"Company Homes and Iron Soup Nonprofit"

[Tim Sokoloff]

I am sure everyone has seen my new post at

http://mahoningvalley.info/forum/index.php?topic=11174.0

Now all we need to do is figure out how to get people to actually use our website. If you are shopping online please use our site.

Help us build the world's first ©Envirominium, help us help this valley. When was the last time we made national news for anything positive. According to Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and many other sources, environmental technologies is the largest growing business in the US today.

I can tell you, after much research we were unable to find any preliminary designs that rival ours online, and our technologies work. We have been trying to bring a prototype to a commissioners meeting to no avail and as I am sure you can tell from my writings here, no one is helping us. We fund everything we do out of pocket, with the exception of the recent help this Year from Ron and his partner at Fire Pearl.

Yea Ron Eiselstien the guy I was arguing furiously with online when he wanted to build his fish tanks at our site. So our organization must be some kind of something to change that guys mind because everyone knows that once Ron puts his mind to something, he does it. After really seeing what we are doing, and what we are about however, Ron has come to realize we do have a great plan, we do have some great technologies, and we can do something incredible here in Mahoning Valley but we are simply not capable of doing it without the help of our community.

I mean we are not even asking for cash donations, we simply would like people to use the links on our website when they shop online. Not a very difficult request I would think.

This is the last remaining part of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube still functioning in its original capacity, not to mention the world's First Modern Apartment Complex and here is one very good reason to help us.

If an earthquake like the one who hit Haiti or Japan hit Ohio, where would we set up an emergency shelter. You think there would be much left after an event such as that, other than our concrete condos and a few other structures that might survive.

Just because they don't look the prettiest, doesn't mean they are not still one of THEE STRONGEST STRUCTURES IN MAHONING VALLEY, and anytime anyone wants a tour so we can prove it, come on down.

Well that is my rant for today, I have to get back to it.

Best Always
Tim Sokoloff
Iron Soup Historical Preservation Company

[Tim Sokoloff]

Wow seriously I have to wonder over 1200 reads and no one is using our website links to shop online. .....

More pictures will come and more progress will be made as always and I am thrilled that so many people are keeping up with us but if you watched the news you know we are and endangered species and the bottom line is it takes people to actual give a damn and just help out. www.haveacause.com and we hope to have a better site up soon but here is the link to all the stores that are helping us out and if you buy from one of them drop us a line and we will make sure they are doing what they say because our website numbers are just not cutting it.

http://haveacause.com/mall.html  please recharge your phones at walmart, look for stores you know and love and just use our site to get to your favorite stores. We are going to do an update of our shopping center soon as our offices are much closer to being done and we have a tremendous crew now.

We have done so much with so little for so long we now feel we are capable of doing anything with nothing.       Great Quote Author Unknown.   Please use our links to shop online.

Here is one for you. An article from when Ron brought the big screen from Poland when he was first starting Yellow Creek Theater so we could show October Sky. Here is the Vindy Article http://www4.vindy.com/content/local_regional/364133680464191.php

We started out with a bang, but with no help and no interest and a neighborhood full of those who could care less, most of which wished we would go away, and made their best attempts to make that possible, we are still here and now we are repainting buildings, putting in new electric services, painting both inside and out.

This is the most work anyone single entity has done in this site in 25 years for sure with the exception of Mr. Bill Kish our new VP who does an outstanding job of maintaining his units as well as the integrity of our goals as an organization, and the safety and security of our growing neighborhood as well.

Again I say, we will build the world's first ©Envirominium here in Mahoning County and yes folks it is our copyright on the word. And before the year is out some preliminary plans of how to build the most incredible apartment in the world will be up on our site as well.

But if you had to do as much work as we do you would know that all this internet stuff is better when its cold outside so that's all for now as I have an incredible project to continue to move forward..

Best Always
Tim Sokoloff
Proud to be the Chair of iron Soup Historical Preservation Company

[Tim Sokoloff]

Today was a good day as we immersed ourselves in the joy of modern technology. Our new hammer drill proved to be worth every penny, and thanks to another great supporter we have cases of lubricating oil to spray while we drill. Combine that with new 1/4" Bosh concrete bits and it was a lot easier to drill into the concrete. Previously if we had to drill into the buildings to do anything, even mount a bathroom Medicine Cabinet, it was a major chore as each drill hole took several minutes and tore up drill bits very quickly. Now we move much quicker and with the oil it seems we have cut back considerably on how long it takes to make improvements to the units.

