From FORTE House
to YOUR House Issue #1 |
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A Year of Firsts |December 2020 |
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Welcome to From FORTE House to YOUR House! Despite unsettling weather, COVID, and elections, we continue to be vigilant in the mission of education being the most significant catalyst in the rehabilitation of formerly incarcerated individuals. In this first issue of our newsletter, I want to share all the FORTE House Firsts you made possible in our first year: first residents, first semesters of study, first power outage, first time voting, first Thanksgiving... and coming up soon, our first Christmas. Stay healthy, stay connected, and thank you for being part of the FORTE House family. If you have any questions, feel free to email info@njfortehouse.org. -Love Tia Founding Executive Director |
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First Things First: Getting Ready |
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Our first act of giving back to our community was fixing up a property abandoned for years. Who would believe the house on the left could become the beautiful, safe, and welcoming home it has become since we opened in May? Our favorite part of the renovation: seeing the new bathrooms, with nice clean tile and new sinks come in, was a thrilling moment. Also the kitchens (we have two!): As the workmen put up new cabinets and wheeled in refrigerators, we could just imagine the shared meals and conversation. A kitchen is always the heart of a home. By May 1, we didn't have all the bedrooms ready, but we had enough done to welcome our first resident, Ali, who moved in that day.
Below: Furniture! Tia focuses on living room; mattresses loaded up and ready for delivery! Fun Fact: Our home was originally built in 1907 before we fully renovated in 2020! |
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June: Our First Mask Donation |
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August: Our First Power Outage |
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Remember Tropical Storm Isaias last August? We went five days without power! Tia ran to three stores to get flashlights, batteries, candles, and styrofoam coolers to store food. |
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"I wasn't going to have any of our residents falling down the stairs because of no lights!" said Tia. The resident's response: "You're way better than most landlords, Tia!" No pictures -- too dark to focus! |
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September: First Courses in FORTE HOUSE |
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Our residents started college courses in September--using zoom, online learning tools, and all the help lines that Rutgers offered! We are grateful for all the contributions we received, from donations, that allowed us to purchase computers and internet access, to tutoring and tech support. Here, Parish works on his Statistics assignment at one of our shared work stations |
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October: First Get Out The Vote! |
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October 4, 10 and 11, Residents Clifton, Dan, Khabir, and Parish volunteered their time to do a voter registration push over the course of 3 days, in 6 different cities. Dan made the November issue of the national All of Us or None newsletter! The editors included a photo of him helping two community members register. |
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November: First Time Voting, First Thanksgiving |
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We voted as a group: Residents Dan and Ali and Exec. Director Tia--the first time voting for all of us! -- along with Parish (last time he voted, it was for Bill Clinton). Ryan Haygood of NJISJ came to visit us and provided donuts to start us with an election day FORTE House family tradition. |
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The next day, we welcomed our last group of residents, as NJ released over 2,000 men and women from prisons because of COVID-19. Together, our residents cooked and gave thanks on November 26 for the first at-home Thanksgiving they'd had in many years. And we all gave thanks that day for you, and all that you've made possible for us at FORTE House. |
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December: First Christmas! |
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Now, we're all getting ready to share joy, thanks, another great meal and even a few presents for our first Christmas in FORTE House.TiaI insisted on bringing over a small tabletop tree. The resident who at first said, "Nah, I don't really celebrate holidays like everyone else" was the one who most enthusiastically put up decorations! (We're protecting his reputation by withholding his name!) Now it looks like a home full of magic--which it is. |
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