Port St. Lucie, August 12, 2009 – Press Release
Port St. Lucie, FL - On Saturday, August 29, Iduka Corporation will hold its inaugural “Little Black Dress Party for College Affordability” event in Port St. Lucie to bring members of the community together to show support for college students with varying financial needs. The event will take place in Saint Lucie West at Elements Martini Bar, 2096 NW Courtyard Circle, Port St. Lucie, FL 34986.
Online registration is available at http://www.iduka.citymax.com/events1.html. Pre-registered participants will pay $5 at the door, all other attendees without RSVP will pay $10 donation for entry. The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. Drink specials and finger food will be served until 10:00 p.m. Ladies in black dresses are eligible to win prizes! Ladies get one free drink. Please register early, as space is limited!
Iduka Corporation is a non-profit organization that has a pending application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Our mission is to promote college affordability by connecting students with lenders, schools, and community service organizations through an Internet based micro-loan program.
Our goal is to provide students and their families one more financial tool to help them in their pursuit of higher education. We make this possible by offering an innovative plan based in a Web-based micro-lending system that connects students with lenders, and incorporates, whenever possible, student volunteerism as a mean for students to pay back their loans.
Media contact:
Darlene Craddock
darlene.craddock@iduka.org
772-284-6455
www.iduka.org
www.iduka.citymax.com
www.facebook.com/iduka.microloans
MAKING CHANGE: BRING HOME THE BACON
Making CHANGE happen. We elected President Obama in Nov. We rallied for the economic stimulus and then for the budget resolutions. Now to finally bring home the bacon for our region we need to help our local governments and groups apply for grants. For example, this is how we get a summer jobs program.
GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D, FL, 2nd) is hosting a grant writing workshop this Wednesday, April 8, 2009 as a follow-on the the economic stimulus workshop held last week.
I am currently looking for a job and I am also enrolled as a full time undergraduate student. I currently received unemployment, assistance through my local office which is about to be taken away and financial aid and government grants for college. Even though my credit score has declined over 150 points since I was laid off I was still able to get government loans to pay the rest of my college because your credit has no effect on these loans. I do have to say I am pleased and so gratefull for the help of the government for paying half my tuition and allowing me to have a loan for the remaining half which does not need monthly payments until after graduation. This I can say is an excellent working program for someone wanting to go back to school with little or no income. My private college also helped me every step of the way to find grants, loans and scholarships. Im sure colleges are taking a hit due to the econemy and they are willing to help further then ever to get a student in for each semester. I have also recently experienced the process of asking for help from my local social service office/welfare office, section 8 and from unemployment office. Most of these offices need much improvement except for section 8 because all they did is put me on a waiting list so I have not delt with them other then that. For the remaining offices its the unorganized process for applicants applying as well as prolonged completion of applications due to lost information received from the applicant and bad comminication to the applicants. When you run a company that has either of the above problems it is proven that more exspenses are needed to support your company. If these offices were more organized, communicated with each other and communicated more effectivly with applicants this would allow for more resources and aid for the high demand of applicants as well as lower costs. I am also currently studying Social Services in college and I was shocked to find out from a professor that your local social assistance office employees receive a bonus every time they turn down or stop help to a family or individual. This is ridiculous and the money for these extra bonuses can go to hiring more employees to help with the rise of applicants or can go to aid for an applicant. I dont even believe Obama is a aware of this yet because he has so much work and investigation ahead of him. They will also stop rent assistance, bi-weekly cash assistance and reduce your food stamps if you start receiving unemployment. They are doing this to me and I only receive $140 a week! If you tell them you started college you can also loose your food stamps if you do not start a new requirement for college students on food stamps which is working 20 hours per week. The problem with this is that it is not easy for anyone to find a job for 20 hours a week and the minute I told them about college there is no grace period given before they cut back on your food stamps except for the remaining month allowed. Starting college makes it harder to find a job while I am in school because this restricts me to only a part time job after 3:00 pm which narrows down the results if I do find employment. Don't get me wrong but if the economy was not bad and jobs were able to be found I would have already started a part time job after college each day. Wouldnt you think attending college would not effect your food stamps because a degree will only land you a higher paying job in the future which will help the economy and yourself and the system that