Monday, August 17, 2020
Car Maintenance Tips That Will Save You Money Down the Road
Car Maintenance Tips That Will Save You Money Down the Road Car Maintenance Tips That Will Save You Money Down the Road Car Maintenance Tips That Will Save You Money Down the RoadSpending a little bit of money now, plus taking the time to learn some DIY car maintenance, will mean big savings later on.A car has a special place in our lives: Itâs our home away from home, the thing that enables our freedom to travel beyond walking distance from where we live. It takes us to work on time. It safely transports our loved ones. Some of us spend hours upon hours in our car weekly. And yet, as much as we depend upon our cars, our cars can rarely depend upon us.How many of us, when the oil change light comes on, just keep on driving for another thousand miles? How many of us have taken out a dangerous title loan on our car? When was the last time you properly checked your tire pressure or rotated your tires?The truth is, even if an extra $40 here and there seems like an inconvenience not worth dealing with, we owe it to ourselves (and our car) to keep up the maintenance to save ourselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in desperate attempts to extend the life of the car a little longer.This article will show you how to save approximately $2,300 over five years of the life of your car.Use your car maintenance schedule.Every car comes with a recommended car schedule. If you no longer have your car manual, look it up online. Many manufacturers have car ownerâs manuals available in PDF form.This will save you money so you donât have to go by the safest recommendations. For example, common wisdom says you should change your oil every 3,000 miles. But some cars can go much longer. The car manual will let you know for sure.The manual will also act as your guide to checking certain things in the engine and in the rest of the vehicle.Learn to change your own oil.The reason why itâs so quick and easy to get in and out of Jiffy Lube is that changing oil is quick and easy! You just have to learn how and get the right equipment. The equipment can cost some money, but once invested, you can u se it again and again and change your own oil at a low cost.Letâs do the math:An oil change with full synthetic oil can cost $60.Buying your own synthetic oil and an oil filter costs $35.You might have to buy around $100 of equipment to be able to do it, but over five years the savings are enormous. Assuming youâre talking about four oil changes a year, paying for an oil change costs $1,200 over five years and doing it yourself costs $800. Thatâs $400 in savings.Materials You Need to Change Your Own Oil:Oil drain pan: $25Oil funnel: $10Vehicle ramps to lift car: $40Oil filter wrench: $15Full Synthetic Premium Oil: $25Oil filter: $10Latex gloves: $2There are also dozens of YouTube videos on how to do this procedure properly.Check your tire pressure at the gas station.Many people donât bother checking their tire pressure since the dashboard has an idiot light indicating that the tire pressure is too low. But, at that point, the deflating tires could already be affecting your t ire alignment. Sadly, a tire alignment costs nearly $200.On top of that, if your tires arenât properly aligned, it can also cause other expensive damages. The tires will wear out unevenly. It can also increase wear and tear on vehicle suspension.Plus, poorly aligned tires will make it more difficult to drive safely!Luckily, the solution to all this is incredibly cheap. Many gas stations, such as Wawa, have a free machine that will check your tire pressure. We recommend doing this monthly when you happen to be refilling your tank. At Wawa, this is totally free. And if you should happen to require to fill your tires a little, it only costs a couple dollars.You can find the pressure you should expect your tires to be at on the inside of the driverâs side door.Rotate your tires.Rotating your tires can be done for less than $50 at a shop, or even more cheaply yourself with a jack and a wrench, which usually comes supplied with your car. The important part is that you rotate them at a ll.Tires in different parts of the car get worn out at different speeds, so rotating them will extend the life of your entire tire set, saving you hundreds on replacing all your tires.Wash your car.Washing your car is mostly a cosmetic factor. But itâs important. Dirt and grime dont simply sit innocently on top of your car. Contaminantsâ"especially acidic ones like bird droppings and bugsâ"can damage the paint and possibly even scratch the metal underneath.Some detailing experts recommend washing the car weekly, but it probably depends on where you live and how your car is looking. A little dust is something you can ignore longer, while bird droppings can start to mess with the paint relatively quickly.This saves you money far down the roadâ"in the resale value. Unless you want to pay expensive rates for touching up paint, maintaining the carâs exterior (and interior), keeping it nice will do a lot towards customers being more willing to hand over extra cash.After all, when y ouâre shopping for used cars and it looks like a car has never been washed, you will assume someone didnât maintain the rest of the car too. Youâll believe the car