Many of these places have been vandalized and the crooks cut the main water lines even with the concrete. To put water back on in one of these units before would have been a nightmare, one we have not attempted yet. Now however this is a very fast job. Also to put a new trap in under the tub meant going through 2 1/2 Feet of concrete to get to it as they poured the floors over the trap AND PIPES, and then poured another floor over top of that. Lets just say it is ridiculous, but now we can bust out that floor space in no time, put in all new PVC and we think we are going to install a box with an access panel, then pour new concrete around and even out the wall and floor again. You would think this would have been done originally, but they did not figure for accessing or fixing the pipes in the future.

It goes to show that even some of the best designs have flaws.

Thanks again to all our supporters, and our few contributors, and of course our crew. It seems we are finally making some real progress.

[Tim Sokoloff]

Thanks to all for the positive comments, it means a great deal to us.

We are hoping to have a benefit car wash this weekend on Saturday at noon. Our last one did ok so we figured why not. The auto parts sale was a good success. We only took one third of what we had and sold a little over half of it. Even the parts that became rusted and unusable that we found in the mix as they had sat for quite some time, will generate us revenue as we are avid recyclers so nothing goes to waste. Our 200 pounds of junk parts will be worth $13.40 per hundred pounds when we last shipped a load.

The revenue generated over the weekend has gone to purchase a major electrical upgrade in our main complex, a demolition hammer and a hammer drill, all things we had to previously rent when we needed them. Our thanks again to Ron and Bill at Fire Pearl, you guys Rock! We will always leave the light on for you guys LOL.

I just hope that our site being on the endangered species list will help us out. Soon some preliminary designs that we have  created in regards to new environmental technologies will be up and running and we are moving forward more this year than ever before.  We have the people, the plan, the technology and the ability, we just need some people to go to our website and use our links to shop online. That one simple seemingly meaningless little act of clicking a link before you shop can change the scope of our endeavor greatly. www.haveacause.com

Our thanks to all our crew we have know for preforming more and more admirably every day, and for those who don't, they get voted off the island LOL. Again our thanks to our benefactors, especially Ron Eiselstein, for their tremendous efforts to forward our cause. We hope that considering how Ron and I started out here that we serve as an example to everyone on how to work together to make great things happen in our community.

Proudly signed
Tim Sokoloff
Iron Soup Historical Preservation Co. Board Chairman

[iwasthere]

tim last weekend was a busy one for me. i missed the coverage of your endeavor i with the sheet and tube co. homes. i wish you the best in your project.

[Tim Sokoloff]

We appreciate that you all took notice of our coverage. Our fund raising event at the Canfield Fair did ok. We still have lots of auto parts but we are mothballing them until the cold weather comes. We will be putting the funds we raised to good use and if you drive down through the neighborhood you will see improvements being made to all of our units on Delmar and Chambers. There is much more work that needs done but we are not in a position to work on units that are not in our names but we will continue to improve ours and hopefully this will enable our city and county officials to put even further pressure on absentee owners and those who simply don't care to either do something with their properties or sign them over.

[Youngstownshrimp]

He's a doer unlike most of our leaders whom we pay very well for a lot of hot air.  For that matter, unlike most of the 57% entitled in Youngstown who just suck the lifeblood out of the private sector.

[jay]

Your project had good coverage on the TV news today.

[Tim Sokoloff]

So here is the update. WE ARE ROCKIN AND I DARE ANYONE TO SAY THERE IS NOTHING HAPPENING IN THE CAMPBELL COMPANY HOMES NOW!

How about a non profit with NO MONEY FROM ANYONE who is totally re inventing a neighborhood. Oh and I would like to point out that every one of the hard working talented people that are working here now are here because they choose to, not because they have to. Some folks believe they are somehow smarter, more capable, or somehow more talented in business because they were able to utilize "free labor" which in all honesty if people wanted to actually work, they would not have been available for that "free labor" program in the first place.

