Jessica Lipman assisted Richard Miller with the technical aspects of the class, working more hands on with the students. During one of my interviews with Jessica she noticed my desire to get involved with the community, and to help people. She recommended I get involved with a local community group, Empower Our Neighborhoods, (EON).
As I embedded myself deeper into the New Brunswick community, I noticed a gap between the residents of the city and the students of Rutgers University which I thought existed because both groups experienced a serious disconnect from the city government. I wanted to create something that would bridge the gap, allowing the residents and the university to have a common place on the web to interact and find information about their city. I thought to myself, “I’m going to start a blog”. I had never done this before.
I needed to learn something new, so I went to Google and started searching. WordPress seemed to be the platform of choice for my particular project. Next, I needed a domain name. I learned about the word “moxie” from my sister, Nicole D’Alonzo, when I was in high school. At the time I was going through a difficult illness and she told me I had moxie. I took the word which means “to have courage through adversity”, and created moxieTODAY…a website that would provide information about the lives we must courageously live on a daily basis.
After following them around for a few weeks I noticed how hard this group of people were working for something they loved. The group is comprised of long-time residents of New Brunswick, business owners, and students from Rutgers University. One of the group leaders, Charlie Kratovil, was an inspiration and taught me about the history of New Brunswick. I made my first video during this time…
Community organizations from across New Jersey collaborate with EON. The group is active in the community and continues to empower the neighborhoods of New Brunswick.