JSDD News

Mark Perwien, member of JSDD’s Board of Trustees, and his wife Laurie Goodman have been connected to JSDD for many years. In 2006, they donated a home in Parsippany to the agency. Their son, Artie, along with four other men have been living in this beautiful supportive home ever since. In the fall of last year, with a generous commitment to the agency’s newly established Endowment Fund, they launched the Goodman Perwien Legacy Society helping to ensure that the care and support synonymous with JSDD will continue for years to come. The Goodman Perwien Legacy Society held its inaugural event earlier this month in the Heidi Gallery at JSDD, Chaired by Jon Mann, also a member of JSDD’s Board of […]

JSDD recently had an afternoon to remember. Saturday, March 25th JSDD residents and WAE Center members got glammed up for dancing, posing, and celebrating Prom together. The prom was held at The Brownstone in Paterson, NJ. This spectacular formal event was the vision of Jennifer and Mariah Fay. Jennifer, JSDD’s Director of Nursing Services and her daughter (who is a high school junior) worked together, planning, obtaining grants and generous donations from the community to make the day extravagantly special.     Although Mariah, is still in high school, this was not the first special experience which she created for the men and women of JSDD. Last year she organized a bowling event that brought everyone together for one of […]

    Representative Mikie Sherrill paid a special visit to JSDD on February 22, 2023, to meet with  JSDD residents, WAE Center members, families, and staff. The Congresswoman was pivotal in helping JSDD to secure Community Project funding which will launch JSDD: Life | Home | Tech.       Upon arriving, Representative Sherrill and her team, in addition to Livingston Mayor Michael Vieira, Deputy Mayor Al Anthony, Town Council Member Ed Meinhardt and Essex County Commissioner Patricia Sebold gathered in the Heidi Gallery.  There to greet them was JSDD Executive Director, Linda Press and Board President Larry Rein. Everyone took in the current exhibit: Mentor/Mentee – JDAIM 2023, in honor of Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion month. Several artists were […]

  “The relationship between mentor and mentee is a symbiotic one.” Yvette Lucas, Manager Prevocational Arts   This wonderful exhibit is a dynamic statement about the day-to-day inner workings of the WAE Center art studios. Ranging from: one-on-one sessions between facilitator and artist, to group workshops, to small group digital collaborations the gamut in materials and structure is wide and deep and full of exploration. Ten mentors and tens of members contributed to this wonderful mélange of texture, subject and materials including: charcoal, collage, digital artwork, fiber art, music composition/album design, soft sculpture, 3-D printing, printmaking, painting, photography, AI – creations, quilting & sewing, pastel and marker drawings, watercolor, weaving and woodworking. Mentors have brought their individual work to the […]

JSDD is starting off the New Year with a new segment on the website. Each month will feature a look inside what is happening with the residents living in JSDD homes. Shabbat is celebrated weekly led by Hagit, JSDD’s Judaic Coordinator. Each home takes time to set the table beautifully and to make a special dinner. Residents enjoy participating in the preparation of the dinner and all love to see friends from other homes over the computer. Each Shabbat celebration begins with the appropriate prayers over the candles, the challah and to welcome the Sabbath. Each Shabbat Hagit discusses the weekly torah portion and brings up lessons that can be learned. The group enjoys discussions about how they can apply […]