I am proud to lead an organization of dedicated loyal volunteers who all work as a team to achieve a common goal as opposed to an army of those who despise that they have to be here. I will take one good dedicated volunteer who wants to actually work over 100 deadbeats who I have to watch constantly to make sure they are doing their jobs any day.

So to those naysayers that would believe they are business guru's, who is the smarter person, the one who people come to volunteer because their business model is so strong, or the ones who had to use forced volunteers because their business model lacked what it takes to inspire people to participate freely?

Everyone here is like myself. Uninterested in profit, but totally interested in progress, and in restoring this to a neighborhood while building it into the first truly self sustaining community. We work our butts off in this place from sun up to sun down and along with all the other improvements we are making our first Solar Powered Street Lamps will also be up and running before the end of August as well.

WWW.HAVEACAUSE.COM HAS EVEN MORE PHOTOS AND EVEN MORE INFORMATION ON WHERE WE ARE GOING AND WHAT WE ARE DOING AS WELL AS WHAT WE HAVE DONE.

Here are some great updates. Painting, plumbing, electrical and much other work has been done in the short time since I last wrote here as well as more progress on our building restoration. We will be getting our main office complex completed with another brand new 200 amp service online and it will be done before the end of August.

I hope you will all come out and join us this weekend though as we take the huge amount of auto parts we received from Ron and his Partner Bill at Fire Pearl to the Dave and Eds Swap Meet at the Canfield Fair Grounds. Their donation will be a tremendous help to us as we know the parts they gave us will enable us to generate not only revenue, but more interest in what we are doing. We can not express how much their help has meant to us.

We will have our crew on hand selling parts while we promote our cause and hand out slips to encourage people to visit our website and VOTE FOR US on Webbie World as the #1 most popular website. More details can be found on our website.

Although I did not get a chance to announce it here, we had a benefit car wash on Sunday July 10th. Our thanks to Dennis and Carol at Four Seasons Flea Market who always allow us to come out to the market and promote our events. Dennis has been a tremendous supporter and advocate of us since the very beginning. We would not be this far ahead without his help. We will be having another car wash happening soon and will try to announce it here, but it is best to visit our website for the most current events and fund raisers being held.

Our new Iron Soup Website which will rest at our companies namesake domain will be released before the end of July and will reveal advanced blue prints regarding our remodeling and power designs as well as our plan on how to occupy the units after they are completed. A more detailed look and explanation of the technologies will be included.

Lastly Iron Soup would like to thank Ron Eiselstein for all his help, the donation him and his partner made in auto parts and his personal donations of Hilti Tools as well as the computer and for all his help in assisting us in putting together other future events that will help us raise money. Ron has been beyond helpful in moving us forward and we appreciate all he has done.

Of course if you know Ron you know that he does not give of his time, energy, or anything else for that matter unless he is seeing some results. We would like to post more info, pictures, and other stuff as well as work more on our web sites and such but this is summertime, we have a whole new crew and we simply don't have time to play on the Internet. People help us because they know we are what we say we are.

I don't think there are many other organizations that have accomplished as much as we have with no grants, no monetary donations, and no outside funding at all whatsoever. Our total fundraising activities since May of 07 when we didn't even know what we were doing yet has been $1,023 approximately. Now we hope to change that this weekend at the Swap Meet, and continue to improve as we hold more fund raising events and promote some of the opportunities we already have going, but that number doesn't cover the cost of landscaping this place for a summer.

If we could get more people to click on our links at our website, such as Walmart, or Game Stop or Pet Smart to get to the stores websites, and I know that people who read this use those sites, someone has to be shopping online that is here reading online. Would it be so hard to go to our site first and use our link to get to the store? Apparently it must be because no one is doing it. Every time you click a link on our site from one of our sponsors, and make a purchase they send us some money. You go to their site, you pay the same price you get the same deal, you just use the link on our site to do it, and they take care of the rest.

We are trying to keep up with taking picture of the work we are doing outdoors and get it on the website, we have taken no real photos of the work indoors as we just have to get it done and move on. Our office needs finished as does our electrical and pluming upgrades so we can get our crew comfortable and our operation a little more organized.

I just want to know when we are considered to be making progress. Just how much do we have to do to be moving forward. Considering that no one has ever done anything in this place in the past 20 years except collect rent and make money of the buying and selling of the units, I think we have made more progress than anyone.

