Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Included in this bulletin:
1) Planning Your Gardening Year, tonight!
2) Breakfast with Bauer, this Saturday at Gone Wired
3) Habitat for Humanity seeks applicants
4) March Magic Hoop Fest seeks volunteers
5) Coins for Haiti
6) ANC offers great Volunteer Opportunities
7) Live at Fenner on Jan. 23
1) Planning Your Gardening Year – Tonight!
Offered Jan. 26th, 6:30 8 pm, at the Hunter Park GardenHouse.
Did you know that an important part of vegetable gardening happens in the dead of winter? It’s the very necessary planning and perusing, designing and drawing, dreaming and scheming, all done indoors where its warm and snug! At this workshop, led by Linda Anderson, you will learn when different garden tasks should be done throughout the year, how to decide what to plant, and how to lay out your vegetable garden. There will be time at the workshop for you to dig in and get started on your plans, with access to lots of garden catalogs and books as well as experienced gardeners to answer your questions. Come get a jump on the 2010 gardening year!
2) Breakfast with Bauer this Saturday
“Breakfast with Bauer” is this Saturday at Gone Wired Cafe. This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts and opinions with Representative Bauer, and a good time to hear about what’s going on in the Michigan Legislature.
This month’s breakfast will be this Saturday, Jan. 30, at 9 a.m., at Gone Wired Café, 2021 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. The next “Breakfast with Bauer” will be held on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 9 a.m., at Sawyer’s Gourmet Pancake, located at 608 W. Saginaw St. in Lansing.
3) Habitat for Humanity Lansing is seeking applicants for our homeownership program.
We are hoping to select 7 new families by May 1st! If your agency or group, is interested in holding an onsite orientation for the community you work with I would love to schedule that today or if you or someone you knows may want to apply we have orientation sessions being held in our office the first week of March.
Here are three basic requirements for our homeownership program: need, ability to pay, and willingness to partner.
Need: The applicant must be living in substandard housing. We determine the home’s substandard status by looking at if it is overcrowded, in poor repair, in a bad neighborhood, unsafe or unsanitary, or overpriced. If the applicant is living with friends or relatives, or if he/she is homeless, we would also take that into consideration. The applicant must be a resident of Greater Lansing for at least one year (some exceptions do apply)
Ability to Pay: Habitat homeowners must be low income but still able to afford a Habitat mortgage payment. We use a scale of 30-60% of the median income for Ingham County based on family size. For example, in 2009, a family of four is required to make $20,100-$40,200 per year in verifiable sustainable income. In addition, we do a credit check to make sure the applicant is responsible with his/her credit—we don’t expect it to be perfect, but we do want to see that payments are made on time and bills aren’t in collections. Applicants must have improved credit for two years after the discharge of bankruptcy or the end of redemption after foreclosure.
Willingness to Partner: The applicant must be willing to partner with us in our mission. All homeowners are required to do “Sweat Equity”—that’s work on their own home and other Habitat homes and projects. A single-adult family must do 300 hours of Sweat Equity; a two-adult family must do 500 hours.
2009 Income Guidelines by Family Size
One: $14,050 – $28,140
Two :$16,100 – $32,160
Three: $18,100- $36,180
Four:$20,100 – $40,200
Five :$21,700- $43,440
Six: $23,300 – $46,620
Seven: $24,900 – $49,860
Eight: $26,550 – $53,888
If you’re interested please call Ashley Bergau at Habitat Lansing for more information!
517-374-1313 x 21, partner@habitatlansing.org
4) March Magic Hoopfest
The Greater Lansing Sports Authority and MHSAA have partnered again to bring the March Magic Hoopfest event. March Magic Hoopfest is an interactive basketball playground for children of all ages and includes a variety of games, basketball skill venues, historical displays and educational activities. It is open to everyone and will be a fun event for the entire Greater Lansing Community as well as those who are visiting East Lansing for the MHSAA Basketball Tournaments. In its second year, the March Magic Hoopfest event will take place in Jenison Field House on the campus of MSU on March 18-20, 2010, and March 25-27, 2010. The MHSAA Girls and Boys tournaments will be held concurrently across the street at the Breslin Center.
