Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Downpayment and closing costs assistance for housing in Middlesex Cty, NJ

The Middlesex County Department of Housing and Community Development will award downpayment
and closing cost assistance funds to income eligible first time homebuyers under the US Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI) program.

Basic Program Requirements
1. Applicant must be a first time homebuyer who has completed a one day homebuyer training course
within the past year offered by one of the following:
• Puerto Rican Action Board - Housing Coalition Unit - Phone (732) 249-9700
• Faith Fellowship Community Development Corp. - Phone (732) 727-9500
• Any other HUD certified housing counseling agency
2. Applicants do not apply until they are under contract for a single family property. Eligible properties are
detached homes, townhouses, ·condominiums.,. an.c.:l.gp-ops. The purchase price of the property cannot
exc"€ed four times the certified income level of the household, with an overall maximum of $362;790.
3. Applicants must have a mortgage pre-appmval.
4. Applicant must purchase housing in the following Middlesex County municipalities:
_ Carteret ;.•,' Highland Park'~"=:: North Brunswick South Brunswick
Cranbury Jamesburg Old Bridge South Plainfield
Dunellen Metuchen Piscataway South River
East Brunswick Middlesex Plainsboro Spotswood
Edison Milltown Sayreville Woodbridge
Helmetta Monroe.. _. South Amboy
(Please note that New Brunswick and Perth Amboy are not eligible municipalities)
5. Household income does not exceed the following limits:
One-person - $54,200 /Five-person $83,500
Two-person - $61,900 / Six-person - $89,700
Three-person - $69,600 /Seven-person - $95,900
Four-person - $77,400 / Eight-person - $102,100
6. The property being purchased must pass County's Housing Quality Standards inspection and be certified free of lead based paint hazards.
7. Assistance will be in the form of a deferred repayment mortgage, which doesn't require payment of
principal or interest by the homebuyers provided they own and live in the property for six years.
Homebuyers who sell the property before this time will be required to pay back the full amount of the
ADDI assistance, plus 4% simple interest. Assistance will range from $8,500 - $13,500.
For additional information on the program, please contact Melissa Bellamy
Middlesex County Department of Housing and Community Development
(732) 745-2922 or melissa.bellamy@co.middlesex.nj.us.

1ir EOUAL HOUSING
OPPORTUNITY
Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders
David B.. Crabiel, Freeholder Director
Stephen J. Dalina, Deputy Director
Camille Fernicola
H. James Polos
Christopher D. Rafano
Ronald G. Rios
Blanquita B. Valenti

National Engineers Week

Every day, engineers around the world volunteer an untold number of hours by giving back and reaching out to possible future engineers. National Engineers Week organizers want the world to know and see the collective strength of these efforts and are challenging all engineers to not only contribute to outreach activities, but log their volunteer hours on a newly designed Web site. The goal? To reach one million hours of outreach in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
What counts as outreach?
Visiting a classroom;
Participating in an extracurricular or community activity;
Hosting a Design Squad event;
Introducing a Girl to Engineering;
Helping out with National Family Day;
Coaching a Future City Competition Team
Attending or presenting at a Career Fair; or
Volunteering with organizations such as MATHCOUNTS, JETS,
Supporting robotics competitions, or any design or engineering-related competition; or
Many, many other activities
Let's show the world the engineering community's collective strength in protecting the health. safety, and welfare of the public AND encourage future generations by showing how exciting, and sometimes amazing, engineering can be!
Sign-up to log your hours!
Already have an account? Log in (Forgot your password?)

For more info:
http://www.eweek.org/

2009 SPORTS JOURNALISM INSTITUTE

2009 SPORTS JOURNALISM INSTITUTE – APPLICATION DEADLINE: Dec. 5, 2008:
The 2009 Sports Journalism Institute is a nine-week training and internship program for college students interested in sports journalism careers. The Institute is designed to attract talented students to print journalism through opportunities in sports reporting and editing and enhance racial and gender diversity in sports departments of newspapers nationwide. The program will run from May 29 - Aug. 3, 2009.
The Sports Journalism Institute, which works with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), is funded by the Tribune Foundation, Hearst Newspapers/Houston Chronicle, Associated Press Sports Editors and the New York Daily News.
For more information, and to access an application, please visit: www.sportsjournalis minstitute. org

U.S.A. Learns, a free Web site to help immigrants learn English

The U.S. Department of Education launched U.S.A. Learns, a free Web site to help immigrants learn English


The Web site, which is located at http://www.usalearns.org/. provides approximately 11 million adults who have low levels of English proficiency with easily accessible and free English language training.

"America's limited-English adults will now have readily available materials to improve their literacy and help them become more productive workers, better parents, engaged community members and active citizens," said Troy Justesen, assistant secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

Launch of the site completes one of the goals in President Bush’s Aug. 10, 2007, announcement of 26 immigration reforms that his Administration would pursue within existing law -- including the assimilation of new citizens and helping immigrants learn English to expand their opportunities in America. Recognizing that "[k]nowledge of English is the most important component of assimilation" and "an investment in tools to help new Americans learn English will be repaid many times over," the Administration pledged to launch a free, Web-based portal to help immigrants learn English.

U.S.A. Learns offers the following features:

An easily accessible Internet learning tool;
Simple directions;
Free instructional materials developed to teach basic English skills and help adults improve their English proficiency; and
Learning modules that can be used outside a traditional classroom

Upon entering the site, users can choose directions in either English or Spanish and then pick which English level they need -- beginner or intermediate. Once in the modules, the instruction is almost exclusively in English. In the beginner course, 20 units are offered in such areas as numbers, the calendar, places to go, families, schools, clothes, money and shopping. For intermediate students, more challenging exercises can help them further their existing English reading and writing skills.

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy documented that as many as 11 million adults in the U.S. are not literate in English. Currently, local and state providers have the ability to serve only approximately one million of those learners annually, prompting the need for a Web site of this kind to offer to adults seeking easily accessible English literacy training.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, through its Division of Adult Education and Literacy, oversaw the design of U.S.A. Learns. Core funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. The University of Michigan and Sacramento County Office of Education assisted the U.S. Education Department in the development of the U.S.A. Learns Web site. The site uses materials previously developed with public funds.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Education plans to invite proposals from outside entities to take over the adult literacy portal in the future.

For more information, please visit www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/factsh/usa-learns-fs_0811.pdf.