has less value.Change your air filter yourself.The air filter is a cheap thing to replace, but its important. Most air filters only cost around $20, yet they preserve an expensive and vital piece of equipment: the A/C system.The air conditioning in a car is an important aspect of your comfort while driving. Plus, like the above tip, having a working A/C has a great effect on resale value, while costing hundreds to fix.An air filter change is something that is often offered as part of an oil change, but skip the extra expense and do it yourself. Buy the filter from an auto parts store and check out a how-to on YouTube. It only takes a few minutes.This is a little bit more advanced, but you can also teach yourself how to check the A/C unit parts for damages (such as to the hoses) so that you can catch problems before they get too bad.Replace belts before they break.Be sure to check your engine belts on the recommended car maintenance schedule and replace them when youâre noticing fraying or cracks. If an engine belt breaks while using the car, it could whip around and get twisted up in the engine, causing extra damage and making the whole repair particularly expensive.On this list, this factor is most likely to be a really high and unexpected expense if left unchecked. You donât want to take out any cash advances or payday loans to have to pay for this kind of damage.Total savings over five years:Changing your own oil: $400Checking tire pressure: $400 (cost of an alignment repair and tire and suspension damage)Tire rotation: $700 (cost of a new tire set)Changing air filter: $500 (average A/C repair costs)Wash your car: $300 (detailing and paint correction)Total: $2,300To learn more about saving money on everyday expenses, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:Save Money Thi s Summer by Saving EnergySave a Few Bucks on Fido with These DIY Pet ToysReusable Purchases That Will Save You Money in the Long RunHow to Use the Library to Save MoneyDo you have a personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. |Instagram
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Scaffolding - A Instructional Strategy of Instructional Delivery for Special Education
Definition: Scaffolding is a word, like chunking, that describes how instruction is planned and delivered to students receiving special education services. All instruction is built on prior knowledge and students with disabilities often come without the same skill set or prior knowledge as their typical peers. A teacher is challenged to find the childs strengths and build on them to teach the important skills that will lead them either to academic or functional success. Often students with disabilities will not have the skill set their same aged peers have, and will need to have the components scaffolded to help them move on to an age appropriate set of academic skills. à A child who hasnt learned to write a multiple paragraph report may need to start at sentences, move on to a graphic organizer for a paragraph. à Once they can find the information and words they need, they may be ready to learn how to organizer their own paragraph. à Once one, then multiple paragraphs.à One of my autistic students with little independent language had strong counting skills. We used touch math as a way to teach him addition and subtraction, scaffolding on his strength in letter recognition, counting and memory of rote tasks. à He was able to do multiple addition and then subtraction problems without regrouping once he mastered the algorithms. à à Alternate Spellings: Scaffold, Scaffolding, Scaffolded Examples Example 1 - Math: In order for Mrs. Stanley to help Roger learn the plane figures in geometry, she built on his interest in dot to dots. By repeatedly connecting the lettered vertices of the triangle, rectangle, square, rhombus, and other polygons, Roger was able remember both the names and criteria for each of the plane figures. Example 2 - Writing: Clarence is good at spelling and likes to write words he had memorized. à His teacher started to use that interest by creating graphic organizers where he could choose words for his sentences. à Next, his teacher finds out Clarences interests beyond electronic games. à Clarence loves African animals. à The teacher shows Clarence how to search for pictures of favorite animals and download them as jpegs. à Then Clarence learns how to place the pictures in a publishing program and add a caption.Once Clarence has found his favorite animals, the teacher will create a à note book. à Then he will guide Clarence how to do a web search to find facts about the animals on a fact sheet: à What kind of animal? (mammal, fish, bird, reptile, etc.) à What do they eat? à Where are they on the food chain? à A predator or grazer? à After Clarence has collected lots of information on the fact sheets, the teacher will provide a graphic organizer with the topic sentences for each paragraph in a graphic organizer. à Clarence will use the skill he gained f rom the first level of the scaffold (writing a sentence in a template/graphic organizer) to writing about each animal of interest.à Publish. Clarence drops pictures into the text and creates a book. à Spring for color printing, maybe even binding.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Psychoactive Drugs The Single Convention On Narcotic Drugs
