North Jonesboro Neighborhood Initiative

April 12, 2013

Volume 2, Issue 10

Special points of interest:

> Partnership Facilitates Financial Literacy Class > FSCIA Gets Tractor > Cooking Matters Graduation

The Face of S ervice

Inside this issue: Area AmeriCorps members on the fronts steps of Jonesboro City Hall. back row (left to right): Dr. Clint Relyea, Mayor Perrin, Emma Agnew

Jonesboro and the surrounding area serve as host to 26 AmeriCorps members, 13 of whom are affiliated with the NJNI. As part of a national recognition of mayors from cities across the country, local AmeriCorps members were recognized by Mayor Harold Perrin during a ceremony in their honor. The Mayor read a proclamation and presented the proclamation to Dr. Clint Relyea, Associate Professor of Management and Coordinator of the International Business Program at ASU and Chairman of the Arkansas Service Commission. Dr. Relyea assisted the Mayor in presenting certificates of appreciation to each member. After the ceremony, members and guests attended a reception in the lobby of City Hall. A small way of saying ‘thank you’ to a few individuals who do so much for our community.

Thank you, AmeriCorps members, for all you do!

Fisher Street Tractor

2

Financial Literacy

2

Meeting Highlights

2

Cooking Matters

3

Board of Directors

4

Community Calendar

4

Page 2

FSCIA Gets Tractor

North Jonesboro Neighborhood Initiative

Financial Literacy C lasses in N orth J onesboro B y C ar yl S te e l e , B anc o rpS ou th

Through a generous donation and a grant from the Jonesboro Rotary Club, the Fisher Street Community in Action now owns a tractor.

The tractor is receiving minor repairs and will be used on Sunday, April 28, when Home Depot partners with FSCIA to begin working the Spring garden and planting the donation of seeds and plants they will bring with them. This will be the second year of the Home Depot/FSCIA gardening partnership. The fun starts at 11:00 a.m. and volunteers are invited and welcome to participate.

In late March, NJNI sponsored the first of four hour-long presentations to low-income public housing residents of the Jonesboro Urban Renewal and Housing Authority (JURHA) and the north Jonesboro community.

Presentations are held each Wednesday at the Public Housing Computer Lab at 601 Marshall Street in Jonesboro, thanks to Malia Salvador, Resident Opportunity and SelfSufficiency (ROSS) program coordinator for JURHA. Ms. Salvador hosts each presentation and Caryl Steele, marketing officer for BancorpSouth and Valencia Cash, NJNI AmeriCorps member are the presenters for each of the four programs.

control over your money, as well as budgeting and strategies for saving money. The remaining three sessions (which will end in late April) will cover budgeting.

The first step in learning how to budget your money is to track spending. An effective way to track spending is by simply writing down your expenses, so that you can see where you spend your money and how you spend it.

Additional discussions of the financial literacy presentations include: ·

The first presentation focused on ways to get

For those with bank accounts, learning how to avoid overdraft charges and Other bank fees is a challenge, but using available tools such as online

·

banking and balance notification alerts can help keep you on track to avoid over-spending. Balancing your checkbook each month is another essential skill to track and monitor spending.

·

Budgeting is simply a tool to help you see where your money is spent. Developing and sticking to a budget will help you see where you might be able to save some money. For example: making your lunch every day instead of buying it can save you almost $25 in one week. Times four equals $100 saved per month.

Rev. Dr. Charles Coleman and the FSCIA tractor.

Meeting Highlights MFBNJ—Thursday,

Caption describing picture or graphic.

April

18th at the E. Boone Watson Center: ASU Department of Psychology and Counseling has completed a survey to be used to conduct a needs assessment for the mentoring program .

Volunteers will be trained how to administer the survey.

NJNI Board—Thursday, April 18th at the E. Boone Watson Center: Heater Clements, Grants Administrator for the City, gave an update on plans to revitalize North Jonesboro .

Emma Agnew, NJNI Coordinator, discussed current classes and the Cooking Matters graduation.

Board members were reminded of the Community Meeting on April 25th and encouraged to attend.

Page 3

North Jonesboro Neighborhood Initiative

Volume 2, Issue 10

Financial Literacy (cont’d from P age 2 ) Checking your credit report is important to make sure our credit history is accurate.

Sample pages from a credit report will be reviewed so participants become familiar with how to obtain a free copy of their credit report, various terms used in a credit report, what to do when an error is found, and other practical tips on reviewing your credit history on a regular

basis. You can obtain a free copy of your credit r e p o r t a t : www.annualcredit report.com.

To inquire about future classes, please contact Emma Agnew, NJNI Coordinator, at 870-336-7210.

Bank fees and account information: Having and keeping a checking account is an important step in financial literacy.

Learning how to get the right account for you and avoiding fees will also be covered.

“You can obtain a free copy of your credit report at www.annual credit report.com”

C ooking M atters G raduates

“We are currently accepting registrations for upcoming classes.”

Left to Right: Emma Agnew, Coordinator, Beulah Scales, Nancy Metz, Nina Coleman, Carrie Scales, Tawauna Hooper, Bridgett Clark-Mays and Debbie DeRossitte, Class Instructor

Cooking Matters participants attended four nutrition and hands-on cooking classes, toured a local grocery store to learn how to make healthy, cost-effective choices and received several incentives throughout the duration of the class and graduation. Seven graduates were recognized (one graduate, Carolyn Wooden, is not pictured.) The program will be featured in the Jonesboro sun on April 24, 2013.

The class is a successful partnership between the Craighead County Extension Office and NJNI. Cooking Matters is funded through the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and

.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS WILLIAM

CASH-Entrepreneur, Vice Chairman

CHARLES COLEMAN-Retired, ASU JEANETTE DOTSON-East AR Area Agency on Aging DAISY FREEMAN-Retired, St. Bernards, Secretary JANICE GRIFFIN –Craighead County DHS AMY HUTSON-Frito Lay BLAKE JOHNSON-Liberty Bank

City of Jonesboro North Jonesboro Neighborhood Initiative P.O. Box 1845 519 W. Washington Ave. Jonesboro, AR 72401-1845

JANE MCDANIEL–Retired, St. Bernards M.G. MEYERING-Habitat for Humanity JOHN MIXON–STUCK & ASSOCIATES BEN OWENS, Retired-St. Bernards, Chairman Melody Robinson, Jonesboro Human Development Center

C ommunity C alendar April 22—Health & Wellness Classes (5:30 p.m.)

April 24—Financial Literacy Class Graduation (1:30 p.m.)

April 25—Communitty Meeting (4:00 p.m.)

April 28—FSCIA/Home Depot Gardening (11:00 a.m.)

May 7—Cooking Matters Class(5:30 p.m.)

May 9—Cooking Matters Class (10:00 a.m.)

Caption describing picture or graphic.

May 16—MFBNJ (10:00 a.m.)

May 16—NJNI Board Meeting (5:00 p.m.)

June 8—West End Annual Rummage Sale (MicroSociety)

Emma Agnew, Editor and NJNI Coordinator

September 14—NJNI 5K

870-336-7210

October 1—NJNI National Night Out & Community Fair

eagnew@jonesboro.org