Join us for a sampling of the arts, the foods and the traditions of the many people who have come from other countries to live in our county. On the program:

• A speaker on the history of the county
• Dance and music from countries around the world - from western Europe to Asia and Africa
• Special culinary treats.
• A demonstration of Ukrainian egg dyeing
• Henna painting
• A demonstration of how names are written in different languages

Please join us. We are looking for:

• Individuals and groups to perform - whether it's folk dance or native songs.
• Contributions of ethnic foods. Show off your best treats.
• Volunteers for the event.

Call us or send an email! Help us show the diversity of our county and its heritage.

Ten landlords, real estate agencies and property owners who have contributed to the advancement of fair housing and to providing decent housing for low income families were honored at a fair housing appreciation breakfast.

The event was sponsored by the Housing Committee of the Morris County Human Relations Commission in cooperation with Homeless Solutions Inc., the Housing Alliance of Morris County, the Mental Health Association of Morris County, NewBridge Services, Inc., Provident Bank and Madison Affordable Housing Corporation.

"At a time when minority groups say that housing is still closed to them," said Joanne Antonelli, co-chair of the Human Relations Commission housing committee, "we want to call attention to the work that is being done and encourage positive action among others who provide housing."

She noted that the newly released annual report by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Fair Housing Assistance Program said that their agencies received a record number of housing discrimination complaints - 9,254 - nearly twice the number recorded nine years ago.

The complaints ranged from discrimination against those with disabilities, with race following closely or equally. The largest category of issues dealt with terms and conditions imposed in the sale or rental of property - from outright refusal to rent to requiring a higher security deposit from a minority member.

"Clearly, we have work to do," Antonelli said.

In Morris County, said Wayne Cresta, the Commission's chair, HUD reported 48 housing complaints filed between 2002 and 2006 - 23 in 2006. Of these 23, 11 were based on disability, 11 on race, five on family status and two on sexual orientation.

The awards, presented for the first time, recognize those who set the standards for what agencies and individuals can do to help families find housing that is appropriate, safe and affordable.



Award winners: Among those honored
at the fair housing breakfast were (l-r) Kara Parmigiani and her father John of Alps Properties; Dr. Betsy Hall of Homeless Solutions; Teresa Keefe, a Morristown landlord; Doreen Ernandez of the Church of God in Christ; Louis Lanzaerotti from the Farm in Harding Township; Michelle Sement of Remax House Values; Dolores D’Accardi and Elizabeth Gallagher of Gervin Realty and Lou Ricco of Madison Affordable Housing Corp. Not pictured: Lynn Howell and Jessie Rodriguez of Howell Property Management and Realty Corp. and Westminster Management, LLC.

The awards will be presented to:

Alps Properties - Owner John Parmiginani and his daughter, Kara, who manages the Alps Apartments, are cited for their willingness to go "above and beyond" for their tenants and look out for their best interests. One example: they continue to keep rents at fair levels, when other management companies have raised theirs above fair market values.

Gervin Realty - A property management company with 25 years experience, Gervin manages condominium associations in Morris, Essex and Union counties and buildings and shopping centers in Morris. In addition, it offers a rental/management service to individual condo owners. The staff has been cited for going "above and beyond" in working with disabled and low income tenants.

Homeless Solutions, Inc. - For more than 20 years, the organization has been providing shelter to the homeless and how offers shelter for men, single women and families, a safe haven shelter (in cooperation with the Morris County Mental Health Association) for homeless who are mentally ill and transitional housing. It also has established Headquarters Development, a division to develop new housing for low and moderate income people. Among its projects: the Jean Street Apartments, 15 rental units, the first permanent supportive family housing in the state... It also has acquired property at 38-42 Abbett Avenue, Morristown for 12 affordable rental units, gained approval from the Morristown Board of Adjustment to renovate a one family house at 34 Abbett Ave. and create two two-bedroom units, closed on purchase of 81 Martin Luther King Ave. in Morristown as the site for four units and completely the design phase for ten units on Drakestown Road, Washington Township.

Howell Property Management and Realty Corp., Dover - Lynn Howell, owner, and property manager Jessie Rodriguez, have earned for their business the title of "the company with a heart." They look after tenants with disabilities to insure their well-being, keep rents at affordable rates and make sure the apartments are well maintained.

Teresa Keefe - A long time resident of Morristown, Keefe owned several apartment buildings on Speedwell Ave. Over the years, she has been open to accepting housing assistance and is willing to provide decent, safe and affordable housing for tenants with special needs.