Hundreds of volunteers are needed to keep March Magic Hoopfest operating. This is a great opportunity for kids and adults alike. Take the time to volunteer as a family. This is also an easy and fun volunteer opportunity to gain community service hours for National Honor Society, school or church groups and other organizations looking for volunteer hours. We encourage our volunteers to have fun right along with the fans at Hoopfest. Please visit www.marchmagichoopfest.com for further details and forward this email to those you believe will be interested in volunteering for this event. We expect everyone to have a great time, including the volunteers. Smiles are encouraged!
Don’t hesitate to call the Greater Lansing Sports Authority if you have questions. We can be reached at (888) 326-5590 or by email at jhagen@lansing.org.
5) Coins for Haiti
Message from Bingham School’s Freya Rivers
We keep growing. Last week Bingham collected $700.28 to send to Doctors without Borders. We can make a sizeable contribution if we get out the word to our students, community organizations and friends. These are the schools who are working with us: Bingham, Cavanaugh, Forest View, Attwood, Mt. Hope, Riddle, Elmhurst, Beekman, Post Oak, Wexford, North, Lewton, Cumberland, Kendon, Wainwright, Wexford, Woodcreek and Sexton along with Public Safety, Becky Casanova – Jim Davis Admn and Diana Rouse – Student Services. If I left out your name, please let me know. Also, LCC Young Democrats, State Representative Joan Bauer have committed. Thank you for your support.
Freya A. Rivers, Principal, Bingham Elementary, 121 Bingham Street, Lansing, MI 48912
517.755-1240 Office, 517-755-1249 FAX, freya.rivers@lansingschools.net
6) Volunteer Opportunities at Allen Neighborhood Center
What: Newsletter Support
When: THIS WEEK- (January 25- 29); hours are based on volunteer’s availability
Other: Help distribute the Eastside Neighbor to the Eastside. Volunteers will be paired with a partner to insure safety. Our goal is to be finished by this Friday so please volunteer, any amount helps.
What: Neighborhood Navigator
When: The following shifts are still available- Tuesday and Thursday; 9-1 and 1-5, Wednesday 1-5, and Friday; 9-1… If you have a 3-4 span of time on these days please let us know and we’ll work around your schedule
Other: The Neighborhood Navigator (a friendly greeter who is trained to link visitors to a wide range of community resources) is one of the most important volunteer positions at ANC. We are seeking engaging, reliable people who enjoy a fast pace and a diverse work environment. Continual and free trainings are given each month in order to increase knowledge about community resources. We ask that Neighborhood Navigators make a commitment of at least 4 months.
What: GardenHouse Volunteers
When: All week; times vary
Where: The Hunter Park Community GardenHouse between Clifford and Holmes streets on Kalamazoo Ave
Other: Your main task will be to maintain the GardenHouse and plant life. No gardening experience necessary. Must have strong communication skills and be willing to learn new concepts to be disseminated to the public. We ask that GardenHouse Volunteers make a commitment of 2-3 hour long shifts every week or bi-weekly for at least 4 months.
What: Kinship Care Support Group
When: 2nd Saturday of the month; 1:00- 4:00
Other: No experience necessary. Should enjoy working with children and adults of all ages. Volunteers will be trained in how the program works, how to set up the program’s physical space, and how to clean-up and organize at the end of the day. We ask that Kinship volunteers make a commitment of at least 4 months.
What: Community Soup
When: 3rd Thursday of the month; 5:30- 8:30
Where: Unity Spiritual Renaissance Church (230 S. Holmes)
Other: Volunteers would help with prep before the event (recipe selection, copying recipes, etc.), set-up, help during the event and clean-up once the event is over. We ask that Community Soup volunteers make a commitment of at least 4 months.
If you would like to volunteer for one of the above opportunities or any of the opportunities on the website, please let Heather know. Have a great week!
Heather Hymes, Volunteer Coordinator, Assistant Market Manager, Allen Neighborhood Center
517-999-3919, heatherh@allenneighborhoodcenter.org, www.allenneighborhoodcenter.org
“Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer.” ~Author Unknown
7) Live at Fenner: An Animal Experience with Preuss
A program for all ages on Saturday, January 23rd, 1-3 pm
Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, bearded dragons, monitors, and hedgehogs!
Learn about their habits, where they live, what they eat, and how they survive in their environment.
$5/person, $15 family, Special rate for FOFNC members: $4/person, $12/family