Education & Career Forum For Union County Students – May 18, 2013

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Middle school and high school students are invited to attend a free education and career panel discussion event to be held on Saturday, May 18 at Union County College’s Kellogg Building. Sponsored by the County Youth Services Commission, the forum “Take Control of Your Future, A Panel Discussion Giving Insight on Education and Careers”, is designed to help students better understand the importance of academic excellence and the role it plays in their future professional development.

The forum is open to Union County high school and middle school students, parents, guardians, caregivers, and chaperones. Each per who wishes to attend must register online by completing the online registration form at http://ucnj.org/take-control-of-your-future. The program includes: check in (10am – 11am), introductions, keynote speaker, panel discussion, Q&A, lunch, and networking. Attendees must bring a copy of the email confirmation they receive.

Schools and community agencies who wish to promote the conference or encourage youth to attend may wish to distribute the program flyer.

For additional information please contact Monica Lallo, Union County Youth Services Commission Administrator, at 908-527-4892 or via email at mlallo@ucnj.org.

Posted in Advocacy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New Jersey Opportunity To Compete Act

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

The following is a press release issued in support of the New Jersey “Opportunity to Compete Act”. The intent of the legislation, according to its sponsors, is “to improve the economic viability, health, and security of New Jersey communities and to assist people with conviction histories to reintegrate into the community and to provide for their families and themselves.”

Press Release:
Newark, NJ- April 26, 2013. Ban the Box NJ, a statewide grassroots campaign advocating for the passage of the New Jersey Opportunity to Compete Act, will host a rally on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 1:00 PM on the front steps of the State House in Trenton, New Jersey.

The New Jersey Opportunity to Compete Act makes the job application process fairer for all New Jerseyans by moving inquiries into a candidate’s criminal background to after a candidate has been interviewed and offered a conditional offer of employment. It is estimated that 65 million Americans have some criminal record although most of that group never spent time in prison or jail and many of those are merely arrest records. By making the job process fairer, the legislation could increase public safety and decrease government spending on corrections by reducing the number of individuals cycling through the criminal justice system. The bill would also help the economy by giving more New Jerseyans the ability to earn an income, pay taxes and become consumers for New Jersey businesses.

The sponsoring legislators of the Opportunity to Compete Act, Senator Sandra B. Cunningham and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman will speak at the rally along with Cornell William Brooks of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Micah Khan of the Integrated Justice Alliance, representatives from Building One New Jersey and several others. Ban the Box NJ will also submit a petition with signatures from members of various New Jersey communities to the Law and Public Safety Committee, where the legislation is expected to make its first appearance in early May. The rally will show the wide community support for the legislation immediately before this important committee hearing.

Cornell William Brooks, Esq. noted “The need to open quality employment opportunities to a broader spectrum of our communities is one of the major economic obstacles to recovery and growth in this country. For the hundreds of thousands of citizens of New Jersey with criminal records (most of which are minor and long ago), this rally declares: opportunity is not merely a patriotic word New Jerseyans say but rather a word we hear and experience– when you can compete for work fairly without favor or bias.

For more information about the rally, please contact Ban the Box NJ’s Director of Communications, Brandon Holt, at brandon@bantheboxnj.com.

Posted in Advocacy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote Of The Week

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

“And he [Barack] reminds me that we are playing a long game here and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once. But eventually we get there, we always do.”

-First Lady Michelle Obama

Published April 2, 2013 at https://www.facebook.com/pages/President-Barack-Obama-isnt-the-problem-Hes-the-solution/484775798234303.

Posted in Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Great Switch to Paperless Benefits

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

The following article appears in the March 2013 edition of the AARP Bulletin as written by Carole Fleck.

Uncle Sam doesn’t mean to nag. But for nearly three years he has asked beneficiaries of Social Security, Veterans Affairs and other government programs to sign up by March 1, 2013, to get their monthly benefits electronically instead of by paper check.

However, several million retirees and other recipients still haven’t made the switch. If you’re among them, you’ll still collect your monthly benefit by check. But until you sign up to have your benefit deposited directly into a bank or credit union account – or loaded onto a prepaid debit card, such as the government’s Direct Express or a privately issued card that meets requirements for loading government benefits – expect stern warnings.

