Fostering self-reliant families and healthy, sustainable communities.

SEPTEMBER 2022

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We're kicking off the fall and sharing what we're harvesting!

Part of Isles' Increase the Peace initiative, this "Each One Teach One" mural was completed at our Tucker St. location with the help of our young artists, muralist Leon Rainbow, and handprints from members of our community including Isles CEO Sean Jackson, Mayor Reed Gusciora, program organizers Stacy Heading and Anthony Richards, and Isles Founder Marty Johnson.

LIVE GREEN AND HEALTHY


With your support, Isles continues to fight for more aggressive action to attack lead paint contamination. In June, our team educated lawmakers about funding needs for training lead remediators, lead testing, and remediation construction funds. The result is the new State budget added $170 million to be spent statewide. In July, NJ’s landmark Lead Safe Certificate went into effect – Isles championed this new law to require lead paint testing in all apartments. Isles estimates there are at least 250,000 NJ housing units occupied by children with lead paint hazards.


With only 6% of Trenton housing being built after 1978, this issue hits especially close to home. Based on Isles lead testing in Trenton, it is estimated that at least 50% of residences in Trenton have lead-based paint hazards that likely affect the IQ, learning, health and behavior of children who live there. Until each and every hazard is removed, Isles’ mission to foster self-reliant families and healthy communities isn’t finished. Thank you for helping  move us forward with our mission!

REVITALIZE COMMUNITIES

Much of our work is in collaboration with our partners. Throughout the summer, we've worked on events with organizations large and small including Mill Hill Family Association, Henry J. Austin Health Center, Tha Block, Passage Theater, Black Lives Matter NJ -- really too many to list. This is a priority for us because the issues we work to improve are long-term, systemic, and intertwined, and depend on engagement and trust with our customers. We can't do it alone; it is only in working together with all of our partners that we can see long-term change emerge.

Our new Trenton Community Street Teams (TCST) public safety initiative focuses on breaking the cycle of violence in Trenton. In partnership with Newark Community Street Teams and others, TCST is a professionally trained group of High-Risk Interventionists and Outreach Workers from the community who are responding, mediating, and intervening in potential violent incidents. This includes working with survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators of violence to connect people with needed community resources and help build a community that is intolerant of violence. You can find TCST members outside of schools providing Safe Passage, supporting survivors of violence, and working with dozens of partners and organizations across the city to support Trentonians in building a safer Trenton.

“North Trenton/Battlefield Monument Choice Neighborhood Plan wins NJ Future's 2022 Smart Growth Award”

2022 Smart Growth Awards | New Jersey Future

New Jersey Future's Smart Growth Awards recognizes the very best in planning, development, and redevelopment in the Garden State. The 2022 virtual celebration, hosted on the interactive event platform Accelevents, honors six incredible winning projects and our two Cary Edwards Leadership Award winners for their groundbreaking contributions to making New Jersey communities sustainable and strong.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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All events listed are free of charge. Donations are gratefully accepted.

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Bee-Keeping Workshop

Sat. Sep. 24,

10am-12pm

33 Tucker St.


RSVP urbanag@isles.org 609.431.4741

Seasonal Cooking Demo featuring Ethiopian Cuisine

Tues. Sep. 27

6-7:30pm

33 Tucker St.


*space is limited, registration required

Register: pthompson@isles.org 609.341.4763

Foraging Workshop 1

Wed. Oct. 5,

5:30-7pm


RSVP for location (participants meet at 33 Tucker St. and then carpool to site) urbanag@isles.org 609.431.4741

Foraging Workshop 2

Sat. Oct. 8

10am-2pm


RSVP for location (participants meet at 33 Tucker St. and then carpool to site) urbanag@isles.org 609.431.4741

Movie & Dinner: “Racing Extinction”

Wed. Oct. 12,

5-8pm

33 Tucker


RSVP by Oct. 5 pthompson@isles.org 609.431.4763

Raised Bed Workshop

Sat. Oct 22,

10am-12pm

33 Tucker


RSVP urbanag@isles.org 609.431.4741

Day of the Dead Celebration

Tues. Oct 25,

6-7:30pm

33 Tucker


RSVP urbanag@isles.org 609.431.4741

VOLUNTEER

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Neighborhood

Clean-Up

Thurs., Sep. 29,

3:30-6:00pm

Sprout U,

27 E. Paul St.


*bags, gloves, and food provided


RSVP mwhittington@isles.org or 609.341.4729

Neighborhood

Clean-Up

Thurs., Sep. 29,

3:30-6:00pm

Sprout U,

27 E. Paul St.


*bags, gloves, and food provided


RSVP mwhittington@isles.org or 609.341.4729

TRAIN AND EDUCATE

This summer the NJ Treasury Dept. partnered with Isles Youth Institute (IYI) to create an internship program for young adults at the Department. New IYI high school graduate Devon Dickson, who dreams of becoming an electrician, landed an internship at Treasury and did such a great job they hired him! Now he’s a fulltime employee and plans to enroll at Lincoln Technical School to pursue electrical engineering. 

BUILD WEALTH

Isles housing counseling was selected by the NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) to help homeowners apply for mortgage assistance due to COVID-19. This summer, applicants began to receive needed funds. Doris lost her restaurant job of 30 years when the business closed in 2020. The NJERMA funds have helped cover several months of mortgage payment so Doris could have a little breathing room. With her housing stabilized, Doris was able to find a new position in the retail food industry.

LEARN, SHARE, INNOVATE

Participants in our inaugural year of Climate Corps learned how to mitigate the effects of climate change in Trenton while also gaining transferrable work skills. Several of the staff (who had never engaged in this kind of work before) expressed new interest in gardening, taking care of their environment, and continuing to learn and work with Isles.

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