People living in Fair Share housing receive social services, educational support, recreational outlets and parenting help.
Mr. O'Connor says that his current work involves legal challenges "to state and municipal efforts to perpetuate segregation by adopting policies that undercut their constitutional obligation to provide access to affordable housing."
He is undeterred by the state budget process that seems to pit environmental concerns against the needs of the poor. "I know that Fair Share's work is the moral and correct thing to do," says Mr. O'Connor. "When I see a child in the Mount Laurel homes, I know she has a chance, but I can't say the same for the child in inner-city Camden."
The Sister Margaret Cafferty Development of People Award, named in memory of the late Presentation Sister who served as executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and a member of the Catholic Bishops' Committee for CCHD, honors an individual whose life exemplifies a commitment to the development of people and the elimination of poverty. Recipients of this award have made significant contributions to human development in the recognition of poverty and have offered heroic responses to the needs of the economically disadvantaged. The award was established in 1987 as the Development of People Award. In 1997 it was renamed in Sister Margaret Cafferty's honor shortly after her death.
Father Robert Vitillo, CCHD Executive Director, said, "Peter O'Connor's persistence in working for affordable housing is a tangible expression of the CCHD mission to help people break the cycle of poverty. He and Fair Share have challenged others to move beyond rhetoric and implement actual solutions to the persistent problem of segregation." Father Vitillo will present the award to Mr. O'Connor.
CCHD is the largest private funder of anti-poverty programs controlled by the poor in the United States. The Catholic Bishops of the United States established the Campaign in 1970 to support self-help efforts of low-income people, to address the root causes of poverty and bring to life both Scripture and the Church's social teaching. Since then, CCHD has distributed more than $260 million in grants nationwide to more than 4,000 projects dedicated to helping people overcome their own poverty.
For additional information, contact Barbara Stephenson, CCHD, 202-541-3364, bstephenson@usccb.org