“No one’s payment will be interrupted,” says Treasury official Walt Henderson. But recipients who haven’t made the switch “will hear from Treasury via mail about their options for complying with the law.”

Collecting payments electronically minimizes the risk for identity theft because there are no checks to be stolen from a mailbox. With benefits on a prepaid card, you can get cash withdrawals at a bank or make purchases.

However, you may incur fees with a debit card. For example, with the Direct Express card, you get one free ATM withdrawal with each deposit to your card, but after that, you pay 90 cents each time you tap into your account.

The government has a compelling reason to go paperless: It’ll save a whopping $1 billion over 10 years.

To sign up for electronic payments, go to GoDirect.org or call 800-333-1795.

Posted in Community Resources | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lights Out For Earth Hour: Saturday, March 23, 8:30 – 9:30PM

Posted on March 23, 2013 by

For one hour the lights will be turned off in over 5200 major cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide as part of a global statement of concern for climate change and commitment to finding solutions to environmental issues.

For more information about Earth Hour, check out www.earthhour.org

Thank you Whole Foods for this socially responsible advertisement in my local store and for letting me use it to spread the word.

Posted in Advocacy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New Jersey SHARES Launches New Facebook Page

Posted on February 28, 2013 by

Today New Jersey SHARES, our statewide nonprofit energy fund sent out their monthly newsletter. The lead article announced the launching of their Facebook page. If you want to receive timely information about our statewide energy fund, get news about energy assistance, or related social service resources just add NJ SHARES to your Facebook community. Their article reads as follows:

We are pleased to announce the NJ SHARES Facebook Page has officially launched. Please “Like” us on Facebook and consider sharing with your network.

“Like” Us:
It’s easy to “Like” the New Jersey SHARES, Inc. page. First, log into your own Facebook page. Next, click on this link http://www.facebook.com/njshares OR manually type that address into your own web browser, and you will be transported to our page. Underneath our cover photo and next to our name, you will see an icon that says “Like” with a thumbs-up graphic. Simply “Like” the page by clicking on that icon.

Share with Network
Once you have “Liked” New Jersey SHARES, Inc.’s page, consider sharing the page with your friends and other networks. Visit New Jersey SHARES, Inc.’s Facebook page – underneath our cover photo, next to the icon that says “Like,” there should be another icon that looks like a wheel or gear. Click that icon, and a drop down menu will appear. Next, click on “Share.” which is listed underneath “Create a Page.”

Other articles in their newsletter covered the following: “Find Out If You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit”, “Tax Credit Available for New Jersey’s Working Families”, “Poverty Presents Risks for Children in Newark” and a spotlight on HOPES Community Action Partnership.

To subscribe to NJ SHARES newsletter, Sharing Neighborhoods, please visit http://www.njshares.org/aboutNJShares/newsletter.asp.

Posted in Community Resources, Nonprofit | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Power Station Crippled By Cyber Attack

Posted on February 6, 2013 by

Last Sunday 100 million television viewers became aware of a power surge at a stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Very few Americans on the other hand are aware of dangers facing our electric grid and power plants. The danger comes to us with new coined terms such as cyber warfare, cyberstrikes, and cyber attack. In a speech today to a Georgetown University audience, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned his audience with the following, “I believe that it is very possible the next Pearl Harbor could be a cyber attack… [that] would have one hell of an impact on the United States of America. That is something we have to worry about and protect against.” For details read the Defense Department new release titled, “Panetta Warns Cyber Threat Growing Quickly”.

What is just as alarming as the threat is the lack of news coverage about the current state of preparedness against computer attacks from either foreign terrorists or foreign countries. In a news article published in the New York Times, “Broad Powers Seen for Obama in Cyberstrikes” reporters David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker write the following, “The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that an American power station, which it did not name, was crippled for weeks by cyberattacks.” The incident was reported in a one sentence entry in paragraph 13 of the February 4th edition. Perhaps it is time John Q. Public be given more information by both the press and our elected officials.

There are things each American can do to protect themselves against computer hackers and computer threats, even in their own home. You can become aware of actions you can take to protect your home computer. The Department of Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued a Securing Your Web Browser report. Read it, study it, pass it on to your organization IT Department, but don’t think that computer security is someone else’s job.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment