INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Category: Volunteer Opportunity

  • Resources! We have Resources!

    We’ve been keeping our webmaster busy with updates and additions to ilnhclone.indivisible.blue as we jump into this year’s election season. Please check out the following pages for what you need to know:

    Voter Info with key dates for voters in NJ and PA, plus other active organizations that may be of interest to follow or with which to get involved.

    Volunteer Opportunities has a list of canvass and phone banking events for our endorsed candidates, links to sign up directly to volunteer for their campaigns, FAQs for new canvassers, and postcard and letter writing opportunities. We’ll do our best to keep these as current as possible, so check back often.

  • Caring for Community: Volunteering, Donating to Help Those in Need

    Safe Harbor Child Access Centers in Flemington is available for all individuals in need of a safe environment to heal from traumatic experiences such as domestic violence, sexual assault, childhood abuse, neglect and PTSD. Safe Harbor provides therapeutic visitation, supervised parenting time and a safe place to drop off and pick up children during custody exchange.

    The Center itself is a place where young children can laugh, play and feel safe. Large windows fill each room with sunshine and warmth. The rooms are active and vibrant and host a display of paintings, books and musical instruments. Laughter is throughout as families connect with their children and play with their siblings and friends. Bella Blue, the resident therapy dog, is available as needed. 

    In addition, for today’s teen, the world has become much more complex. Young boys and girls find solace in Safe Harbor by connecting with other teens, participating in support groups and to openly discuss the challenges they face today. Through trauma-sensitive play groups, children and teens come together to do artwork, participate in Zumba classes, listen to music and play using their imagination.

    The Center operates under the direction of Carol Dvoor, a survivor of domestic abuse herself, who has made it her mission to advocate for survivors and bring children together with their families to help rebuild, connect and heal. Carol has also brought together numerous volunteers, community organizations and businesses to help create the welcoming environment, provide a wide range of programs and projects and sometimes, to provide the basic needs of life for those served by the Center. 

    Open seven days a week, Safe Harbor is an all volunteer 501(c)3, New Jersey based not-for-profit organization, and is a registered New Jersey charity with the New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs.

    Contact information to volunteer, donate or request more information on services

    Phone: 908-268-4284;

    Email: safeharbor17info@gmail.com

    Facebook: Safe Harbor Child Access Centers

    ALICE – United Way of Hunterdon County has joined forces with United Way of Northern New Jersey to promote the ALICE Recovery Fund. COVID-19 doesn’t recognize county borders and it is important to join forces to support ALICE – the quarter of our neighbors who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed. These households struggled to afford the basics even before COVID-19 hit. Many of them are made up of essential workers who are on the frontlines of this crisis and it is essential to support them in the immediate and long-term. Working with our partners, this fund will be distributed to ALICE households impacted by COVID-19 throughout the region.  

    ALICE is one in five neighbors who is living on the edge. ALICE may be a college student; a recent grad who is working and paying off tuition debt; a young family struggling to pay for child care so they can work; the underemployed working less than full-time and without benefits; active duty military personnel; a family caregiver; or a senior on a fixed income struggling with health issues.

    ALICE individuals and families living in Hunterdon County struggle every day to make ends meet, yet they work in jobs that are essential to the county’s economy. 

    Why does ALICE struggle?

    • Income is falling behind the cost of living – Did you know it costs a household with two adults and two young children ~$90,000 to barely get by in Hunterdon County? That’s an increase of almost $10,000 over a two-year period. The cost of basic household expenses increased steadily in every county in New Jersey between 2010 and 2016. The average household budget rose by 28 percent from 2010 to 2016. 
    • The available jobs are low-paying despite providing essential services to Hunterdon County. ALICE works in occupations we all depend on. However, more than 50% of jobs in Hunterdon County pay less then $20/hour.  These jobs will account for 75% of new jobs over the next decade.
    • More than 30% of seniors struggle and live below the ALICE threshold – a significant increase over two years prior.

    To volunteer or donate, go to https://www.uwhunterdon.org/contact

    Reminders: Food Pantries are being especially hit hard with the growing number of people out of work. Please donate when you can, and as often as you can. 

  • ACTION: Help Your Local Non-Profits

    Food Pantries – The non-profits supporting those in need are in need themselves as the number of people accessing their operations continues to increase. This link is a one stop shop to all the local food pantries in Hunterdon, Bucks and beyond https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/nj-lambertville. Monetary donations allow them to stock what is most needed and eliminates the need for you to shop and deliver. 

    Meals on Wheels Volunteers Needed (Hunterdon) – Volunteer drivers are needed for the delivery of meals from 11 AM to 1 PM Monday through Friday. This is a vital service to some of our most vulnerable residents in Hunterdon County.  Protocols are being put into place so there isn’t face-to-face contact with the meal recipients. Details on Meals on Wheels locations will be provided to interested volunteers. If you know of any interested residents in your community, please have them contact either Human Resources Director Grace Kelly at gkelly@co.hunterdon.nj.us or Deputy Chief of Staff Brad Myhre at bmyhre@co.hunterdon.nj.us.