In 1961 the UN adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, where it was noted that the problem requires urgent and priority, and in 1984 in the Declaration on the fight against drug trafficking and drug abuse the entire conglomerate of problems, ranging from illicit manufacturing and trafficking to abuse, called shameful and disgusting crime. And it can be called a kind of ostrich policyâ⬠(The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961). There are four key groups of psychoactive drugs: stimulants, depressants, opioids and hallucinogens. This classification is conditional because most psychoactive drugs have several effects on the psychological and physical activity of the body, depending on the dose and duration of use.] The useâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Marijuana is used to heighten perception, affect mood, and relax. Many people think marijuana is harmless, but it is not. Signs of marijuana use include red eyes, lethargy, and uncoordinated body movements. The long-term effects may include decrease in motivation and harmful effects on the brain, heart, lungs, and reproductive system. People who smoke marijuana are also at increased risk of developing cancer of the head and neck. A pharmaceutical product, Marinol, that contains synthetic THC, is available as a prescription medication. It comes in the form of a pill (eliminating the harmful and cancer-causing chemicals present when marijuana is smoked) and is used to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and to treat loss of appetite in AIDS patients. (Definition of Marijuana Definition of Alcohol 2012) The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast two different psychoactive drugs, Alcohol and Marihuana, grounded on physical and psychological addiction they cause. Alcohol can be stimulant in small doses and depressant in large doses, whilst marihuana belongs to the hallucinogen group and, therefore, can be depressant depending on our mood Alcohol dependence is a leader in the structure of a substance abuse. The NHS estimates that just under one in 10 (8.7%) men in the UK and one in 20 (3.3%) UK women show signs of alcohol dependence (sometimes known as ââ¬Å"alcoholismâ⬠), (The NHS
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Madame Bovary Personal Response Free Essays
In part two of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert we see Emmaââ¬â¢s development as a character in a negative way. Emmaââ¬â¢s development is seen as she embarks on a path to moral and financial corruption all for a search of love and passion. The passion and love Emma seeks cannot be found in the reality of that time causing her to feel imprisoned in society with Charles whom she has no passion or lust for. We will write a custom essay sample on Madame Bovary Personal Response or any similar topic only for you Order Now To Emma love is defined as lustful, spontaneous action which she only reads about in her romance novels. SHe learns to fulfill this inner lust by undertaking in adultery with different men.Throughout this section of the novel we see the emotions Emma encounters, guilt, anger, lust, passion and spiritual longing. ââ¬Å"The more Emma became aware of her love, the more she suppressed it. She would have liked Leon to guess at itâ⬠¦ â⬠[p. 86] This quote shows the change is Emmaââ¬â¢s character from part one due to the fact that in part one she only longed for such a relationship and what she read in books and took pity on herself while now she has taken action by committing adultery. When Emma first meets Leon there is a spark and common interests emerge unlike between Emma and Charles. This is seen in the quote ââ¬Å"Their Eyes indeed were full of more serious conversation; and, while they were struggling in search of banal phrases, each felt assailed by the same langour; it was like a murmur from the soulâ⬠¦ â⬠[p. 88] Emmaââ¬â¢s Lust for Leon is an example of the commencement of her thoughts of adultery actions, once Leon leaves she becomes even less satisfied by Charles than before and continues to seek for that same love she had for Leon. She goes to such extremes with love due to her idea of love coming from novels, this is seen when she considers ruining after Leo after he had left for Paris.This part of the novel is seen as Emmaââ¬â¢s attempt at filling an empty gap in her hear in search of romance that she has always longer for yet never grasped. She seems to do this by committing such unfaithful acts. ââ¬Å"â⬠¦ but i always relish the upheaval; I do love being on the move. â⬠This quote emphasizes the fact that Emma cannot stay with one decision or be in one place for a long period of time because she is easily bored and dissatisfied. Once Leon leaves Mme. Bovary has an understanding of her feelings for Leon and her regret for not pursuing these feelings. the bad days form Tostes came back again. â⬠[p. 114] Emma then realizes the option of adultery and Leon was the one to open this idea up to her.This is what leads her to commit adultery later on in this section of the novel. The second major development is the love affair between Mme. Bovary and Rodolphe. This love affair fulfills the dream of the romance she has always longed for from the books that she has