Union Beach is a town that was severely affected by Hurricane Super Storm Sandy in 2012. We lost more than 300 homes irrecoverably to the storm and as times goes by we’re slowly rebuilding. This process can be long and cumbersome for our residents. The library is a place for our community to feel at home and safe while they have nowhere else to go.

Our goal is to make the structural repairs to our building to keep our doors literally open. Our building, having been erected in the early 1900’s, has held up well over the years but we are slowly losing doors and stair cases due to the shifting and erosion. It’s not quite encouraging to our community to see its own public buildings are still damaged 2 years after Sandy. In order to restore faith and the community ties to our patrons we need to be an example of the resiliency our town has to rebuild.

We would also like to be able to replace our computer station to better provide our patrons with access and guidance to grants and other beneficial programs to Sandy survivors. The technology station we have here for most people are the only computers they can get to. With this grant we’ll be able to make our computer systems more helpful and accessible to our visitors. Providing the accommodations for people to be able to research and seek help in this tough time is luxury most can’t afford.

All in all, this grant with give us the opportunity to employ local masons and carpenters to repair our building and restore hope to our town. We will provide help and hospitality for our weary patrons along their recovery process. Hopefully our rebuilding could be a way to show Sandy Survivors there is still time to come home, to rebuild, to restore normalcy in our chaotic time.