Newsletter for the JESPY Community
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR NEW
BOARD OF TRUSTEES PRESIDENT
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Dear JESPY Community,
It is my pleasure to introduce myself to you as the new President of the JESPY House Board of Trustees. I am honored to serve in this important role, having been a JESPY Board member for many years.
I care deeply about JESPY House and all of our clients, and enthusiastically support our mission to help our clients to achieve their full potential and to lead independent lives. Working as a team with our Executive Director, Audrey Winkler, JESPY staff, and our Board of Trustees, I look forward to sharing our successes with you and working together to meet our challenges.
A few words about my background. I am a teacher at West Orange High School (chemistry and occasionally physics). I transitioned to teaching after a career in the chemicals industry where I served as a senior executive with international experience. My education includes chemical engineering, business and education degrees.
While I love all the roles I have held throughout my career, it is this new role at the helm of the JESPY Board that truly drives me now. These are exciting -- and challenging -- times for JESPY. We are proud to serve 250 clients and provide them with more program choices and opportunities for advancement than ever before. Simultaneously we are faced with many challenges such as an upcoming shortfall in NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities funding.
Our Board and our staff are facing our challenges head on to create workable solutions. That's why this summer we met to forge a three-year strategic plan for JESPY. A year-by-year tactical plan will allow us to make progress on three over-arching priorities:
- increase housing stock availability for clients, especially affordable housing - Related to the need for more housing is a need to address the changing housing needs of clients as they get older and have more physical challenges with mobility. As such, much of our efforts will be placed on our new Aging in Place initiative.
- diversify revenue and prioritize fundraising/ philanthropic support - This is an area we all need to be involved in-- board, staff, parents, families and community residents and businesses.
- address issues surrounding reduction of funding - due to a shift in the DDD/Medicaid structure
As you can see these three core initiatives are very much inter-related. Without adequate funding we will be hampered in our efforts to provide clients with appropriate housing and key services that support their independence and allow them to come to our community and remain in our community as they age.
Over the last 12 months, JESPY has:
- increased our capabilities in fundraising by hiring our first full-time development director, which has already yielded positive results in new grants and funders that we had not accessed before.
- been very fortunate in receiving a wonderful gift from the Och family which will be used to launch our Aging in Place housing initiative.
- increased our communication commitment to our family members by holding quarterly family meetings and public forums, sending bi-monthly e-newsletters, and highlighting new programs and services on our website.
Thank you for being part of the JESPY community. I look forward to meeting you and working together on the exciting journey which lies ahead.
Sincerely,
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Ronald Brandt
President
JESPY House Board of Trustees
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REACH OUT ON GIVING TUESDAY
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November 28
th
, is what is known the world over as “Giving Tuesday” – an international day of giving to charity.
JESPY House clients need your help this Giving Tuesday. Please
Donate
.
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With a focus on our clients' health and wellness, JESPY has increased its nursing coverage this year. We are excited to welcome Pat Taylor, a trauma nurse at University Hospital in Newark, who comes to JESPY with more than 35 years of experience. Pat is a registered nurse and certified long term care clinician.
Pat has expressed her commitment to JESPY's mission of facilitating our clients' independence and plans to be a resource to them in:
- improving and maintaining positive health behaviors
- helping clients understand their medications and the importance of compliance
- keeping clients updated on current health trends.
Pat can be reached by telephone at (973) 762-6909, ext. 210, or by email at ptaylor@jespy.org.
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IMPORTANT REMINDER
Flu Season is Here
October 1 - April 30
Protect yourself! Get a flu shot as soon as possible at doctor's offices or local pharmacies like Rite Aid and CVS. The cost is usually covered by health insurance.
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THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS!
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JESPY Receives Grant Awards
to Support Important New Initiatives
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JESPY House is enormously grateful to the following foundations for providing us with new grants to support the important work of our community:
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Aging in Place Initiative
- $193,388 from The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey
- $75,000 from The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation
This initiative will help strengthen, expand, and integrate services and supports for older JESPY clients to enable them to age in place within our client-centered, community-based setting. It will help address the changing health and wellness needs of men and women ages 45 and older by:
- increasing health awareness and healthy behaviors
- improving interventions that reduce the frequency of crisis situations
- minimizing hospital visits and stays
Overall, health outcomes, social interaction and community engagement is expected to increase among our senior clients.
Few organizations in this region are addressing these specific needs of their older clients, making the learnings from this project all the more impactful.
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Working Women’s Support Network
- $20,555 from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey
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- $1,000 from Investors Foundation
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This
grant allows us to dedicate resources to help our female clients gain the practical knowledge and skills to be competitive in the workplace. By building their confidence, social skills and coping mechanisms to stable and fulfilling employment will be fostered. Group training, individual job coaching, job sampling, networking and mentorship are all key elements to this pilot project.
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The Women's Group is a popular activity.
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Image Consultant Sharon Kornstein helps Transitions client Brianna Bardwil learn to accessorize for a job interview.
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In addition, we would like to acknowledge these wonderful gifts
:
- $2,500 from Bob’s Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation, Inc. for furniture in our new Transitions Program model apartment, a meeting place dedicated specifically to our Transitions clients. Here, they can comfortably socialize with peers while working on advancing their practical experience for living independently in a residential space.
