This Saturday's Recession Survival Fair, a non-profit community service event meant to assist Brooklyn and New York City residents in tackling the
challenges springing from the economic recession, is certainly a timely event.
Very timely. Figures released today show that the unemployment rate has hit 9.4% (the good news is that job losses have slowed).
Organized by Brooklyn for Barack in association with The Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association, the Fair takes place on Saturday, June 6, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, 230 Decatur St. (near Lewis Ave.) in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
So what is it?
Attendees will have
free access to important information and professional help on a range
of relevant topics, including healthcare, food and nutrition, job
search, debt and personal finance, and tenants’ rights and foreclosure.
And who is it meant to serve?
Ellen Enders, one of the organizers behind the Recession Survival Fair, came up with three
hypotheticals (based on people she knows) of people the fair could
help.
Williamsburg who is underemployed now and who has no health insurance,
is having trouble paying bills now and has diabetes.
specifically for diabetes care, a source to help w/ prescriptions, some
budgeting advice, nutrition info for diabetes, prescreening for food
stamp eligibility, and advice on how to negotiate and prioritize his
bills as well as maybe some job hunting tips or business start up
resources.
accountant at a financial firm. She's worked there her whole life.
She has lost a significant amount of her retirement savings. Her
emergency fund is gone. She is dipping into her retirement savings.
She has stopped paying for COBRA to save money so no longer has health
insurance. She is losing weight because she is depressed and worried.
She is sending her resume out but is not getting any calls. She is
overwhelmed.
We can help her with counseling support resources,
Medicare/Medicaid or healthcare resources for uninsured. We have lists
of classes she can take about eating healthfully on a budget and she
can get pre-screened for food stamps. We will have financial counselors
there who can sit with her privately and come up with a plan of attack.
We have resources for resume and cover letter classes as well as
information about social networking for work and finding a job in the
internet age. She can find out about jobs of the future in NYC and
focus her job search at companies in those sectors. In addition, we
are setting up a bartering system so that she can exchange her
accounting skills for yoga classes.
have been cut back by his company has a house in foreclosure. He has
accumulated some credit card debt since his work hours were cut back
and he has lost some of his retirement savings. His mother lives with
him and his family and she is suffering from the aftereffects of a
stroke. His wife is trying to go back to work but they have two young
children. None of them have health insurance.
as private financial counseling to straighten out his debt and get a
savings plan in place. He can attend our debt and credit repair
presentation and our panel discussion about foreclosures. We have
resources for eldercare, and information about stroke. We have
counselors who can help the family find a combination of health
insurance resources that suit them. We can help his wife with job
search information and childcare resources so she can go back to work
and help with the family financial crisis.