read. ââ¬Å"She merged onto her own imaginings, played a real part, realizing the long dream of her youth, seeing herself as one of those great lovers she had so long envied! â⬠[p. 51] This quote emphasizes Emmaââ¬â¢s happiness and sense of accomplishment that she feels during the affair. This is a development in her character because this can be compared to previous areas in the book where she was bored and unhappy waiting for something to occur this sudden even has now changed this view on life to a more happy one.This is because there was now an aspect of excitement that allows her to experience her dreams that she has so long longed for which causes her to isolate herself from reality. This is seen when she wants to run away with Rodolphe ââ¬Å"Take me away! â⬠[p. 80] This also shows Emmaââ¬â¢s selfish behavior because she is acting only to please herself while Charles sacrifices his love and lets Emma be with Rodolphe to treat her depression (illness). The final major development in Emma is when she is plunged back into reality with the letter the Rodolphe sends her. This letter allows her to realize the difference between the romantic novels and dreams and reality. The fact that she had so many ideas to pursue with Rodolphe such as running away which she though would allow her total freedom.However these longings are all crushed and the caged feeling from before begins to come back again. why have not done with it? Who was to stop her? She was freeâ⬠This quote shows her thoughts of running away with Rodolphe and how she want to be free. In conclusion these major developments such as the love for Leon and the introduction to the idea of adultery as well as the affair with Rodolphe and the longing for freedom show Madame Bovaryââ¬â¢s change throughout part two of the novel. One is also able to see the constant unstable actions of Emma and her decisions. She is one to go from being spiritual to wanting to commit suicide, then desiring a proper family household and yet none of these make her happy for very long. How to cite Madame Bovary Personal Response, Papers
Monday, May 4, 2020
Infant Immunisation Specific Disease
Question: Discuss about the Infant Immunisation for Specific Disease. Answer: Infant Immunization Should be Legally Enforced. Immunisation is the process of getting a vaccine to become immune to a specific disease. Mostly given to infants to make them immune for the rest of their lives or periodically. It therefore should be legally enforced due to its benefits. Immunization has saved millions of lives and prevented illnesses and lifelong disability. A large number of childhood diseases that caused death, lifelong consequences and hospitalization can now be prevented through vaccination (Arevshatian, et al., 2007). This is so far the most important decision a parent could make in protecting their children from serious diseases since there is currently no effective alternative to immunization. However there has been confusing, conflicting and misleading information about vaccines. Vaccines are safe and effective as they have been carefully reviewed by scientists and doctors (Burton, et al., 2009). They may cause pain and discomfort during administration but that is much less compared to the trauma, pain and discomfort the diseases immunized against can cause. Physicians, the CDC and the AAP have recommended a vaccine schedule for healthcare providers. This include vaccines for Hib, DTaP, RV, HepB, PCV, IPV and many more to ensure a healthy start of childrens life. Vaccination has brought near to extinction (e.g. smallpox) and eliminated many dreaded diseases like polio that was most feared in the past, causing paralysis and death. mmunization not only protects you but also aid in preventing spread of some diseases to your loved ones and friends. This is also important in the protection of young children that are not able to be given some vaccinations maybe because of severe allergies (Braun, et al., 2000). There has been a resurgence of whooping cough and measles therefore vaccination is really a must. If we keep up with vaccinating, and making sure every child is vaccinated, in future generations we may not have some diseases anymore. Therefore to achieve complete vaccination, we have to legally enforce immunization. References Arevshatian, L., Clements, C. J., Lwanga, S. K., Misore, A. O., Ndumbe, P., Seward, J. F., Taylor, P. (2007). An evaluation of infant immunization in Africa: is a transformation in progress?. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 85(6), 449-457. Braun, M. M., Mootrey, G. T., Salive, M. E., Chen, R. T., Ellenberg, S. S., VAERS Working Group. (2000). Infant immunization with acellular pertussis vaccines in the United States: assessment of the first two years' data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Pediatrics, 106(4), e51-e51. Burton, A., Monasch, R., Lautenbach, B., Gacic-Dobo, M., Neill, M., Karimov, R., ... Birmingham, M. (2009). WHO and UNICEF estimates of national infant immunization coverage: methods and processes. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 87(7), 535-541.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
What Leadership means to me and a time when I was affected by good leadership free essay sample