Well I have already been on here to long, but I had to update the website, and get the job done so we are ready for this weekend. I hope to see you at the Swap Meet.

Best Regards
Tim Sokoloff

[Tim Sokoloff]

Hello, well we have not disappeared, we have just been very busy now that some warm dry weather finally arrived.

Ron you should take a look at the great job the Hilte equipment you donated did on fixing the concrete corner that had eroded, which held up the main beams for the roof we are restoring. We have posted complete photos of the restoration all the way from the beginning of the project at http://www.haveacause.com/roof.html and it is incredible.

We first had to remove BY HAND the almost 650 clay tile weighing in at a little over 6.5 pounds each. These had to be carefully removed as you can not break the tile, or the TABS which hold them in place. Also we came to discover that not every tile received a nail (copper nails originally) so that the roof could Flex so to speak, when the ice and snow from the main roof would fall on it. Interestingly enough, there were two buffer systems built in to absorb the shock of such occurrences.

After that we totally removed the damaged section, fixed the bad boards across the rest of the roof, re-felted the whole thing and have restored over half the tile back on the roof already. Now we are putting up the new trusses, finishing off the new main beam, and of course, the concrete repairs.

To even try and fathom the work that went into just this one small porch roof, not to mention that TWO TYPES OF SPECIAL NAILS HAD TO BE PURCHASED FOR A TOTAL OF $125, just to do the work, is more than most people would ever even consider.

Consider this though. Even DAMAGED, with ice and snow beating on it for at least two decades, the tile remained and the roof DID NOT COLLAPSE. It was actually quite sturdy even in its damaged state and was a feat to dismantle.

We do our own work, we fund our own expedition, and we get the job done. I stand proud when I say that our organization has accomplished more with NOTHING, than many other have who have been given thousands of dollars.

Its all good though as we continue to build our database of donated parts that will go on sale this summer once we have them all listed, and we will show folks how to get things done. We don't pay salaries, give out bonuses, or allow for extravagant expenses with our funds. We put them to work for our organization.

See where I come from, when you work for a non - profit organization you do it because you believe in the work you are doing, not because it was a good career opportunity. All these people that have been caught abusing the funds from the Till of good will so to speak are deplorable. If you really believe in what you are doing, you do it for free, and you give of yourself to promote it and move it along. You don't do it so you can collect a big paycheck or look good in the public eye.

We estimate being able to make a few grand from our parts sale once it gets going and be assured that every single penny will go straight to making every goal in our mission statement a reality.

Our thanks not Only to Ron and Bill at Fire Pearl, but to all the folks who are working with us daily to realize the vision of a totally green community. Special thanks to Dave from OSU for coming out and informing us on how to get an Orchard started here in our complex.

Every day is a new day and we move forward on each and every one. CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS AND DISCOVER A WHOLE NEW WORLD IN ROOFING.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Best Regards
Tim Sokoloff

[Tim Sokoloff]

We have Purolator, Gates, Power Belt, STP, Anco Wiper and so much more already on site at www.haveacause.com completely researched with links to every available application for each part and a link to the best price we could find on the web. Bottom line, if you are a mechanic, garage, or vendor you can buy common filters, timing belts and more at below 50% of retail for single items and over 80% off retail if you are buying in bulk.

We are sincerely hoping to sell in bulk but every dollar counts. We need new lawn equipment, fuel allotments, and more which this sale will surely help achieve. In comparison to internet pricing if you are buying in bulk we are just about giving this stuff away.

Please pass on our site link to any and all auto parts enthusiasts and keep in mind the list will grow almost daily.

[Tim Sokoloff]

Awesome News.

I am just finishing up the refit of that computer you sent us. I had to go in and look up the mother board to get the drivers but it is all looking good now and I will be putting the camera system software on shortly and if we can get video on the monitor with this newer PC it will be time to set up and test the internet capabilities of the system.

After that it will be time to go back to inventorying auto parts. Everybody tells me I need to take a couple days off, I think I would rather slam my head in a car door LOL. I wouldn't know how to do that. I would go nuts if I had to do that. Looking forward to getting a big section of inventory posted today. The more we have listed, the better our chances are of generating some much needed revenue.

