Princeton Community Housing is unique among landlords. It provides not only homes, but a variety of services to meet its residents’ needs. Those needs expanded when COVID hit, but luckily PCH had just the right person in just the right place—Jordan Goodwin. With a dual Master of Social Work/Master of Divinity, she has just the right skill set and passion for the job.

Jordan started as an intern in 2018, working just five hours a week. To her, the job was a real-world extension of her ministerial calling to serve others. She was also doing research on housing and homelessness for her MSW at the time and thought the job would be a perfect opportunity to learn and do more. She was right.

Later that year, she was offered a permanent position. “I’m really grateful that I did take the job. This is a landlord like I have never seen before,” Jordan stated. (PCH) really knows its residents…very much feels like a family.”

Her job as social services coordinator is to connect people to the resources that they may need. This involves working with local, county, state, and federal organizations. “It takes a lot of time and energy to try and figure out what resources will meet someone’s needs and whether or not that agency will be able to pull through for them…when we are able to assist a struggling household, that is the most rewarding part of my job.” She also pointed out that she gets “great assistance from the property managers who are amazing.”

Still, when the pandemic hit, not only did the number of people needing assistance increase, but the type of assistance changed. When asked how she knew what resources to call upon, she recounted what happened early on. Two organizations, Princeton Human Services and Princeton Children’s Fund got together and recruited social workers and caseworkers from different local community organizations to work together both in problem-solving and as a means to share knowledge and resources. Jordan was asked to be a part of this group.

What stood out for her was the emphasis on understanding “the depth and details of the stories. (We were) not trying to put people in boxes or just look at the numbers…We were looking at the person, not just the statistic…you find out that there are many layers of need that may go unaddressed.”

Another key aspect to helping residents during COVID that Jordan has been excited about is the creation of the PCH Covid Emergency Rental Relief (CERR) fund. “To me, this fund allows us to make an even greater impact for our residents.” Jordan continued, “I would really hope that we can keep some kind of in-house assistance fund available long term.”

While the demands of her job have been very high at times, she has seen examples of great kindness as well. Jordan shared one case that she would remember forever about the substantial generosity of a community member. “It reminds me of how powerful community connections can be and how much of a difference someone can make for a neighbor in need.”

Jordan is honored to work for Princeton Community Housing which continues to play that role of care and generosity for many of our neighbors in the community.