Learn How to:

• Manage personal finances and credit.
• Find a good mortgage and learn how it works.
• Get help with down payments and closing costs.
• Protect yourself from predatory lenders.
• Find a good home in the right location.
• Protect and secure your home after the purchase.

Dates: Part 1 – Saturday, March 6; Part 2 – Saturday,  March 13 
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Capital Health System – Mercer Campus, 446 Bellevue Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618, 5th Floor Conference Room
Cost: Early Bird Registration – Individual: $25; Couples: $40 (Check or money order must be received before 2/15/10.)

Regular Registration – Individuals: $30;  Couples: $50  (Check or money order must be received by 3/1/10.)

Registration Paid at the Door – Individual: $35; Couples: $60

Mail your check or money order to: Isles, Inc, 714 S. Clinton Ave., Trenton, NJ 08611  Attn:FTHB -  If check doesn’t have workshop attendees name on it, please write name on memo line or include note with check. (Cost includes workshop materials, a Homebuyer workshop certificate, and refreshments.)

To register: Call 609.341.4789 or E-mail: CBrown@isles.org; Subject Line: HB’s Workshop – Provide Your Name, Full Address and Telephone Number

Professor Newman taught an Isles-focused class several years ago.  She has written a new book about the question of Public Assistance to those in need.  Click here for a description the book and her talk.

Time: 11:00am Lunch, 12:15pm Tee Time

Cocktails and Dinner to follow at 6:00pm

For more information on registration or sponsorships contact:

Steven Board 609.341.4758 or email:  sboard@isles.org.

Click here to read the full article.

This certification will help open doors for Isles Community Enterprises (ICE) to access loan capital from the CDFI Fund and banks, as well as grants for supporting loans, training and technical assistance for self-employment and microbusinesses.

CDFI funding will support ICE’s plans to offer its microbusiness development loans and training services in more areas of Mercer County and to add an Energy Efficiency and Education loan product.  ICE has made business development loans to more than 22 businesses over the past three years, including a loan to start Isles E4, a weatherization and home energy efficiency business that hires and trains local residents for high paying “green collar” jobs.

This is part of IYI’s monthly theme, volunteerism – giving back. The students enjoyed serving the less fortunate, while also gaining a clearer understanding of TASK’s mission. After the service was over, the students began signing up on their own to serve at the soup kitchen in the future.

For the last couple months the evening program has established relationships with various Trenton area nursing homes and TASK. The students who participate are gaining a sense of self-confidence and self-worth as we continue to help them develop as leaders in their community.

You have an exciting opportunity to help Isles make even more of a difference in our community. GreatNonprofits – a site like Yelp – is launching a campaign to find the top-rated Job Training and Placement nonprofits to be included in the 2010 GreatGuide to Giving and Volunteering – a must-read reference for donors and supporters.

Won’t you help us participate in the campaign by posting a review of your experience with us? All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! Click here to go to Isles’ page.

Be sure to choose Job Training and Placement Awards from the drop-down list of campaigns when posting your review.

With your help, we can gain greater visibility in the community!

Like everyone else, we were pretty worried this time last year.

We knew the line between self-reliance and dependency is often fragile, though rarely by choice. The fall-out from the global economy was going to hit our communities hard – and we wanted to be prepared. Thankfully, hundreds of people,
like you, gave generously at year-end. Your investment helped Isles answer the initial call of uncertainty.

With that support, you helped position Isles to do the
unexpected – grow in exciting ways.

Over the summer, we completed the renovation of a 20,000 square foot solarized state-of-the-art training facility. Thanks largely to an extraordinary gift from NRG Energy, Isles took a 120-year-old aging factory site and converted it to a vital city asset as the new home to Isles’ YouthBuild Institute.

Our students are now being taught in classrooms that are “designed for learning” – white boards, day lighting, leading-edge technology, and beautiful, welcoming spaces. The facility also houses Isles’ new Center for Energy and Environmental Training (CEET), a “green-collar” job training center. CEET is an innovative response to the loss of traditional blue-collar jobs and the growing demand for new skills in energy efficiency, solar panel installation and more. Over the past year, Isles has trained 378 people and, most significantly, 200 of them are now in the workforce using their skills to improve the planet and themselves. Many more are interviewing for jobs as I write this.

Isles also laid new paths to self-reliance. We:

• Partnered with farmers, educators, food pantries, schools, local government and emergency food providers to expand access to fresh, nutritious, affordable produce.
• Created E4 (Energy, Environment, Equity, Employment), a sustainable nonprofit subsidiary to weatherize low-income households, conduct energy audits, install solar systems, and remove lead, mold and other hazards from buildings.
• Taught innovative microbusiness classes in both English and Spanish to support a burgeoning population of new Latino entrepreneurs.

This work, and the many benefits that come from it, would be impossible without the support of friends like you.

This season, many still face uncertainty. This is not limited to a neighborhood or a city or even a region. It threads throughout many of our Isles families, and may even be felt close to your own home. Yet, uncertainty does not diminish a person’s right to the basic tenets of a good life – a home, a job, food, and a clean and safe environment. In many ways, uncertainty offers a chance to re-think ways to achieve that good life. Isles looks for those better ways, and your support will make a real difference.

When we started Isles 28 years ago, we envisioned powerful, cost-effective ways to meet two goals in challenged neighborhoods: self-reliant families and healthier, greener communities. We succeed because so many others share this dream, and they step up and help. Thank you for being a caring partner on our journey.

Best wishes to you and your family and friends for a peaceful new year.

In Community,

Martin P. Johnson
President


Donate Today! Click here to make a secure credit card donation or mail your check to:

Sonja Allen
Vice President, Resource Development
Isles, Inc.
10 Wood Street
Trenton, NJ 08618

If you would like to receive Isles’ newsletter and other information regarding our organization, please e-mail your contact information to Jessica Phelan at jphelan@isles.org.