We still need a push mower, come on folks this post has been read over 400 times and no one out there knows where we can at least BUY a half decent one cheap? Still amazed that Ron and I are the only ones commenting here so far.

Agreed also Ron that it will be interesting to see who all will step up to help when we have our deconstruction party. I certainly know that our people will be out in full force along with some of their friends and family. You are right in what you say about organizations that have received so much and done so little while we have received so little and done so much. I won't open the door to another big online battle by naming anyone specifically, but there has not been any flood of support in our direction. I can say that our local Councilman, along with Tyler Clark and a group of his associates were very helpful our first year here, and our Councilman is still on our side and wants to see both our goals furthered as he feels it will be beneficial to the city so that is good.

This week we will be asking a lot of people to come out and support this endeavor in 2011 though as things have come a long way since 07 and we have more than paid our dues in time, our own money, labor you name it. And of course every challenging question I put up here has not been disputed so we must assume that the statements must be correct. The plan we have is not only feasible, it is near perfect. We have the best site, the best structures to start with, and a premium location in so many ways.

As I have said from the beginning of all of this though, we are not doing this to make money, we are not doing this for notoriety,  we are doing this because it NEEDS TO BE DONE.

As for myself and Chuck we have more of a vested interest in this project as this is our home, but Bill, Teresa and the rest of our board do not have as much at stake, but certainly have done their part to help us move ahead and then some. We mean whole heartedly what we say about our financial goals our organization has. The money we raise from the proceeds of this sale will speak volumes in regards to our dedication to doing the right thing. 

To many people are worried about "What's in it for me?" instead of how much of themselves they have put in it. It is sad how we have all forgotten how and why the US was ever formed in the first place. We are the United States because WOW we were actually United at one time. Now we are a Nation of every one for themselves. Have you asked not what your community can do for you, but what you can do for your community lately?

As for why we are fighting so hard to save these units and turn them into a green community? Not only do we get to preserve a great piece of history and revive the community in the true spirit in which it was created, but maybe we can be the example that other new communities will follow so we don't end up like this

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/earth-2100-final-century-of-civilization/  . In the ABC documentary, that I am sure very few people bothered to watch, a true look at what we have in store for us can be seen. So many people brush this sort of thing off, but unless you can tell me that 2 + 2 no longer equal four then things don't look good for our future unless we start making some serious changes.

You can ignore, discount, refute or just plain not care about the continually mounting problems we have created for our civilization but none of that will make any of them go away.

What would we all do if there were a terrible disaster here in our valley like that of Japan or Haiti? Japan's dependance upon Nuclear Power for their county has proven to be a disastrous mistake of epic proportions. Their food, water, air and land are all tainted now and will be for generations to come. Do you know that Chernobyl is STILL AN ABANDONED THAT REQUIRES SPECIAL PERMITS TO GO INTO BECAUSE OF RADIATION LEVELS.  In the near future when they reveal the truth about the damages, and the implications created by those damages I am sure that it will be mind boggling.

Mother Nature can take you from the top of a mountain in a house made of gold and set you at the bottom of the ocean in a pile of rubble in one quick swoop. What do you do when there is no power, no open stores, and no gas pumps that are running to go fill up your tank?

In 2009 the area in and around the company homes lost power for eight days. I understand there were some areas in other parts of the state that were even longer. Our team however had nominal operating power throughout the crisis and were able to provide minimal power to some of our nearest neighbors to run refrigerators.

Today we are even more prepared to look out for not only ourselves, but or community as well. If our plans for renovations do reach the maximum potential we be fully capable of assisting hundreds of individuals in the event of a tragedy. I mean if you are all going to continue to screw the planet up totally in the name of profit shouldn't SOMEONE be prepared for the consequences.

Go outside to your driveway, get under your vehicle, pull the oil plug out and let everything run down your driveway, then DRIVE TO CLEVELAND!

Oh you wouldn't do that to your car, but we are all OK with doing it to the planet. Oil lubricates the Tectonic Plates PERIOD! Plates that are dry now because there is insufficient, or no lubrication at all to keep them from violently rubbing together are causing turmoil on our planet and it is only going to get worst. Of course we all could care less, until it hits us, then everyone will be wailing like a bunch of hyena's crying WHY DID THIS HAPPEN, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

As much as I hope this is never the case, chances are we will see these things happening more and more as the next few years go on.