ââ¬Å"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.â⬠Those words were spoken by the sixth president of the United States of America, John Quincy Adams. He almost perfectly describes leadership. A leader does not have to be rich, smart, or elegant; a leader is someone who inspires. I believe the reason people, like John Quincy Adams, become great leaders is because they were inspired by something. They see a need for change, and they have an idea of how to get there. Leadership to me is when someone does not even know they are the leader, yet they inspire many. Last September, I got a new job at Marshalls. I felt a little nervous and lost my first few days, but then I met Theresa. Theresa moved to the United States from Poland in the early 1990ââ¬â¢s and she has been working at Marshalls for thirteen years, the longest anyone else at Marshalls in Delafield has. We will write a custom essay sample on What Leadership means to me and a time when I was affected by good leadership or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I was immediately drawn to Theresa because she is exactly what I think of when I think of leadership. She is innovative, fun, and has excellent work ethic. She coordinates the front line and when Theresa is there, everything gets done. Everyone listens to her and everyone loves her. Though her accent was a little difficult to understand at first, I always go to her for help. She unknowingly inspires me to be a better person. I say unknowingly because she is not trying to be a leader that is just her personality. I was uncertain I made the right decision switching jobs, but if I had not I never would have met Theresa and that would have been a terrible loss.
Saturday, March 7, 2020
What are the main causes of social exclusion Essays
What are the main causes of social exclusion Essays What are the main causes of social exclusion Paper What are the main causes of social exclusion Paper Essay Topic: Sociology Social exclusion occurs where individuals become excluded from mainstream society, thus placing them at a disadvantage in terms of life chances. Contrary to the common view that social exclusion is confined only to council estates, individuals from teenage mothers to older adults of various socio-economic levels and family types can easily become excluded from society. This essay shall explain the common occurrences of social exclusion within council estates and their causes. I shall then proceed to discuss the strategies used by various housing organisations to combat the problem. According to the government the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Social exclusion is a shorthand term for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown1. To be excluded from society is not a situation exclusive to residents of council estates suffering from disrepair; individuals become excluded from society when various factors2 prevent or limit their ability and opportunity to participate in the mainstream of society. The following are commonly reported examples of social exclusion. One of the most common examples of social exclusion occurs in council estates, where the residents are generally not content with their living conditions but feel it is the best they can gain. They typically spend most of their time in the home or around the estate, rarely venturing out of the surrounding area. The majority of their life surrounds socialising with family and friends. This estate life is therefore important to them because it occupies such a large part of their lives and provides the large majority of their social contacts. Such a resident will have relatively low levels of aspiration and motivation, which is commonly the result of feeling stuck in low-level employment3 or having to rely on social security and other benefits for a relatively long duration. This is known as the benefits trap. They are also poorly qualified4 and skilled, sometimes with low levels of literacy. The type of people who live in this situation do not perceive the high rates of joblessness or increasing disrepair on their estate as significant problems and take it all in their stride. As a result, they accept: o The level of crime, caused mainly by drugs misuse and the anti-social behaviour of other residents. o Their actual and expected levels of relatively low personal achievement and educational attainment. o Qualities in their environment that wouldnt normally be accepted within mainstream society, such as prolonged disrepair and noise pollution for instance. o High levels of pressure from peers to conform to their activities and standards. The main cause of this common example of social exclusion was the major shift from the manufacturing industries to service industries, mainly over the last two decades. This shift was propelled mainly by the fall of the Keynesian economics and the rise in free market economics. The Thatcherism approach adopted by the conservative government of that time also increased the competitiveness of the services sector, thus improving the sector for the public and making the sector more efficient and profitable. This made many redundant from society as a large proportion of people that were skilled in the manufacturing sector made unemployed and left in a generally unsuccessful search for employment. This is because they are not skilled or experienced