Laura Shea

Laura Shea is Chief of Programs at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), where she oversees a broad array of agency initiatives, including the distribution of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery funds through the agency’s Fund for Restoration of Multifamily Housing (FRM).

The FRM program was created in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy to provide developers an opportunity to secure zero-interest and low-interest loans to finance the development of affordable housing in the nine counties designated as most impacted by the devastating 2012 storm. To date, the FRM program has financed over 6,000 housing units for households of low-to-moderate-income.

Prior to joining NJHMFA, Ms. Shea served for four years as an Assistant Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Sandy Recovery Division. The division manages the majority of the federal funds being used to assist New Jersey in recovering from Superstorm Sandy. These funds come from the CDBG Disaster Recovery programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are used to address the long-term needs of the state’s Sandy-impacted residents and communities through programs designed to help homeowners, tenants, landlords, developers and local governments.

For the previous 15 years, Ms. Shea was involved in affordable housing issues as a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General assigned to the NJHMFA and through various positions with the agency, including Director of the Single Family Division.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Villanova University and received her law degree from Widener University School of Law.

AC19 Presentation: The HFA Role in Disaster Response and Recovery