Here a some fire safety related resources available online:WASHINGTON, DC -- Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) has mortgage relief provisions in place for borrowers in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and other states facing hardships as a result of widespread damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
With Fannie Mae's disaster relief provisions, lenders help borrowers in several ways, including suspending mortgage payments for up to three months, reducing the payments for up to 18 months, or in more severe cases, creating longer loan payback plans. Such assistance is provided on a case-by-case basis, and is designed to meet the individual needs of borrowers.
"What matters most to hurricane victims in those first few days after a storm hits is basic safety and survival, not concerns about making their next mortgage payment," said Pam Johnson, senior vice president and single family credit officer at Fannie Mae. "Fannie Mae has made changes to its insurance requirements that will ease the process for lenders and, more importantly, provide homeowners with much-needed relief." Johnson also said that she greatly appreciates the lenders who work with Fannie Mae and assist homeowners with payment issues in the aftermath of a disaster.
Fannie Mae's business guidelines advise lenders to counsel borrowers on all possible mortgage payment work-out options, and to inform homeowners of disaster relief available from federal agencies. Payment relief is available for single-family mortgages (including condos) serviced by Fannie Mae lenders in areas affected by the hurricane. Holders of Fannie Mae mortgage securities will be paid as usual during the relief period.
Mortgage lenders doing business with Fannie Mae will, according to Fannie Mae's guidelines, determine appropriate relief steps by considering:
Fannie Mae also recently announced that it has streamlined its procedures for handling insurance proceeds to provide lenders with more discretion in disbursing insurance proceeds. These improved procedures are based primarily upon the status of the mortgage at the time of the disaster and the extent of the damage. The new procedures are applicable for any federal or state declared natural disaster and will enable lenders to work more effectively and efficiently to address the needs of those borrowers who may require assistance.
In addition, lenders are now required to temporarily discontinue reporting delinquencies to credit bureaus if they are aware that the borrower's delinquency is attributed to hardships as a result of a natural disaster.
For information on mortgage relief, homeowners who have experienced hardships should contact the lender to whom they send their monthly mortgage payment.
Source: Fannie Mae News Release
Showcase is your online guide to arts and culture in New Jersey. The site serves as the online component of the Discover Jersey Arts initiative - a project designed to increase the awareness of and participation in the arts in New Jersey. 
Search the Event Listings and be sure to check out what’s coming up on the next edition of NJN’s Emmy Award-winning State of the Arts. 
Order your free Jersey Arts Resource Guide & Jersey Arts Ticket discount card -- Click Here for a list of current discounts and premiums available to cardholders. 
Also be sure to check out the Jersey Arts Links to local and national arts groups that call New Jersey home.
Looking to view our Public Service Announcement videos online...
Check out the Videos Page featuring native New Jerseyans Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon.
Curious about artists in New Jersey…
Visit the Showcase Gallery featuring an ever-changing array of some of New Jersey’s finest artists. For information on how your work might be featured in the artist gallery visit the Gallery Information page.
Looking for a way to show your support for the arts...
Download Free Screensaver and Desktop Icons.
Also visit ArtPride for information on issues related to the arts here in New Jersey and across the nation. Award-winning theaters, nationally acclaimed museums and magnificent orchestras are among over 600 arts groups that call New Jersey home.
Interested in submitting an event to be posted on Showcase...
Link to the Online Event Submission Form.
The hardest part of getting organized is knowing where to start. A strategy will come in handy, because at some point you're likely to feel overwhelmed. Here is one approach:For instance, when evaluating the contents of a kitchen cabinet, note where each item is located, how often each is used, and how easy each is to access. Look for any unused or poorly utilized space. Have the items in the cabinet been organized for a specific reason, or are they ordered by habit and chance? Does anything about the setup bother you? Does anything seem out of place? Be sure to take size (both of items and of storage spaces) into account during this stage.
Sorting through
Now begins the sometimes-painful process of sifting out the superfluous clutter in your home. The least stressful approach is to sort everything into three categories: "to stay", "to go", and "not sure". Consider the functionality, value (both monetary and emotional) and redundancy of each item. The "to stay" items will be a part of your reorganization, while the "to go" group can be put into a garage sale or donated to charity.
Items that end up in the "not sure" box can be re-evaluated later. You may put sentimental items into such a box, and decide months later that you do wish to keep them. In a sense, the box is a kind of purgatory between your home and the trash can!
Look for unused space
This is a great time to look for any untapped storage potential in your home. Could an extra hanging rod free up space in your clothes closet? Is there potential for built-in cubbyholes or shelving underneath the stairway? Are there decorative upper panels on the front of your bathroom vanity that could make way for small drawers? Are you using the space between your kitchen cabinets and the ceiling? Are the backs of deep cabinets unused?
Reassign space
Hopefully your early evaluation presented some obvious areas for improvement. Some basic guidelines:
Organized life
A full-scale home organization project can be a daunting task. If you're worried that re-organizing your entire home may be too much to undertake all at once, try a room-by-room approach. Focus first on the areas of your home that need the most help. Reorganizing one room can improve the way you feel about your whole home and can help you be more organized as a person.
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://LawrenceYerkes.com
or visit http://BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)
"South Jersey is a surprising mixture of opposites. Town and country... tuxedos and blue jeans... historic and avant-garde. You never know what you’ll find." 