Madison Affordable Housing Corp. (MAHC) and Church of God in Christ - Together, they have developed two three-bedroom units at 8 George St. in Morristown, replacing a burst-out vacant building. The Church also introduced MAHC to George Street neighbors who agreed to sell to them. In addition, MAHC in the last three years has developed two bedroom affordable for sale units at 27 Elm St., Madison and partnered with the Housing Partnership Community Development Corporation to develop for-sale housing in Dover (not completed). It is now working to develop 12 units of affordable housing for seniors and the disabled in Madison. Three units will be earmarked for homeless.

Michelle Sement - licensed realtor since 2002, Sement worked first with Weichert and now with REMAX House Values in Randolph. She has been providing real estate services for the Mental Health Association for the last four years, helping to have commissions paid by landlords, smoothing the way for vouchers and effectively working with difficult clients. She also provides mentoring to new associates. In 2005, she was awards the "circle of excellence" bronze award.

The Farm at Harding - Hailed as an example of how affordable housing can become a reality, the Farm is the result of a decision by the township to meet their affordable housing obligations, not by giving money to another city, but by building their own. In 2004, the township paid $1 million to buy a nine-acre parcel at the corner of Kitchell Road and Woodland Avenue. Officials used volunteer help and agreed to back a loan to a nonprofit - the Affordable Housing Corp. organized by Philip and Mary van Kirk - to develop and pay $200,000 a year to subsidize the Farm’s costs. Families began to move into the 24 affordable housing units in 2006.

Westminster Management, LLC - Winner of the 2006 Property Management Company of the Year, the Florham Park company manages nearly 18,000 apartment units, including garden apartments, high-rise buildings and active adult communities. The company is known for its response to the needs of tenants. Among its buildings: The Ambassador in Morristown, where they have willingly accepted housing assistance on behalf of several elderly tenants.

Wayne Cresta, rent leveling manager and senior services director for the Town of Morristown, has been named chair of the Morris County Human Relations Commission for 2007-08.

Installed with him at the Commission's annual dinner at the County College of Morris were Alberto Olarte, senior bilingual clinician at Saint Clare's Behavioral Health, vice-chair; Peggy Carroll of Morris Township, a public relations consultant, secretary and Susan Waldman of Randolph, a community volunteer, treasurer.

Performing the installation ceremonies was Hester Agudosi, Supervising Deputy Attorney General and Chief Prosecutor, Supervision and Coordination Bureau, who was also the keynote speaker. (See story on youth programs)

Cresta, who has been a member of the Commission for three years, succeeds Sue Rosenthal of Randolph, a legal secretary and law office manager in Morristown, who now serves as immediate vice chair.

Mrs. Rosenthal, in her final report, listed the projects the Commission sponsored or co-sponsored in the last year to educate and inform on issues of diversity and living in a multi-cultural society. Among them:

• For the eleventh year, sponsored appearances by actor Fred Morsell in his Frederick Douglas Seminars on Race Relations and Gender Equity both in area schools and a free public performance.


• Joined with Morris Tomorrow's Building Cross Cultural Communities Committee in sponsoring the first Study Circle program in Morris County, to bring people together to discuss local and regional issues and work towards solutions.


• Sponsored the first Morris County Cultural Heritage Month. Activities included "Many Lands, One County," an exhibit on immigration in collaboration with the Morris County Historical Society presented at the Morris County Library and a cultural heritage festival, including the arts and foods of many nations, at the Morris County Cultural Center.


• Co-sponsored the 12th annual Raoul Wallenberg Honors, recognizing courage and compassion and service to others by young people in middle schools and high schools.


• Co-sponsored with the National Council of Jewish Women, West Morris Section, an essay and art competition on "What Prejudice Means to Me."

New Jersey's anti-bias and hate crime efforts will zero in on youth this year. That's because, said Hester Agodosi, a Supervising Deputy Attorney General with in-depth knowledge of the problems, that's where bias begins.

Consistently, she said, young people between the ages of 11 and 17 are responsible for almost half of the bias crimes reported in the state.

The state's major initiative is on the theme "Youth + Education + Diversity = New Jersey's Future" and will focus on finding the best practices for reaching youngsters and share them with others. A leadership conference for young people who are working on these issues is planned for November.

She called upon the Morris Commission to be proactive and to seek out, encourage and support youth who are working in their schools and in their communities towards understanding among all people.

Agodosi, who has worked in the Office of Bias Crimes, said that New Jersey often ranks second or third in the nation in the number of bias crimes. But she warned that this is not necessarily an accurate barometer. New Jersey had a mandatory system of reporting, she noted; many other states do not, making comparisons impossible.

