DV Journal

(From a press release.)

To help address the Philadelphia region’s persistent and growing need for affordable housing, especially for a population that is growing older and cannot always afford to age in place, Federation Housing Inc. broke ground on a new affordable senior living community in Bucks County.

Federation Housing, a non-profit that provides much needed affordable housing communities and services that empower low-and-moderate income seniors to live independently, joined with state and local officials and community supporters on Friday, July 12, to celebrate the groundbreaking of its newest senior community named the Daniel B. Green House, at 4695 Somerton Road in Trevose, Bensalem Township.

The 60-unit senior living community provides housing for individuals who meet low-income housing requirements, allowing older adults to remain close to family, friends, and neighborhood staples without fear of being priced out of their community.

“The senior population is an important part of any community and deserves the dignity to age in place, regardless of how much money they have in the bank,” said Eric D. Naftulin, Executive Vice President of Federation Housing. “Unfortunately, even in middle-class and wealthier communities within Bucks County, the affordable housing crisis is present and only getting worse.

“With the addition of the Daniel B. Green House, Federation Housing is proud to expand access to affordable, high-quality housing and enrich its relationship with the greater Trevose community.”

Naftulin was joined by several speakers including Bucks County Commissioner Robert J. Harvie Jr., Bensalem Township Council President Edward Kisselback, Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s CEO Robin Wiessmann, Federation Housing Board Member Richard J. Green, and Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s President Michael Markman.

“It is important for all the different pieces of funding and partnerships to come together to provide affordable housing,” said Wiessmann. “Federation Housing has a terrific track record of doing it well and helping to get people into affordable units.”

“The senior population is one of the fastest growing segments of our population in Bucks County,” said Harvie. “It is a challenge to find affordable housing throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, and we are really excited to have this development moving forward. It is a great example of a private public partnership doing good things in Bucks County.”

“This is a combination of federal, state and local groups working together to make this development happen,” said Kisselback. “This is a project of faith and love, and Federation Housing is providing a safety net for our seniors.”

The community is named for Daniel B. Green, the late Chairman of Firstrust Bank, local philanthropist and one of the original Board members of Federation Housing dating back to 1977. It will share property space with the Florence E. Green House –– an existing senior living community owned and operated by Federation Housing for more than a decade.

“My father’s lifelong commitment to community service has left an enduring mark,” said Richard J. Green, Executive Chairman and Owner of Firstrust Bank and Federation Housing Board Member. “He was dedicated to Federation Housing and its mission, and I know he would feel honored to be the namesake of this new community that will provide much-needed affordable housing for seniors. Having recognition of my parents’ legacies side-by-side with the Florence E. Green House and the Daniel B. Green House in Trevose is something I will forever cherish, and I’m excited to see their lasting impact on the community.”

In Bucks County, existing options for affordable housing are lagging. According to the 2023 Bucks County Housing Needs Snapshot report from Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, “there is a critical shortage of affordable homes in Bucks County” and that “for every 100 extremely low-income individuals in Bucks County, only 31 affordable rental homes are available to them.”

The new housing is expected to run $26 million for total development costs and it is union construction, officials said.

The County is also in a five-way tie for the state’s highest housing wage at $33.40 an hour. For those looking to own, the average Bucks home price is more than double Pennsylvania’s median home value.

“At Firstrust Bank, we recognize the urgent need for affordable housing solutions, especially in our Greater Philadelphia communities,” said Tim Abell, CEO and President of Firstrust Bank. “The Daniel B. Green House will help to fill a critical gap in housing availability for seniors in Bucks County. It is a privilege to provide the financing for its development, which will make a difference for the community and honor the memory of Firstrust’s former leader.”

In addition to the Daniel B. Green House, Federation Housing has developed, built, and currently manages 12 senior-living communities, serving more than 1,500 residents who meet the income qualifications and rent levels. Federation Housing acknowledges that even in large, wealthy counties, the affordable housing crisis is present and only getting worse.

“The amount of work that goes into these developments is incredible and Federation Housing does it again and again,” said  Markman. “These projects go a long way to helping the housing insecurity in this region.”

In addition to developing and managing affordable senior living, Federation Housing provides its communities with many programs and services for its residents including social services, free van transportation, meal programs, housekeeping services, religious activities, socialization services, recreational activities and many others.

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick had never thought about running for elected office. Then he saw the Biden administration’s chaotic — and deadly — withdrawal from Afghanistan last year and decided he had to do something.

“Seeing Afghanistan play out just grabbed our attention and just shook us,” said McCormick, who is married to Trump administration national security advisor Dina Powell. “My wife has done a lot of public service, too. She’s an immigrant to this country. We both lived the American Dream. And when we saw that playing out — the humiliation, the embarrassment, and the lack of accountability — it just shook me.

Dave McCormick with supporter Austin Hepburn.