is currently giving you aid. I would even give back food stamp money on a monthly payment system if I landed an excellent job after graduation. These offices also need a neutral newly added top position to monitor and train all employees and demote the ones that are currently employeed and is supposed to be doing this. Everytime I have called my local assistance office to give them either information they requested or ask a question I have always received the voicemail of my worker even during the states times to call on the message. Out of 20 calls I estimate only 3 have been returned. Sometimes the mail box was full. When you first walk in to apply they have you split up between workers for each area of aid and need. This has only caused confusion, appointments to be missed that was never given to me and almost caused my application to be denied. Each worker needs to work directly with each person and not split an applicant up from the start of the application. Once you are finished with your application for food stamps, medicaide or housing assistance then you a merged to one employee for the remainder of your case. Having 1 worker from the start will eliminate unorganized or lost paper work that we submit and eliminate full mailboxes because one applicate will sometimes call 3 workers pertaining to only 1 application. This one problem has caused so many problems for me. It had also delayed my aid for atleast 15 days because of this. Or how about the mandatory appointment letters I receive only 2 days prior to the scheduled appointment. It would be great to also send me a voucher for transportation costs and how about a little more notice just incase I am in school or already have a job interview at that time. If you dont go to the appointment this can cause them to close your assistance case. I can go on and on about various areas and problem along with a perfect fix but I wont unless requested to. To sum this up I have an excellent plan that would include mandatory communication through all offices for each new applicant, organize help resources and college resources for citizens into two locations, both Online and offline. Reduce waiting time to receive benefits and cut costs on expsenses of these offices with out loosing one job. Im still in college and I wonder how the top positions of these offices are missing the point I am expressing here and not have acted already but you and I seem to know it. A United States Citizen needs portal is just part of my idea. Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or want to help me. Thanks for reading
Anthony
I am one of the many in my area of the United States that needs the help from our government. I am however unwilling to pay for information that should be free to our citizens via the internet or the mail to receive information on the grant programs and surplus that our government is so freely handing out. I support our government in many ways; but usually not verbally. I am in the position that I feel our government through the years did not force our overseas debtors from paying their bills. I, also, do not believe that our nation should continue to give Japan funds for our causing destruction to their country in the time of war. Did they pay compensation to all the people they killed at Pearl Harbor? I am a fair minded individual but I need the hand written proof that our government will follow through with all the statements that have been made. I am a strong supporter of our military without them we would not be enjoying our freedom and rights. As far as I see we are loosing our strength with better equipment and better compensation for our military. We should honor all military. They do not have to die to be honored. I feel our government should post either in the newspapers or on the internet free of charge to visitors to the site the information needed to apply for the grants and stimulus payments. I also feel that we as a nation do not wnat to falter and be back in the depression of the 20-30's. I will do my share to spread the word and help anyone needing assistants.
I can remember growing up in the 50’s, when our communities were more self-sufficient. To me, Affirmative Action divided and destroyed what semblance of togetherness we had as a people. Affirmative Action was designed to Window Dress, creating a crabs in the barrel black society.
Affirmative Action is kinda like the Pyramid schemes. Most of those educated and skilled, who understood the scam, took advantage of the opportunity. They were the ones, who were serving as role models, that began moving on up and out of the neighborhoods.
When Malcolm talked of self-sufficiency, he was accused of separatism. The reality is that within the 50 states we are many nations in one nation. During this presidential campaign it was made clear that family and social values were paramount in connecting with candidates. We African Americans are a family and it is time that we begin working toward our own families’ interests. “Charity begins at home”, is not separatism nor selfishness. The neglecting of ourselves and relying on others to provide for us, nurtures that negative perception other families have of our community.
Until we as a people take ownership of our own financial, political and social destiny we will be seen as not deserving of others’ respect. Today it is not a whole lot about fighting for our rights: it is more of how we should exercise our rights. For one, making sure that we are being treated fairly with the allocation of government contracts, loans, grants, scholarships, etc. and with the contracting of capital improvement projects. With a unified voice some of these infrastructure projects will be developed and buil[t]d by us in our communities.
