SNAP – 91��Ƭ

Victoria Foundation Grant Helps Harmony House Families

Michelle Lang — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:30:55 +0000

Thanks to the Victoria Foundation Fund, the residents of Harmony House, 91��Ƭ’s transitional housing facility for homeless families, have received additional support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

91��Ƭ applied for and received a $10,000 grant from Victoria Foundation to support its work at Harmony House during the pandemic.

The Victoria Foundation Fund provided the grant money to 91��Ƭ in May to purchase food and supplies for Harmony House, expand mental health care and buy cleaning supplies.

The grant money helped with the purchase of a variety of food and supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE), for Harmony House and each family was provided with a $100 ShopRite gift card so they could purchase items they wanted and needed.

“We chose the gift cards to ShopRite because it gives them a choice,” said NCC Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Mbakaya. “Harmony House has received a lot of support throughout the pandemic. But having their own choice was more powerful than getting them food and distributing it or buying them something that we think they want.”

Harmony House families received the gift cards toward the middle of the month when other assistance like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may be depleted.

“We waited until the middle of the month when clients really need food the most. They came in handy,” said Harmony House Director Yonette Fredericks. “The families are really appreciative of it.”

Harmony House is a transitional housing program with the primary goal of helping families move from homelessness to permanent housing and from dependency to self-sufficiency. With the capacity to house 102 families in individual apartment units and a host of on-site social services, Harmony House offers stability to families facing seemingly insurmountable barriers and enables them to restore their lives.

Victoria Foundation’s mission is to improve the lives of children and families in Newark and to protect water resources and preserve open space statewide.

Photos courtesy of Yonette Fredericks.

SNAP Program Sign-Up

Michelle Lang — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The Family Resource Success Center, 274 South Orange Ave., Newark, assists individuals looking to sign up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

NCCTI Graduate Finds Success in Building Trades Field

Michelle Lang — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:56:47 +0000

When Ernest Short was growing up in Newark, he didn’t know he would only have to go steps from home to better his life, but that’s what happened. He visited 91��Ƭ Career & Technical Institute (NCCTI), signed up for training and now has a job he enjoys with a supervisory role.

Short graduated from NCCTI’s Building Trades Specialist program in 2018. He started working for Irvington Housing Authority at the beginning of 2019 as a repair person and then was promoted to head of grounds. The property he works on is large and he is responsible for making sure it has good curb appeal with a manicured lawn and trimmed hedges. As part of his job, he provides other employees assignments as well.

Going through the Building Trades Specialist program prepared Short for his current position and the education was more than just learning the skills of carpentry, electrical and plumbing.

“They have the other part that goes along with it. The critical thinking, cognitive thinking, being able to accept the situation and not crumble,” Short said.

He also saw instructor William Robinson as more than just a teacher.

“He’s also like a father figure,” Short said.

Robinson said Short excelled in the classroom and believes he will have a successful career.

“He was a dedicated student who was always willing to try new things,” Robinson said. “He was very precise and meticulous in all his shop work, which will take him far in his endeavors.”

Short recommends NCCTI to others looking to gain new skills.

“The whole program and everything 91��Ƭ has to offer people is really good,” he said. “If more people took advantage of it and stepped into the doors and see what they have going on, I think there would be a lot more successes.”

NCCTI Student Services Coordinator/Case Manager Ronald Prysock said Short overcame a number of barriers to complete the Building Trades Specialist program.

“Ernest will do well in his career endeavors because of his determination to succeed,” Prysock said.

In addition to the instruction, NCCTI helps students sign up for services if needed. Short said there were a few students in his class without health insurance who received assistance signing up for it and others who were able to sign up for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.

“We are so proud of Ernest,” said NCCTI Director Rodney Brutton. “He participated in our Financial Opportunity Center (FOC) program by accessing income support services, signing up for medical benefits and meeting one-on-one with our financial coach. NCCTI is proud to count Ernest as an alumni.”

Short still lives in Newark and is a single dad with full custody of his two younger children, a 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy. He also has an older son who is 19. He’s grateful to be able to provide for his children.

“You can walk into 91��Ƭ and be helped with all aspects,” Short said. “I’m one of those people. I literally grew up in back of 274 [South Orange Ave.]. I watched them build up. I played on the foundations before Harmony House and before 274. And I ended up walking in those same doors and it helped me get a better outlook on life and get help with life.”

NCCTI is an accredited post-secondary career and technical institution that offers the following programs: Automotive Technician, Diesel Technician, Building Trades Specialist, Clinical Medical Assistant, Patient Care Technician, Community Healthcare Worker, Culinary Arts Specialist and Business and Computer Technologies. NCCTI also operates a comprehensive Financial Opportunity Center and Bridges to Career Opportunities Program sponsored by the local and national Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) offices. For more information, call 973-824-6484, log onto newcommunitytech.edu or visit 274 South Orange Ave., Newark.

SAIF Hosts First Of Its Kind Event With NCJW/Essex Period.Project

Michelle Lang — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 14:36:21 +0000

When people decide to donate to those less fortunate than themselves, items like food, money and clothing often come to mind. But there is another area of need that many people don’t think about or discuss: feminine hygiene products.

The food stamp program, SNAP, doesn’t cover feminine hygiene products and many women go without them, including some associates of the 91��Ƭ Supportive Assistance to Individuals and Families Program (SAIF).

SAIF hosted the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section (NCJW/Essex) Period.Project July 18. SAIF associates helped four members of the Period.Project fill bags with feminine hygiene products to hand out to women and also shared their struggles with obtaining the products.

SAIF Intensive Case Manager Alicia Adams said NCJW/Essex reached out to SAIF with the opportunity to host the event.

“We thought it was a great idea,” she said. “It is a big issue our clients are having.”

The Period.Project was formed in November 2016 to raise awareness about the problems caused by women and girls not having adequate access to feminine hygiene products. Females will miss work or school because they lack products. Some women are forced to choose between diapers, food and feminine hygiene products.

Period.Project Co-Chair Laurie Kahn said the more people that talk about the issue, the better. “We feel so passionate about it,” she said. “Let’s give women dignity. Men shave every day. Women should have pads and tampons.”

91��Ƭ 10 women participated in the event. Each received products to take home and filled bags to be distributed to other SAIF associates with products that Period.Project members provided.

Adams said SAIF welcomes donations of feminine hygiene products. When she inquired about getting supplies from companies that produce the items, she found that they typically donate to larger organizations.

SAIF Associate Latisha Holt decided to participate in the event because she sometimes finds herself without feminine hygiene products.

“It is a struggle for me to keep up with cosmetics and items like tampons and pads,” she said. “I borrow until I run across extra currency.”

Holt also said she has used towels in place of feminine hygiene products and made her own tampon at one point.

Ayesha Campbell was one of the participants and hopes more people become aware of the issue. “If people in the community can help each other, they should,” she said.

Period.Project Co-Chair Karen Feinblatt said the goal was to make the event fun and educational. The committee provided snacks and drinks to the women and they spoke informally while they filled bags with the products.

Another important part of the day was documenting women’s experiences. Feinblatt said statistics aren’t available for how many women struggle to obtain these supplies. Volunteer SAIF associates went on camera for the Period.Project to share their stories about how lacking feminine hygiene products impacted their lives.

“My hope is to go to Trenton and show these videos and others like them to the Children and Families committees. This is a desperate need,” Feinblatt said. “We want them to add money to every agency’s budget strictly for feminine hygiene products.”

Feinblatt said the larger goal is to take the project to the national level and have SNAP cover feminine hygiene products.

“It’s not a luxury,” she said.