Batsto Village, is a New Jersey historic site located in the South Central Pinelands, which is administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks & Forestry. This site is nationally recognized for its historical significance and beauty. The roots of Batsto Village can be traced back to 1766. Two centuries of American history are available to visitors, with the Pinelands environment as a scenic backdrop.
Wharton State Forest).
"Cowtown Rodeo, the nation’s longest-running, regularly scheduled Saturday night rodeo will bring out the cowpoke in everyone."
"Cowtown Rodeo is not a circus, carnival or traveling 'wild west'. It's a professional stop on a professional circuit for hundreds of cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation. Cowtown is one, of only two, weekly ongoing PRCA-Sanctioned Rodeos in America. The other is in Mesquite, Texas."
Diabetes Ups Incontinence Risk For Older Women
In this study, women with diabetes were about twice as likely to experience severe incontinence. Doctors caring for postmenopausal women with diabetes "may consider asking about this treatable condition, which a patient might be reluctant to volunteer spontaneously."
New Test Spots Early Prostate Cancer
A new blood test that detects early prostate cancer antigen (EPCA) promises to be a "powerful complement" to standard prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for identifying patients with prostate cancer, researchers report.
Arthritis Patients At Risk For Coronary Artery Disease
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk for coronary artery disease compared to people who do not have the disease, according to a new study.
Reformers Seek to Reinvent Nursing Homes
It's based on a simple idea: Older people will thrive in a nursing home if it's built to resemble living in one's own house. Others have tried to make existing nursing homes more homelike. The Green House Project makes the nursing home over from scratch, the goal being to give residents more privacy and more control over their lives.
Studies Show Ways To Predict, Prevent Alzheimer's
Painless brain scans and simple blood tests may offer ways to predict who has the highest risk of Alzheimer's disease, and it may be possible to lower risks by drinking juice daily. The occasional alcoholic drink may also help, researchers told a prevention conference sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association. "There is increasing evidence that we can do something for ourselves in terms of preventing this disease," Dr. Ron Peterson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told a news conference.
Being Smart No Guarantee of Happiness In Old Age
“In older people there seems to be no relationship between how well they do on tests of their mental ability and thinking memory skills and how satisfied they are with their life," said Alan Gow, of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. This is one of the findings of their research study.
Source: Eldercare Network News (7/30)
If you have ever wondered what type of weed you have in your yard or garden, or wondered if it even is a weed, then this site if for you -- provided you live in New Jersey.Information related to lawn care and gardening can also be found elsewhere on this site. Also a list of Pick-Your-Own farms.
It is provided by the Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension (RCRE) in conjuction with their "If Plants Could Talk" gardening television series.
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://LawrenceYerkes.com
or visit http://BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)
It is provided by the Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension (RCRE) via their "If Plants Could Talk" gardening television series.
New Jersey is blessed with a variety of farm/produce markets and numerous roadside farm stands, providing local produce that's fresher, tastes better and is better for you, than what you would otherwise buy in a standard grocery store. Many feature organically grown produce.
Buying locally helps the local economy and preserves local farmland.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed an online Individual Assistance Center (IAC) to allow those who have registered for disaster assistance to look at their cases on the internet. The IAC is available on the agency’s home page at www.fema.gov.For answers to these questions, individuals should call the FEMA HELPLINE at 1-800-621-3362.
If individuals are having difficulties with the IAC or FEMA’s online registration process they should contact the Technical Assistance Desk at 1-800-745-0243.
Children's Miracle Network is the alliance of premier children's hospitals. Every year, Children's Miracle Network hospitals treat 17 million children for every disease and injury imaginable.
Here are a list of things to do in New Jersey that has something for everyone to enjoy. It's provided by the New Jersey Travel and Tourism bureau. 
August 23, 2005 - Remodeling activity continued to grow in the second quarter of 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI). Today’s second quarter results were slightly below the seasonally adjusted first quarter of 2005 but remained in the positive growth range.
Washington, D.C. (August 23, 2005) - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released a detailed study of the housing and mortgage markets examining issues such as the potential for a house price "bubble" and the growing use of non-traditional mortgage products. The purpose of this study is to put the flood of commentaries and analyses regarding housing markets and new mortgage products into proper perspective by assessing a broad array of market data, reviewing the risks, and reaching some conclusions. The study discusses the current state of the housing markets, the growth of innovative mortgage products, and the impact of developments in the housing and mortgage markets on households, financial institutions, the financial markets, and the economy more broadly. 
The Powhatan Renape Nation, an American Indian Nation located at the Rankokus Indian Reservation in Westampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, is recognized by the state of New Jersey as an American Indian Nation, as well as a non-profit entity. In addition to providing social services to the American Indian community in New Jersey, their goal is to educate the non-Indian community about their traditional ways, beliefs, traditions, and culture. Their site is one way to enlighten all about their history, events, Museum, and other activities. 
Click link below to access to my "More Resouces - Music" section on my web site for a comprensive list of links to music resources for music theory, education, instruments, music genres, tools, sheet music, festivals, individual and group participation, associations, Broadway and more. 
For example:
Lawrence Yerkes Larry, your Delaware Valley (NJ & PA) Green Realtor, provides friendly professional, dedicated service - customized to your needs; using state-of-the-art methods to find the right property for you and/or sell your property at the best possible price. WE GET RESULTS!
Credentials / Experience
