Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Author: Michael Swayze

  • Union County Housing Fair – Saturday, July 23, 2011

    Although the recession is technically over, the unemployment rate in New Jersey remains high as does the continued fear of home foreclosure. To address the housing crisis issue a number of agencies will be holding a Housing Fair on Saturday, July 23 at Union County College in Elizabeth. Sponsoring organizations include: Union County Foreclosure Task Force, New Jersey Housing & Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA), Brand New Day, Urban League of Union County, Affordable Housing For Union County, and Faith, Brick & Mortar.

    The housing fair will be held on a Saturday in hopes of attracting homeowners, new home buyers, and tenants. Information will be available on foreclosure intervention, foreclosure prevention programs, tenants rights, credit counseling, weatherization programs, homelessness assistance, utility assistance, first time home buyer programs and more. The organizers hope to attract the general public, lenders, realtors, and other community organizations.

    The Housing Fair will be held at Union County College – Kellogg Building, 40 West Jersey Street – 5th floor, in Elizabeth, New Jersey from 10AM to 2PM. The flyer recently issued indicates that for further information and to RSVP please contact Jacqueline Jenkins of Brand New Day, Inc. at 908-282-0781, extension 146 or email: jackie.j@bndcdc.org. Feel free to copy or distribute the Union County Housing Fair flyer, either in English or in Spanish.

    In preparing this post I surveyed a number of reliable websites on foreclosure information. You may wish to visit these sites:
    HUD/NJ Housing & Mortgage Finance Agency list of certified counseling agencies, NJ Judiciary Foreclosure Mediation Program, Legal Services of New Jersey foreclosure page, and HUD’s avoiding foreclosure in New Jersey page.

    Please share this information with people who are in need of housing and foreclosure information.

  • Thank You Tilman Hausherr

    Most of the posts that I write are about social programs or community resources. Today I decided it was time to thank someone for a gift he gave. There is a web developer by the name of Tilman Hausherr who lives in Berlin, Germany. In 1997 he created a freeware program titled Xenu’s Link Sleuth. The program checks for broken web links. I’ve been using it for years to check all the links on my website. So the other day I thought it would be kind to write him a check or send him some cash. Guess what, he doesn’t want payment! He gave a few options instead, so I decided to write this article and thank him.

    You can go his website to download the program. It works great, btw. Or you can find it on the CNET download site. Additional information is available in a Wikipedia article.

    I don’t know how I would keep my website’s 1800 links up-to-date if it weren’t for Tilman’s free program. Thank you, Tilman.

    Pass it forward.

  • A Road Less Traveled

    A long time ago I learned in geometry the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. A similar rule when taking a car trip is to take the Interstate if you want to get to your destination fast. Sometimes it is more fun to take the road less traveled. A few months ago while visiting our sons in Maryland and Virginia we decided not to take I-95 but instead to go west via I-78 and make a left at Harrisburg and take Route 15 south.

    Near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania we came upon a number of what seemed to be handmade road signs advertising handmade pottery and fresh produce. On the return trip back to New Jersey we decided to take this turnoff. We followed the signs, turning onto Route 134 in Gettysburg. To be more precise we took a left onto Taneytown Road. A mile or so down the road we came to our destination, a local pottery shop and community market known as The Lion Potter. The shop is owned by David and Junko Young, an incredible couple.

    If you spend enough time at The Lion Potter you will know this is a special place. I can’t explain the place as well as a local news article did so I’ll suggest you read the piece found in the local Emmitsburg News-Journal. We bought a small pitcher and unpasteurized goat’s milk. We will be visiting their shop at 855 Taneytown Road, Gettysburg, PA. on a future trip.

    We got a postcard from David and Junko the other day. They are having their 7th annual spring cleaning sale on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 & 22, 2011. Their inventory of plates, bowls, mugs, vases, etc. will be priced at 50% off. Go visit them. Take the turnoff for a road less traveled.