Home Is Where the Hurt Was

*

Today, Councilman Peter McCaffrey says, the town is happy with its new neighbors.

"I think the original opposition, which was based on fear of the unknown, fear of people you didn't know, has gone away," said McCaffrey, a five-time mayor who has lived in Mount Laurel since 1972. "Most of that is behind us now."

Asked about the development recently, however, some residents continued to voice concerns over the apartments and its residents, but they declined to give their names, saying they didn't want to reopen the issue.

O'Connor, who created Fair Share Housing Development Inc., a nonprofit group that built the apartments, agreed that tensions had generally receded.

The concern now, he said, is how well residents adapt to their new homes.

"Many of the kids are doing fine in school, but like anywhere else there are some children who need extra counseling and help," he said. "Their mothers need help with day care, because it costs a lot more out here than it does in the inner city."

Most of the tenants are single mothers who work for medical, real estate and insurance firms, among other small businesses. Rents are based on their income.

Cruz, for example, pays 40% of her annual $27,000 salary to live in one of the split-level townhouses. Her neighbors on Faith Court pay similar rents.

Born in Camden, N.J., Cruz grew up in a neighborhood where drive-by shootings, drug dealing and prostitution were common. She moved in with a boyfriend after high school and had twins with him when still a teenager. He abandoned her.

"Surviving in Camden was tough," she said. "But everything changed one day when my girlfriend showed me an ad about affordable housing in Mount Laurel."

Cruz jumped at the chance to start over in a suburb with safe streets and good public schools. She applied for a two-bedroom apartment, along with thousands of other low-income people, and went through background checks. Eight months later, her application was approved.

Now she can't imagine living anywhere else.

On a quiet Sunday, some neighbors tended lawns. Others unpacked groceries from a trip to a mall. Cruz's daughters played in their bedroom as she relaxed and watched a football game in the living room. "We have roots now," she said.

The Mount Laurel court rulings were meant to help people like Cruz. And as Lawrence-Halley proudly strolled through the grounds recently, she described additional open spaces in Mount Laurel that would be ideal for day-care centers and more apartments.

"I hear my mother's voice all the time, telling me not to relax for one second," she said. "And I always try to listen to what she says. I'm not done with Mount Laurel."