"Many Lands, One County" Showcases Area's Diverse Cultural Heritage

It was called "Many Lands, One County" and it was billed as a festival of cultural heritage. Its intent: to give a sampling of the arts, the foods and the traditions of the people who now call Morris County home.

The event, sponsored by the Morris County Human Relations Commission and the Morris County Historical Society at the Morris County Cultural Center, mirrored the county's diversity: from the Virginia reel to hip hop, from the folk dances of Greece to the traditional dance of Trinidad, from Indian song to Israeli songs, from the Shoo fly pie of the Amish to the biscotti of Italy, from decorating the body with henna the Indian way to decorating eggs the Ukranian way.

It also was an opportunity to learn more about immigration in this "nation of immigrants." Keynote speaker for the festival was Dr. Vincent Parrillo, chairman of the sociology department at William Paterson University who talked about the waves of people who came to these shores from ports in every part of the world - from as near as the Caribbean to as far as China and Japan.

He said that the United States was not a "melting pot." Assimilation, he noted, is not subtraction, but addition. Each people added something to the national culture.

Nor has immigration ever been an easy issue. Even George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, Parrillo noted, worried about the effect of large numbers of foreign newcomers coming to the infant United States.

Heading the planning committee for the event were Ragini "Regina" Goel, past chair of the Human Relations Commission and Debra Westmorland, curator for the Historical Society.

The festival attracted nearly 300 people who sampled an array of ethnic foods and watched performers, from young children to senior citizens, demonstrate the music and dance of their countries of origin.

Among those performing were a young Colombian dance troupe from Jersey City, hip hop dancers called the Misfits, Elizabeth Forde Well and her niece, Gabrielle Forde who performed dances from Trinidad-Tobago, Cantor Guy Bonner of Temple Shalom in Roxbury who sang songs from Israel; the Metropolitan Vintage Dance and Social Club who did the Virginia reel, the Morristown Folk Dancers who performed a variety of ethnic folk dances and Anjali Suman of Rockaway, a student at the Kalashri School of the Arts.

Among those demonstrating their crafts were Anna Deysyk of Morris Plains, who showed the Ukranian art of egg decoration and Hima Mehta of Parsippany who did henna painting for guests.

The festival is part of the observance of Morris County's cultural heritage month. The celebration also includes an exhibit on Morris County immigrants, mounted by the Historical Society and now on view at the Morris County Library.

"Many Lands, One County" Opens Cultural Heritage Month

HANOVER TWP. - They came from all parts of the globe and for many reasons.

After World War II, Sophia and Wesyl Paszczak needed a home. Natives of the
Ukraine, they were among the "displaced persons,' refugees left without a country after World War II. They found a place for themselves in the new world in a town called Morris Plains.

Angeliki Brouard came to the United States as an exchange student and spent a year in an Ohio high school. She then won a scholarship to Bethany College in West Virginia and there met the man she married. His work brought them to Dover which became her home.

Maria Marothy-Bastamov and her husband George were political refugees
from Hungary. They took part in the 1956 Uprising and were hunted by the Soviets for their years of political activities. They escaped to Vienna - and then to the United States where they settled in Livingston. Eventually, Maria opened a dry cleaning business; after George's death in 1981, she began a wine import business and moved to Florham Park.

Sven Eike, who was born in Norway, followed his family to the United States. He immigrated to Brooklyn in 1928 and moved to Lake Telemark in 1943 where he lived until his death this month. He served on a tugboat in the Merchant Marines during World War II and took part in the Normandy invasion. He later was a tugboat engineer and a sales engineer.

Witold Szymanski was a war survivor, a former Nazi prisoner in his native Poland. He was both a member of the Polish underground fighting the Germans, one of the Polish Christians who risked their lives to help Jews, and of the post-war resistance fighting against communism. He and his family arrived in America with $5 each in their pockets. They found a home in Parsippany.

The stories of these and dozens of other immigrants - both from the past and present - are told in an exhibit called "Many Lands, One County" which is on display at the Morris County Library from August 25 to September 28.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Morris County Human Relations Commission and the Morris County Historical Society as part of the observance Morris County's Cultural Heritage Month. A second event - a festival of entertainment, food and information for the whole family - will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, September 17 at the Morris County Cultural Society.

Chairing the events are Debra Westmoreland, curator for the Historical Society, and Ragini "Regina" Goel, past chair of the Human Rights Commission and herself an immigrant from India.

Westmoreland said the exhibit looks at immigration's impact on the county from the arrival of the first Dutch settlers in the 17^th century to the coming of Hispanic and Asian immigrants in the 21^st century.