New Jersey Baby Boomer

With the increase in job loss, or fear of job loss in the present recession, there are support groups beginning to form in New Jersey. I just received an email from a fellow NJ Baby Boomer, and thought I’d share the content with you. If you know of other support groups forming, please leave a comment:

UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare to Provide Free Support Groups for People Affected by the Economic Crisis

NEWARK - Panic over job loss. Fear of unemployment. Profound worry about meeting mortgage and tuition payments. Unfortunately, these are the realities of this severe recession.

If you are experiencing any of these kinds of reactions to the current fiscal crisis, it is important to know that you are not alone; there is a place you can go for assistance.

Beginning March 3, UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare (UBHC), a statewide mental health and addiction services network, will offer free 90-minute support groups, run by experienced counselors, for those affected by the economic downturn. Sessions will be held weekly at the following locations on the days and times specified:

-Newark: Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. at UBHC, 183 South Orange Avenue;
-New Brunswick: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. at 303 George Street, 2nd Floor;
-Edison: Thursdays at 3 p.m. at 100 Metroplex Drive, 2nd Floor, Suite 200;
-Monmouth Junction: Tuesdays at noon at 4326 U.S. Highway 1.

• Sessions are open to the public and no appointments are necessary to attend. Participants may remain anonymous.
• People interested in attending may call (800) 969-5300 for more information.
• Members of the media interested in more information about this new initiative should contact Zenaida Mendez at (973) 972-7273.

PLEASE VIEW THE COMMENT(S) BELOW if you are viewing this as a single post, or click the “comments” link under the title of the post, for more support group information that has been added since this post was published.  Thank you.

As I’ve shared in earlier posts, our family here in New Jersey is feeling the affects of the economic downturn in a personal way; not so much that we are devastated, but enough that we feel for those who are experiencing so much worse.  My son is unemployed right now, but he’s still single and living with us, so he doesn’t have the concern of how to feed a family or pay the next bill that many others are experiencing.  My husband has been unemployed, but now has a job that at least pays the bills and keeps us fed.  These small challenges are only a taste of what many are experiencing…I can only imagine what it must be like to be losing a home, not knowing where the next meal for your children will come from.

If we were in a position where we needed to explore benefits, the “red tape” involved in seeking them out in New Jersey, …

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I feel like doing a personal post today, no NJ history, or places to visit, or any of that, just some things that are happening in the lives of two Baby Boomers in NJ, my husband and I.

As you know if you read my blog(s), we live in a rural lake community. Because we have lived here for about 25 years, we had gained a nice bit of equity in our home. We have a mortgage still…would be nice to have that paid off, but the equity came in handy when we had a couple of emergencies and refinanced to cover the bills as well as reduce our interest.

Then when hubby joined the many who have lost their jobs at the age of 50something after working for a company for 30 years, and had to change jobs a few times in 4 years, we found that we had to dip into the equity of our home to make it by a few times.

Then to top it off, this year, the equity went down on our home along with every other home in the Nation. Yes, we still have a chunk left between what we owe and what we might get for our home if we sell it, but I’d say it’s been cut almost in half. That’s a tough pill to swallow if you’re hoping that the equity in your home was going to help you in your retirement one day. Or be something that you can leave your children.

The times are challenging ones, for sure, and there are no easy answers. They are times that can cause worry and fear, or can put us on our knees in prayer, hubby and I are doing the latter and counting of the promises that God has given us to provide all our NEEDS. Even though we live relatively simply, like many, we have our priorities a little off balance in some areas, bad habits developed when it seemed like the money would always be coming in at the same rate forever…ha! We bear some of the responsibility for where we find ourselves.

So here’s to the future, and hopes that things are going to improve, and faith to know that no matter what, we’ll be okay.

A few posts back, I was sharing with you about a job change my husband was experiencing during these economically turbulent times, about our trip to Delaware on an interview, and so on….click the “tag” under the title of this post that says “Boomer Life Changes” to find those posts.

Bottom line, hubby has found a job here in NJ, we don’t have to move, and are so thankful for this.  He finished his present job yesterday and starts the new, and hopefully more stable one, on Monday.

Also, in order to keep this blog focused more on my Boomer & New Jersey life, I’ve started a more personal blog, something I’ve wanted to do for a while, that can be just about anything in my life, my heart, my thoughts.  You’ll by clicking Claudia’s Chronicles.

Last Saturday hubby and I packed a few things, hopped in the car, and hit the road for the few-hour drive to the location of his potential new job.  We were being put up in a nice hotel for a night, but since we went down a day earlier, chose a much less expensive hotel for the night on Saturday.  Then we spent the day Sunday driving the area to see what we thought.  We saw potential in some places, and didn’t care much for others.

Monday hubby was to be interviewed, all Sunday night he tossed and turned, then headed out for the interview, after a delicious breakfast provided by the hotel.  A few hours later he called, excited, saying that all went well and he knew most of the people who interviewed him.  They would contact him within the week. All day as we drove around gathering apartment rental books and real estate books he talked about how he really wanted to get into this company, how beautiful it was, on and on he talked.  I listened, and thought about how hard it would be to leave everyone and everything familiar and move, but for the most part kept that to myself, wanting to support him during this challenging time in his life.  The drive home was a difficult one, the traffic was not good, but we made the best of it and arrived home safely.

Here we are at Tuesday morning (no FREE internet access where we were, so took a vacation from the computer), and my dear husband just called a short while ago to say he already found out that he was not chosen.  My heart sinks, feeling for him…he did all he could to sound unconcerned, but I know when he comes home he’s going to collapse in his recliner, and have to work through a lot of emotional feelings…and he has a tough road ahead, it’s not easy getting a job when you’re in you 50’s.  We trust God will provide…but the waiting is tough at times, and with the economy as it is…

So for now, it looks like I’ll remain a NEW JERSEY Baby Boomer, and even though the idea of moving was hard to imagine, my feelings are a bit confused right now.  I will keep on posting our journey.

Most of us who call ourselves Baby Boomers have been through our share of changes.  I have passed through some of the most common ones, including the painful experience of losing a dear parent; raising two children to adulthood and realizing that the “mommy” role that I took so seriously and poured my life into is no longer what it was; watching my husband experience the physical challenges of diabetes and a heart attack; looking in the mirror and watching the the face that looks back at me change; supporting my husband as he went through the painful experience of realizing that after thirty years devoted to one company, surprise, he is dispensable, and now of at an age where there’s a tendency to go from one job to the other without settling, and what about retirement? Is it possible?

That brings us to our newest change, which could be looked at as a negative, or embraced as a new and exciting adventure, it’s up to us what we decide to do with it.  It may mean a move from our home of 25 years, the home where I raised my babies, and how can I be the “New Jersey Baby Boomer” if we leave NJ?  It may mean leaving behind friends of many years, and being further away from my now-grown babies than I want to be.  It may not happen at all!

I want to take you along on this personal journey and intertwine it with the usual New Jersey info on this blog, and let you get to know me a bit better.   More later this week!