in the service industry. This was further worsened by the use of ineffective5 and inflexible housing policies; the under funding of public services, which in turn led to the deterioration and withdrawal of public services from housing estates. As a direct result, those that could move out of the area6, did move out of the area, resulting in the residualisation of the social renting sector as council housing becomes a service for those who can not afford to buy (Forrest and Murie, 1990)7. The housing estates have become poorer places with more unemployed residents, less adequate services and a poorer physical and social environment. When those with the opportunity leave the area, it becomes much more difficult to reverse the process of residualisation through renewal and regeneration of the estate. On the other hand, various factors such as inertia, the feeling of little worth and not being able to aspire to achieve more, lack of security, poor educational facilities for children, poor job prospects and a worsening environment, are all valid reasons to move away. Having grown up in the area, however, many feel tied and are reluctant to leave, despite the fact that the quality of the area has deteriorated. It is easy for single parent families to become excluded from society, when there is little or no support available within reach. This is another common example of social exclusion. Most of the young people in such a situation who had been jobless since leaving school had also experienced a troubled upbringing and an unstable family background; many came from broken homes and had been brought up by various different adults, the partners of one of the birth parents, for example. This causes disruption in the childs life on various levels including education. Many studies into this area display a relationship between poor childhoods leading into a poor adulthood, causing repeating generational life cycles. This leads onto the next common example of social exclusion There has been an increasing governmental interest of the government in the anti-social behaviour of teenagers growing into anti-social young adults. More positive attitudes to work and life can be found amongst young people whose parents were working or had worked for most of their lives but on a low wage. There is increasing awareness of the social exclusion of pensioners, especially those found on council estates. They are scared to leave their home, and so choose not to unless absolutely necessary. There is no adequate support for them and there are recently reported high levels of poverty8 amongst pensioners, as those with supplementary incomes rely solely on governmental assistance. About one million pensioners have no income other than the state retirement pension and benefits. Their vulnerability is underlined by figures showing that they spend about half as much on food as those with private incomes. Those with supportive children rely on them to perform basic task such as essential shopping and they are usually the main source of their social contact. Without this, they become prisoners in their own home, paranoid and reclusive, increasing their risk of mental and physical health problems. Other types of individuals that can become excluded from society are ethnic minorities being both a minority in the country neighbourhood, ex-offenders and the homeless and their difficulties with rehabilitation, people with language difficulties, medical problems, and mental health. Due to their heavy dependence on their local area, local facilities of all types are needed. The stigma and reputation of areas further affects residents in seeking jobs and in a variety of other contexts (Lee, 1998)9. Typical qualities as described by Professor Paul Spicker of poor estates are10: o Vandalism As a result of the inadequate space for children and teenagers to play, both in or out of their home. o Rubbish It may cost money that the local authority does not have to pay for the removal of large items of rubbish (such as old furniture). o Home maintenance The maintenance of homes and gardens costs money for equipment, which many poor people do not have. o Lack of community facilities Shops and facilities are not economically viable and so are not invested in. o Empty housing Housing is left empty because the area is unattractive. In comparison, a bad house in a good area would still be taken. o Design There is a clear connection between bad design and problems such as vandalism, rubbish and graffiti. The problems with high-rise blocks have been lack of play space, isolation, disposal of rubbish; noise insulation, reliance on lifts which are often dirty, vandalised or broken; inadequate water pressure, and insecurity because of fears of fire, building movement or crime. Housing organisations are in place to aid the implementation of the housing policies and legislation of the government. In further detail, housing organisations are in place to improve housing services and facilities, making them more effective; improving educational and employment opportunities, which invests in the future generation in the area; to manage funding and to improve the level of tenant involvement through participation and consultation. This helps to determine the needs of the community and its area, giving their strategies the increased likelihood of being effective in the particular area. This also enables the decision makers to prioritise more effectively and makes the tenants feel more involved, as they are aware of the activities within their own area. