State House seeks guides
The New Jersey State House Tour Program seeks individuals who enjoy history, civics, and have an appreciation of art and architecture to conduct tours of one of the nation’s oldest state capitols. Guides lead tours focusing on the legislative process and the building’s history and architecture. No experience is necessary. Training begins this fall. crogers@njleg.org or (609) 847-3150.
Chess Collaborative opens
The Capital City Chess Collaborative has begun its schedule for member schools Trenton High School West, Ninth Grade Academy, and Joyce Kilmer, Dunn, Rivera, and Gregory schools. The season runs to the end of May and consists of school-to-school round robin meets, inter-mural events in December and March, and an inter-mural open in May. For more information, contact Cameron Hunt, Capital City Chess Collaborative at (609) 356-6058 or sfmaster.8@hotmail.com.
$15K to Camp Fire NJ
Camp Fire New Jersey has received the $15,000 Greater Mercer Grant from Princeton Area Community Foundation to provide programming to a higher number Trenton youth.
Organizers say the award will leverage funding from the Mercer County Juvenile Justice Commission and allow Camp Fire NJ to bring its Peer Proof program to all fifth grade classes in Trenton public schools during the current academic year. The program is designed to bolster resilience, a growth mindset, and positive interpersonal, communication, goal-setting, and decision making skills.
“The effective program empowers students to change the trajectory of their lives and abstain from substance use, street violence, gangs, and bullying,” say coordinators.
Camp Fire New Jersey been serving youth for 80 years. Its office is at 535 East Franklin Street, Trenton. (609) 695-8410 or campfirenj.com.
Pork Roll’s new brew
Flying Fish Brewing Co. released three new Exit Series limited-release craft beverages to mark its 20th anniversary and gave a Trenton staple a nod in the process with Pork Roll Porter.
“Exit 7’s Pork Roll Porter celebrates the state’s quintessential breakfast meat,” the company notes in a press release. “This deliciously dark brown caramel porter is enhanced by the addition of pork roll and spices in the brew kettle. The aroma features notes of cocoa, with hints of maple and smoke from the peat-smoked barley. The flavor showcases characters of chocolate, maple, toasted nuts and a bit of spice from the pork roll.” Pork Roll Queen 2016 Jamie Miller was on hand when the beer was officially launched in September.
Grant for Mercer Alliance
Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness received a $25,000 grant from the Princeton Area Community Foundation in support of ending chronic homelessness in Trenton and Mercer County.
The funds will help the Alliance to fully develop the Trenton/Mercer Coordinated Entry and Assessment System (CEAS) that brings public and private partners together to implement an initiative that uses a “Housing First” strategy to provide permanent housing and identifies chronically homeless singles.
Utilizing Housing First policy, the Mercer Alliance’s systems have become state and national models for ending homelessness for families, singles, and veterans; particularly those experiencing chronic homelessness.
Career help for young adults
YWCA Princeton’s Latinas Unidas and Mercer County’s One Stop Career Center are partnering to offer emPOWER THROUGH!, an initiative to help young adults earn a high school diploma and receive job market preparation.
Initiated through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and funded by the county, the program will identify women and men ages 16 to 24 and engage them in a nine-month curriculum that includes high school equivalency preparation and tutoring, mentorship in life skills, and job readiness.
Founded in 1992 as a part of YWCA Trenton, Latinas Unidas provides life skills, ESL training, education, crisis counseling, support network, breast cancer resources, and more to Latina women in Trenton and surrounding communities, while helping them transition to life in the U.S. Since 2016, Latinas Unidas has become a part of YWCA Princeton but continues to offer programs and services from its location at 5 South Broad Street, Trenton. For more information, contact Cecy Jimenez-Weeast at cjweeast.latinas@outlook.com.
Out below
Flying Fish, established in 1995, calls itself the world’s first virtual microbrewery breweries and the first new brewery built in Southern New Jersey in more than half a century. The company’s headquarters are now in Somerset.
Founded in 2004, the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness is a public-private partnership of the county’s business, government, and the non-profit sectors. Its mission is to develop and implement strategies and systems to end homelessness in Mercer County through permanent housing.
emPOWER THROUGH!: YWCA Princeton’s Cecy Jimenez-Weeast, left, and Judy Hutton with County Executive Brian Hughes.,