“As a patriot, you ask yourself what can we do? We think this seat is so important to Pennsylvania. It’s so important to the country. As this seat goes, the country likely goes. Pennsylvania needs a strong leader in the Senate, a strong fighter in the Senate,” McCormick added.

McCormick told a group of about 50 at the VFW post in Bensalem on Saturday there are many reasons Washington, D.C. needs to change.

“There are so many aspects of the country that feel like it’s headed in the wrong direction. We have 40-year high inflation, which is the result of these socialist economic policies. And that hurts all of us, but it really hurts working families all across Pennsylvania.”

McCormick, who served as undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs under President George W. Bush, grew up on a family farm in Bloomsburg. His dad was chancellor at Bloomsburg University and chancellor for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

McCormick graduated from West Point and spent five years in the Army, where he served in the first Gulf War. He recently stepped down from his position as CEO of the hedge fund behemoth Bridgewater Associates.

McCormick has come under fire for his hedge fund’s investments in China, including an attack ad from a Dr. Mehmet Oz SuperPAC. But he noted that only 2 percent of Bridgewater’s investments were in China.

“China is the existential challenge of our time,” said McCormick. “It poses an economic risk. It poses a national security risk. We need a whole nation strategy to deal with it. And we need to reduce our dependence on China.”

Pharmaceuticals come from China and most semiconductors are made in nearby Taiwan. The United States’ investment and trade must not support the Chinese military or the oppression of its minority Uighurs, he said.

“The risk has grown in the last 10 years under (Chinese President) Xi,” he said. “Do you really want your drugs dependent on whether China is having a good day?

Meanwhile, America needs more skilled workers and must find a way for businesses to get capital to compete with Chinese businesses that are subsidized by the state.  More emphasis on technical training would help, he said.

“As military veteran…somebody who’s run businesses, created jobs, someone who’s served at the highest levels of government negotiating with China…That’s the kind of person you need to be able to go and fight in Washington.”

McCormick also discussed inflation, education, Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry, illegal immigration, China, Russia, and Ukraine.

And “the border situation is completely unsustainable,” said McCormick, who recently visited Yuma, Ariz., to see the situation first-hand. A year ago, there were 30 illegal border crossers caught every day at Yuma, he said. Now there are 1,000. The Border Patrol agents’ union has endorsed him.

“The border guards are completely overwhelmed,” he said. “Literally, people are just walking through.”

Deaths from fentanyl brought across the border are increasing, and so are related crimes.

“You all feel it here in Philadelphia and moving into the suburbs,” said McCormick.

On education, McCormick said, “I don’t recognize the history that’s being taught to our kids today, with parents not having adequate involvement. And I don’t recognize the cancel culture where you can’t have the right conversations and disagree. It’s a disaster…The American Dream we lived is not going to be available to our kids five years from now or 10 years from now.”

An audience member asked McCormick about the crisis with Ukraine and Russia.

“The world is more dangerous now than it’s ever been,” said McCormick. “I think Biden invited that with Afghanistan. If you show weakness the bullies will take advantage of it. And that’s what happening with Russia. That’s what I think is happening in China. So we need to project strength. And our military today, I’m worried about it.”

While the U.S. spends $80 billion on defense, “there’s a whole social agenda, ‘wokeness’ that’s taken over our military (instead of its) warfighting focus.”

And China is spending its military budget on next-generation technology while the U.S. is spending “90 percent on old platforms” instead of innovation for the future.

“Ukraine is a terrible mess,” he said, and he would “look hard” at sanctions against Russia if it crosses into Ukraine.

“I don’t think we want to be part of a land war in Ukraine. And if we get too focused on that, we have to look over our shoulder, because I think China will move on Taiwan. If we go into something militarily, it has to be so decisive and conclusive it has to be beyond doubt.”

Asked about natural gas, he said, “We have all this natural gas but we don’t have ways to get it there geographically.” A lot of natural gas is being transported by trucks when pipelines are safer. And Pennsylvania natural gas is being sent by pipelines to Louisiana and Texas rather than having a distribution center or port in Philadelphia.

Dave McCormick with state Sen. Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson.

“Our natural gas is the cleanest of the natural gases,” said McCormick. “And natural gas is cleaner than many other forms of energy…Mathematically, Biden shut down Keystone (pipeline), put the clamps on American gas, which is so much cleaner than Russian gas.

“Russian gas, which is much worse environmentally, is being shipped to Europe and the rest of the world so the greenhouse gases go up, our economic benefit goes down and our security in the world goes down because now we’re dependent on outside energy. It’s a madness that is taking place,” he said.

State Sen. Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson (R-Bucks) said McCormick is “truly a proud American, truly somebody capable of moving this country forward, truly somebody who believes in this country. I’m happy that we’ve got a candidate that I could feel that good about.”

And many in the crowd seemed to agree, leaving with McCormick yard signs and hats.

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