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation11 is one of the most prominent charities in the UK in this sector. It aims to contribute towards policy making and the development and implementation of current policies through their extensive research in the areas of housing, social care and social policy. Another housing organisation contributing towards the improvement of the social housing sector is the Housing Corporation12 who provides funding using public money for housing associations to provide sufficient homes and services for its residents. Through regulation, the Housing Corporation ensures that these homes and supporting services remain sufficient to the needs of their residents for the foreseeable future. Such social housing organisations are taking on a much larger and influential role in the governmental drive for economic regeneration through social regeneration. This means that through past experience of failed and poorly designed strategies, the government now acknowledges that they must improve the public that they serve and their quality of life for the economy to improve. The following is a summary of a good practice case study carried out by the Housing Corporation on the East Thames Housing Group: o The East Thames Housing Group13 is based in Stratford, East London and currently possesses eight thousand units. o They are involved in the Single Regeneration Budget14 and the City Challenge15 and are said to have good links with local authorities. o With the help of funding from the European Union, the ETHG ran two series of a project entitled Youthstart16 throughout the years of 1995 to 1999. Youthstart was aimed at young people who are viewed by the government as being the most vulnerable to social exclusion. o Through Youthstart, the young people who took part in the project were provided with accommodation, training and further enhancement of their employment opportunities. According to a new study by David Page, the governments war against social exclusion and anti-social behaviour is a race against time to prevent already troubled social housing estates from deteriorating further17. The increasing popularity and frequency of use of the term social exclusion reflects the governments appreciation of the importance of this large issue. As mentioned previously, individuals of various socio-economic levels can easily become excluded from society. Social exclusion is not just about being poor and living on a council estate; it is about literally not fitting in with society. This encompasses an individual not being able or having the feeling that they are not able to go about daily duties that the average member of society performs. This includes shopping, travelling and socialising, but to name a few. Housing organisations such as the Housing Corporation are funded by the Single Regeneration Budget and the City Challenge. Housing organisations are also developing their intra-organisational relations by involving themselves in various anti-poverty projects, mainly through the New Deal for communities18 and social exclusion projects through the Social Exclusion Unit. The deterioration of council housing stock has intensified the social divide between home owners and council tenants. Disadvantaged residents and their areas require constant attention and support. The levels of tight to insignificant budgets and mismanagement of staff and funding have left public services in a poor condition. This needs to be improved if they are to contribute towards the betterment of the troubled estates. Whether such council estates will improve or continue to decline will depend on the response of its residents and the efforts of the local government and their housing organisations. More needs to be done to retain the current residents on the currently troubled council estates in order to prevent further residualisation of the social housing sector. Participation in community-based activities is an important mechanism for social inclusion19. Tenant involvement through the constant use of consultation and participation is one of the major solutions to social exclusion on council estates. It is likely that initial efforts will be met with resistance but persistence is necessary if attitudes are to be changed reversed in order to function in the mainstream of society, rather than anti-socially. The government and their housing organisations have lost the trust of those that have become excluded from society and left to take care of themselves. This has inadvertently created an exodus of people with particular group norms that do not fit in with mainstream society and so are considered anti-social. Those that are socially excluded but do not fit into such group norms are greater victims, as they are totally alone and so receive the worst treatment. More consultation and tenant participation in plans for regenerating the area. This will provide a greater sense of commitment for the residents and enable them to take more pride in their neighbourhood.
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