This new world market, which can only expand, provides opportunities that abound; we have family and in-laws around the world, and when the companies and industries begin finding that potential clients and customers are looking to patronize businesses that are more reflective of their family members, those qualified will be in high demand and will be represented from the top executives to the receptionist.
Those of us who are more fortunate should become entrepreneurs in revitalizing our communities. We as a family need to get out of debt and pool our resources, and make our children, our elders and the legacy of our Ancestors, Proud!
Ivan Butcher II
I just had a big idea. If the government is so eager to spent money, the tax payers money, then why don't they spend it directly on the tax payers?
I say have all the companies that have people who are in foreclosure, report and give those people a grant or no interest loan attached to their mortage, to bring them current. That would directly benefit the people and the companies holding the loan.
It's time out for the tax payers paying for bad decisions when it seems obvious to support this country is to support the people.
So I am asking everyone to write you Congressmen/women and Senators today before they make a brash decision that would amount to putting a bandaid on a cancerous ulcer. Then forward this to all your friends, and associates , no matter their party affiliation because we all are going to feel this one.
We have bailed out enough big businesses, who are still doing bad business because they aren't keeping the people in their homes or on their jobs. They've just been allowed to stay in their own million dollar estates. Life for them stays the same while the people who truly need the help are still hurting.
This has to be forwarded now because they are making decisions as we speak.
OBAMA FUNDRAISING NOTE:
Dear Friend,
I'm looking for someone to match my campaign contribution of $17.89 to Barack Obama, and to pass this "1789 message" along to others.
1789 was the year the Constitution of the United States was ratified. Barack Obama has studied the Constitution, and he has taught it to law students. He says in his stump speech, "I love the Constitution, and as President I will obey the Constitution."
I believe him. I live in Iowa and have closely followed Barack Obama's candidacy since February, 2007. I initially supported him because I saw his potential to reverse the serious decline in American prestige and influence in the rest of the world (I had worked overseas with UNICEF until I retired in 2006).
A year ago, Obama was new on the scene, and in Iowa we had the chance to meet with all the candidates many times throughout 2007. I watched Obama closely to assess his fitness for the Presidency. I watched as he put together a remarkably well-organized and disciplined campaign. I watched him through the very difficult period of August-October last year, when he couldn't seem to make any progress against Hillary Clinton's 20 percent lead in the polls. I watched him stand up to the pundits and advisors who were insisting he must become aggressively negative about his fellow Democrats if he wanted to win.
But Barack Obama seemed to know who he was, and why he had embarked on this journey. He knew that if he won by becoming like George Bush and Karl Rove, he would have won a battle but already lost the war for a change in American politics that was the heart of his candidacy.
As a volunteer Precinct Captain for Obama, I received a memento of appreciation last October: a copy of the Constitution of the United States. It really made me think about how nice it would be to have a President who, when he swears to uphold the Constitution, actually knows what's in it, and is genuinely devoted to it, heart and soul.
As this campaign has unfolded over the last two months, I have also begun to worry even more about all the powers that George W. Bush has accumulated in the Presidency. Can we afford for four more years to have someone in the White House, Democrat or Republican, whose will for power is stronger than their devotion to principle?
Barack Obama says he takes no contributions from lobbyists, but I think he will make an exception for you and me, if we declare ourselves "lobbyists for the Constitution." The only way citizens are going to take back this country from the special interests is if all of us who care about it are willing in very large numbers each to put up small amounts of money, in return for which we only ask for principled Government and respect for the Constitution.
That's why I've decided to make all of my contributions to Barack Obama in the form of "matching grants" of $17.89, as part of a "1789 Campaign." Will you match mine? Would you be willing to put up additional contributions of $17.89 as your own "matching grant(s)," and forward this letter to others? I would encourage you, especially, to try to involve young people you know to become contributors, to make their own "1789" contribution to the future of the nation they will inherit.
With best regards,
Alan Brody (Obama Precinct Captain, Iowa City, IA)