- $1,500 from the Kesselhaut Family Foundation for computer notebooks for our Day Habilitation and our Social Wellness and Expressive Arts Programs.
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ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
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Soccer State Champions (l. to r.):
Coach Mike Depoy, Mike Nimrod, Amy Zeitlin, Ben Stone, Todd Gallanter, Jessica Barbiero, Dan Janiger, Assistant Trainer Chris Van Horn. Kneeling: Kayla Jussim & Ari Gershman
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Golf Team (l. to r.)
William Gilbert, Jeanine Panzone, Mike Murphy, Jane Clark, Robert Lande, & Dawn Oppenheimer.
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"What a season!", exclaimed JESPY Athletic Director Wayne Branch. It’s never a surprise that a JESPY Nation soccer team has advanced to the state championship games. But this year,
all three JESPY Nation soccer teams qualified for the state championships
by finishing in the top of their respective divisions (Black Team and Blue Team - silver medals; White Team – gold medal).
JESPY Nation excelled once again as the White Team moved on to win the Division 9 State Championship. Congratulations to all the competitors and coaches who showed great sportsmanship, athleticism and determination.
In November, JESPY played its annual season-ending soccer game against the Dove Volunteer Program of Seton Hall University. JESPY Nation maintained it's perfect record in this annual competition, with a 12 - 1 victory!
Congratulations also to the members on the JESPY Nation Golf Team that competed successfully in the Fall Special Olympic Games.
All Golf Team members placed in the top three of their respective divisions
during the NJ State Tournament.
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Governor-Elect Phil Murphy visited JESPY House prior to the state election. His visit, as well as other recent JESPY activities that emphasized the importance of clients' right to vote, were covered by the local press. Please click on the following links to read about JESPY's voter education and advocacy efforts:
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THINKING AHEAD FOR THE FUTURE -
JESPY's Special Program
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On Sunday, October 1, JESPY welcomed a panel of experts to provide a special educational program for clients, client families, and community members on a topic important to all:
Long-Term Strategies for JESPY Clients and
JESPY as an Organization
Our panel shared financial strategies to help families plan for their family member’s future and discussed ways to help JESPY plan for its future with philanthropic support. Topics included special needs trusts, types of guardianship, the JESPY Endowment Fund and estate planning. Expert panelists included:
- Jason Miller-Plan/NJ
- Denise Dimson Rekem, Esq., Parles Rekem LLP
- Daniel Staffenberg-Chief Development Officer-Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ
- James Sonneborn, CFP, CFA, MBA, CDFA, Partner, Wealth Advisor, RegentAtlantic
- Marty Myers, JESPY Parent
The program provided valuable information to well more than 50 individuals in attendance. JESPY plans to hold another similar program in 2018 for those who were unable to attend this one.
Please
click
on the following links to read information distributed at the meeting:
For more information, please contact Amy Engel, JESPY Director of Development, at
aengel@jespy.org
or (973) 762-6909, ext. 313.
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Purchase Your JESPY Apparel Now!
Great Holiday Gifts
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JESPY now has a variety of branded apparel for sale: hats, zippered sweatshirts, hooded sweatshirts, long-sleeve polo-shirts, t-shirts, etc.
Order early for holiday gifts.
The last date to place an order is Monday, November 27th. Orders will be available for pick up on Wednesday, December 20th at 102 Prospect St., South Orange, NJ 07079.
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Free South Orange Shuttle Service for Clients
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The South Orange Senior Shuttle is now available to JESPY clients free of charge. The new schedule includes stops convenient to JESPY clients at: 65 Academy St., Judi House, 171 Vose Ave. and 177 Irvington Ave.
Regular route stops include Stop & Shop, Rite Aid, the Baird Center and the South Orange Public Library.
There will be regularly scheduled monthly runs to the ShopRite in West Orange, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Wal-Mart and a variety of shopping malls.
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JESPY Clients Receive Sun Safety Training
from the Enright Melanoma Foundation
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Some quotes from the participants who proudly displayed the certificates they earned:
- "I had no idea that protecting yourself was so important." - DE
- "The sun can hurt you even when you don't realize it." - AT
- "I learned so much from this program that I didn't even know about." - JK
- "It (the program) was really easy to understand." - SM
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Some of Our Favorite Pics
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JESPY'S J-Street Band performs at the NJ Disability Pride Parade on Oct. 7th in Trenton.
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Director of Operations Mitch Rottenstreich leads the annual Sukkot service, traditionally referred to as
Pizza in the Hut.
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JESPY staff always looks out for new employment opportunities for our clients. Recently meeting with JIMMY JAZZ clothiers, who are seeking employees for a new distribution center, are (l. to r.) Erika Rusnak-Hensz, Michelle Rampersant, Salome DeLoach, Kristina Mizelle and Rob Slater.
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JESPY's Littlest Biggest Fan
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Come join us at our Annual Jubilee
as JESPY House celebrates
our 40th Anniversary
Date:
Sunday, February 4th, 2018
Time:
Beginning at 12:00 pm
Place:
Crystal Plaza
305 W Northfield Rd, Livingston, NJ
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We look forward to sharing with you more, exciting happenings at JESPY House as we strive to enable our clients toward success in independent living within the community.
Sincerely,
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for more information about JESPY House services.
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