In either case, a totally green community always wins. In our scenario when our units are complete we will be completely powered by the earth and not only will we be free of utility bills, we will be collecting a check every month from First Energy for selling our excess power back to all of you who are not going to be so fortunate.

On the other side of the coin, if the Fecal Matter hits the Rotating Oscillator (LOL everyone grab your dictionary's) we will be standing safely behind the fan blades instead of in front of them.

Ron you are right, people hate the doers. When you stand up and actually be part of the change that needs to happen, instead of being part of the problem the problem people come out of the woodwork to come after you.

Well I got to get back to inventorying parts.

Best to all
Tim Sokoloff

[Youngstownshrimp]

Good News for Iron Soup!  MVG autoparts in Struthers wants to link and access the NOS autoparts.  They are one of the few independents still around and should be able to sell many of the parts.  I gave them the website to view inventory.

[Tim Sokoloff]

Well here it is, the new Iron Soup Website went live tonight along with a listing of the parts we have identified so far. We will have more in the next couple days and are doing it so we can break the listings up in order to post in multiple cities on Craig's list without having anything that is a duplicate listing while still providing a link to our main inventory.

http://www.haveacause.com includes information regarding our Urban Agriculture goals, a link to our Auto Parts inventory, a listing of our board of directors, information about the company, news events past and present, and will soon include a link to a very detailed set of plans in regards to our self sustaining apartment unit designs everyone has heard us talk about. Comments opinions and concerns are always welcome but please contact us through the website as we do not want to turn this into a forum to discuss typos.

Lastly it includes a little sneak peak at our Camera System that we will be offering use of to the CPD once we have it all set up for over the internet use. We can view the system wireless anywhere in the complex while we are still on our own network, but after it is all programmed anyone with the correct login information can view it from anywhere on earth. Of course the installation set up and programming are all being done by yours truly and I do all our web work as well.

Kind of sad that a guy who can do all that, and who assembled and operated the portable welding unit we used on the backhoe, can't get a job at a burger joint don't you think?

Anyway I pulled out all my bags of concrete, and I am ready for the refacing and painting of 21-31 Delmar and will be continuing to list parts, and get ready for the deconstruction party as well. Anyone want my job? I don't think there are two many people that are up to it.

Thanks again man, you really came through by the way. I definitely agree we can accomplish some incredible things working together, both at the company homes site and elsewhere as well. Money may not be my motivating factor, but I am not a fool. I know a good concept when I see it and certainly believe there is a ton of money to be made in Urban Agriculture, especially in the realms of Aqua-Culture. 

I still hold true to the opinion that everything has its place though and am glad that the unused land an building that would otherwise go to waste or be destroyed can be reclaimed for what we consider to be an outstanding purpose while leaving the area allocated for residential units intact. Ironically, after all was said and done, your idea complimented our initial plans in ways we did not even foresee. Now we are all working together to make many great things happen not only at our complex but across the county as well.

A lesson to all I hope.

Best Regards
Tim Sokoloff

[Tim Sokoloff]

Wow,
  You gotta wonder what the deal is with this. Here is the last link to get to the Craig's List posting.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pts/2350138118.html. , this is a little ridiculous. The Seattle posting was fine until I put the link up on here. The posts are being removed because they are being flagged as duplicates. We changed the order the parts were in and it was fine, but one by one they have been removed. Since there is only one post left there should not be any further problems in regards to duplicate listings.

Anyway, I am going to create multiple listings with totally different parts on each one, then we can post them in multiple cities all at once and cross link them. This will eliminate the problem of the posts being removed for being duplicates. No matter how many lemons people throw at us, we will still make great lemonade.

We will be putting some more listings together today and when we have 6 or 7 different ones we can do a new set of postings that will not at all be similar to each other.

There are a lot of ways to sell items and we are going to explore all of them. It is imperative to us to change these parts into funds we can use to move this project forward. A good portion of the first one of funding will surely go towards fuel for the machines to clean up the Hampton Row. Not to mention our general landscaping needs which have increased with the addition of some new properties, not even considering keeping the Delmar Row and the park area cut as well.

Ok its back to work.