Communication Workers of America

Anibal Ramos, Director
Essex County Department of Citizen Services
50 South Clinton Street , Floor 5
East Orange , NJ , 07017

SUBJECT: Re: Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute

Dear Mr. Ramos:

As it is self-described on its web site:

As a relatively long standing organizational member of APN, CWA Local 1081 supports the organization's mission, particularly since our Union represents the non-managerial employees of the Essex County Division of Welfare whose clients are affected by the goals and successes of the APN. Today, our Union received this email message: "The following invitation is being forwarded on behalf of Legal Services of New Jersey, one of the co-convening agencies of the Anti-Poverty Network.

We would like to invite your contribution to a new project being launched by the Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute (LSNJPRI). The project is a regular publication that will combine statistics about topical areas related to poverty (such as health care or low wages) with stories of low-income individuals and families who face these challenges. The goal is to shine a light on the faces of poverty within the context of broader trends across the state. In order to effectively shine this light, we need your help to identify people who want to share their stories. We are compiling a list of people/agencies willing to receive periodic e-mail requests asking for help connecting us to people who have experienced particular poverty-related problems. The e-mails will be sent well in advance to give our partners plenty of time to identify potential clients or community members and set-up a convenient interview. We are hopeful that your participation in the project will involve a very minimal time commitment, with the payoff of contributing to the success of a truly powerful advocacy and community education tool.

If you are willing to receive these periodic e-mails (probably about one request every month or two), please respond to this e-mail and let us know that it is OK to include you on the projects' e-mail distribution list. We know that most of you have contact with people whose stories span a broad range of poverty-related challenges (i.e. you probably know people with hunger, employment, disability and immigration stories, even it your primary focus in housing assistance). Therefore, we are hoping that many of you will be willing to look at all the requests and see if you can think of anyone whose story might illustrate the issue in question. If you are interested in contributing, but would like to only be contacted for specific topics, we would welcome your participation too. Just let us know what kinds of topics to contact you about, and we will make sure you get only related requests."

CWA Local 1081 is keenly of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVinvenzo's deep commitment to assist those residents within the County in need of social services, as has been expressly exhibited by his ardent support for the implementation of the 2-1-1 program which is being spearheaded by United Ways of New Jersey and providing people access to comprehensive and specialized information and referral agencies. In addition, Mr. DiVincenzo's invaluable assistance in creating the One-Stop program under the aegis of the Essex County government, as overseen by the dedicated and talented individuals "Joe D" has appointed to the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) in conjunction with the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, has resulted in the creation of strategies and policies to attempt to ensure the development of a properly prepared County workforce that will meet the current and future demands of employers located both within, and without, the County.

Our Union respectfully requests you soon meet with us, at your very earliest convenience, to discuss the LSNJ project in order to create a Labor/Management partnership to endeavor to ensure the poverty-related problems within Essex County are accurately articulated so as “to shine a light on the faces of poverty within the context of broader trends across the state."

Sincerely,

David H. Weiner, President, CWA Local 1081

Yours truly,

David H. Weiner, President

CWA Local 1081

C: Lynn Buckley, CWA Representative