Hoboken has become known as an up-and-coming town, attracting young families from all over the New York/New Jersey area. This is due, in large part, to the efforts of Hoboken Family Alliance. HFA is a volunteer organization run by nine individual and family volunteers who dedicate their efforts to providing families with fun activities for kids and events that improve the community as a whole.

HFA was founded twelve years ago originally as a connection group for new parents in town. Before then, parents would leave town once they had kids, but as more families began to stay it became apparent that Hoboken needed some kind of network for new parents. Insert Hoboken Family Alliance. Initially HFA focused on smaller family-type events to put new parents in contact with each other. Marketing Director Shana Lee has been with HFA for eight years and remembers HFA being a way for book clubs to meet, for members to get together for a cookie swap, or for moms to have a night out.

“People would come to us looking for something like a book club and through HFA they would meet others looking for the same thing. Eventually they would break off and form their own clubs.” HFA started putting on family events like Cabin Fever and Easter Egg Hunts, along with coordinating play groups and clothing swaps. More recently, HFA has set their sights on expanding and sponsoring larger-scale events to reach a broader spectrum of the community.

About two years ago the board members did some research and found that once kids reach a certain age, parents stop renewing their memberships and move on. They feel more equipped, have met other families and friends, and feel the purpose doesn’t exist anymore. HFA is trying to retain membership by incorporating larger programs that reach out to families with children of all ages, especially in high school. Shana says, “now that the founding members’ kids are all in high school, it’s a good way to close the circle.”

Theresa Howard has been working to grow membership since she joined HFA’s board 4 years ago as the Director for Special Needs Children. Having a daughter with Down Syndrome, Theresa knows how important it is for other parents of special needs children to have a community to turn to. After evaluating HFA and realizing membership was dropping, Theresa, Shana, and the other board members decided they needed to bridge the gap to reach a wider range of families. Theresa says, “We needed more programming and evaluated ways to make membership stronger to reach families beyond the toddler set.”

In an effort to maintain and eventually increase membership, HFA now focuses on larger scale events for the community. This past May, HFA announced their plans for a scholarship fund open to Hoboken residents who attend Hoboken Charter School, The Hudson School, and Hoboken High School. Scholarships are based on a combination of merit and community involvement and will be issued to seniors graduating in 2012. As Theresa put it, “We’re trying to demonstrate to the community that it’s not just about babies and toddlers- we’re making Hoboken a better place for all families.” The scholarship program will surely make a difference for college-bound seniors- HFA aims to offer about three scholarships a year at $1,000-$2,000 each.

HFA started raising money for the scholarships in May with the first annual HFA Spring Gala held at the W Hoboken. Described by Shana as “an upscale evening for adults”, the night proved to be a successful start to funding the program. With 135 people in attendance, food from eight different restaurants and a variety of raffles and prizes, Theresa believes the Gala will become a yearly HFA staple. “We’re raising awareness of what HFA is and what we’re doing. It was really well received and we plan on doing it again next year.” The Gala raised a few thousand dollars for the scholarship program- a promising start for this new program.

The Spring Gala was also able to highlight one of HFA’s biggest accomplishments to date- Project Play. After raising $50,000 to fund park improvements around town, HFA donated the money to the city during the Spring Gala. Along with Project Play and the scholarship program, HFA is still putting its efforts into smaller events like funding grants for the Hoboken Historical Museum, the New York Street Project and various schools in town. Shana notes that one of their most popular events, the clothing swap, “is a great way to give back. If people want to get rid of clothes they can donate them, or if they need to they can buy clothes or pick up high chairs and strollers for very low prices. It’s a really great program.” HFA is also working on an upcoming backpack drive in September. The backpack drive is another way for the community to give back, this time to teen moms in Jersey City. HFA plans on collecting school supplies to donate to high schools for teen moms.

Sounds like HFA has their plate full planning and executing all of these events, right? The organization never stops finding new ways to help parents and families of Hoboken. The members know how overwhelming choosing the right school for your child can be, which is why each year they hold an all-schools open house. With the numerous schools to pick from in the Hoboken area they simplified the process of finding the right school by having one big open house for every school in Hoboken. As Theresa explained, “There are a lot of school options for families in town. We bring them all the schools together so they have just one stop to learn about everything.” Families with children in different grades can definitely appreciate this. The open house included preschools through eighth grade up until last year when HFA added high schools to the lineup. HFA has even added services available for special needs children to the open house. Before Theresa joined HFA, the all-schools open house didn’t include any information about special needs programs. Theresa has changed that. “Before I joined HFA we never asked the question about what types of services and programs are available for children with special needs. That’s now part of the program.”

As the Director for Special Needs Children, Theresa has done her share of reaching out to a wider range of families. To her, the most important thing HFA has been able to do is “raise awareness for families and the community for children with special needs.” HFA runs a Special Olympics training program for kids two-and-a-half to seven years old to help them prepare for the Special Olympics. HFA has been running a Special Olympics program in Hoboken for three years, and Theresa says last fall’s Special Olympics was “one of the best things we’ve done. We had one-hundred percent attendance, a great group of kids, a party, and we capped it off at the HoBOOken race.” At the end of July, HFA is sponsoring a bike camp called Lose the Training Wheels, which will help children with disabilities learn to ride a two-wheeler.

This year has already been a milestone year for HFA as they engage in expanding their membership. Theresa recognizes that HFA is solely volunteer based and doesn’t move as quickly as they would like to but she believes “we’re bringing it back stronger than ever.” Shana seconds her sentiment, saying, “We move slowly but I hope people enjoy what we do and appreciate all the work and effort from our nine volunteers.” HFA is establishing an encouraging start and Theresa feels they are accomplishing exactly what they set out to do.

“When a parent reaches out to me and says ‘I found your name on the HFA website’, I feel like we’re doing what we intended- trying to help make Hoboken a better community for ALL kinds of families.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTA KELLY + HFA