    Lebanon Site:
    Needs Drivers for each of the following locations:
    Clinton, Quakertown, Jutland/Pattenburg, Hampton/Glen Gardner, Califon, Tewksbury, Annandale, High Bridge and Lebanon.

    Flemington Site:
    Needs a Driver for each of the following locations:
    Senior Housing, Flemington Central, Flemington South, Flemington North, Flemington/Ringoes, Whitehouse, Frenchtown, Milford, Alexandria, Lambertville and Stockton.

    Know of other non-profit community groups aiding people in need at this time? Post in the comment below.

  • Changing the Conversation Together: Join Us in Taking a New Approach to Canvassing

    Contributed by Cindi Sternfeld 

    Have you ever wondered if what we’ve been doing can make a difference? ILNH is constantly looking for ways to save democracy from the attacks we witness on a daily basis. You might ask: can ILNH really save democracy? 

    The answer is, maybe. 

    Maybe we can, if we find new and different ways to engage the electorate. Maybe we can, if we figure out how to bring back the checks and balances that were put in place to keep government of and for the people.  

    Over the past two-plus years, ILNH introduced many campaigns to educate, advocate and activate more citizens to get out and vote. For the most part, our initiatives fall into two categories: LEARN and DO – with a little fun thrown in for good measure. Sometimes the initiatives come from inside the group, and sometimes they come from people we’ve never met or heard of, but who have heard of ILNH.  

    A couple of months back, ILNH was contacted by Adam Barbanel-Fried, who leads Changing the Conversation Together (CTC). CTC is a group of concerned citizens that use a strategy of “deep canvassing,” which teaches volunteers to use their personal stories, empathetic listening and engaged conversations to help voters think about how their values connect with the issues of the day. CTC has used this strategy before and it worked!  

    Adam came to town to explain CTC and to invite us to become partners. He also met with several leaders of other Pennsylvania groups. CTC sees the Pennsylvania 1st Congressional District as flippable, and frankly, so do we.  We want to find out if we can use CTC strategies to flip PA-01. It worked in New York when they used deep canvassing to help Max Rose get elected to NY 11th Congressional district, and we believe it can work here. 

    Adam and the leadership team of ILNH explored several options to make this goal a reality.  Some of the options were large-scale and some were more cautious. After much consideration, it seems that the approach that makes the most sense is to do what we’ve done all along: LEARN and DO. 

    Our plan is to start out by training a core group of volunteers to LEARN deep canvassing, and in the very same day, send them out to DO some deep canvassing.  We are looking at dates in September to pilot the program because the clock is ticking on the 2020 election. 

    We will work with volunteers, partners and other stakeholders to co-host a CTC LEARN and DO event. We’ll gather 30-50 folks to take the next step on the road to success. It will be a full-day event that will teach you how to have conversations about values and then get you and a partner out and knocking on doors.  

    The main difference this time is that you won’t be “selling” a candidate, you will be looking to have conversations with voters about what you, and they, care about.  While our goal is to try to get a deep canvass launched once a month, for now, we want to do a pilot training and see what we can learn. 

    CALL TO ACTION!!

    Today I am reaching out to find volunteers. The coalition of ILNH and other groups is looking to create a mighty band of volunteers trained in the CTC deep-canvassing approach. The rules will be the same as they’ve been all along:  We will NEVER send you out alone; you will have scripts and all of the information you need to be a confident canvasser, and we will work with you to help you have a great experience.  

    If you want to join me in being a part of this exciting change, please sign up at this link to join our team! 

  • Indivisible LNH and Bucks Together to Host Ezra Levin at Candidate Endorsement Meeting

    Indivisible LNH and Bucks Together to Host Ezra Levin at Candidate Endorsement Meeting

    Indivisible Lambertville New Hope and Bucks Together to Host Ezra Levin, Co-founder of Indivisible.org at Candidate Endorsement Meeting
    Lambertville, NJ & New Hope, Pennsylvania – Wednesday, September 12, 2018 – Indivisible Lambertville-New Hope and Bucks Together have joined forces to host Ezra Levin, co-founder of the national Indivisible organization and co-author of the Indivisible Guide. The event will be held at the Cornerstone Event Center at the Eagle Firehouse, 46 Sugan Road, New Hope, PA on Sunday, September 16, 2018.

     

    The event will celebrate the endorsement of a number of candidates at the national, state and county levels by local Indivisible organizations for the 2018 elections. The Pennsylvania candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, Scott Wallace, along with other endorsed candidates will also be in attendance.

     

    “According to the Washington Post 43% of eligible voters did not vote in 2016, and the outcome has been devastating,” said Cynthia Sternfeld, director, Indivisible Lambertville New Hope. “If we want things to change, we must get people to the voting booth. Indivisible stands as thousands of local groups inspired by Ezra Levin and the original founders, who are actively working to strengthen our Democracy, preserve civil liberties and get out the vote.”

     

    For the full list of candidates endorsed by Indivisible Lambertville-New Hope, please go here.

     

    Indivisible Lambertville New Hope is a local, grass roots volunteer organization focused on educating and uniting citizens in actions that support its core values of democracy, equality, inclusiveness, honesty and respect. The organization was founded in January, 2016 and currently has more than 1000 members.