WAE Center News

The WAE Center members and staff gathered for the annual Thanksgiving lunch. This is a time to come together as a community, share what we are thankful for and celebrate the life and memory of Scott Reich. Scott loved celebrating Thanksgiving with his friends at the WAE Center because it usually fell on his birthday. In his memory, the Reich family has continued to support this fun and meaningful tradition.

We’re excited to announce that the WAE Center will now offer Therapy Dog services twice a week for our members. Manu, an 8-year-old Samoyed, will visit on Mondays from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and Milo, a 6 ½-year-old mixed-terrier, will join us on Fridays during the same time. During their visits, these adorable companions will roam through our program, offering themselves for interaction with our members. Their presence aims to provide support and love without hindering anyone’s ongoing projects or classes.

Preparations began long before Sukkot in the WAE Center. The Judaic Gems and Makers Studio classes got together to work on two wall hangings for the Sukkah. Members were shown how to use disperse dyes to create images of vegetables and fruits of the harvest. The dyes were used to make rubbings on paper using textured surfaces with the solid wax dye. The rubbings were then painted with various colors of liquid dyes over the entire sheet. After the pages dried, they were placed in a heat press which transferred the images onto the polyester fabric to create the wall hangings.   While the holiday began with a rainy start, residents of the JSDD homes all were excited to sit, […]

As of Tuesday, 11/7/23 the NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities is rescinding its temporary service modification regarding virtual classes. This means that DDD will no longer fund remote classes as of Tuesday, 11/7/23. This impacts all WAE members who are receiving DDD funding & are currently enrolled in virtual classes. If you are enrolled in fully virtual classes or hybrid virtual classes, this will impact you or your member. As an act of good faith & commitment to our beloved community JSDD will provide a grace period for all virtual classes between 11/7 & the rest of the year. This means members can attend class up until the end of December break without funding. We are actively investigating solutions to sustain this crucial […]

Name: Shelby Camhi Title: Speech Language Pathologist   How long have you been with JSDD? Since January 2023   Was this the position you started in? Yes   What is your first memory of JSDD? I connected with Harry first and the initial word I would use to describe JSDD is, welcoming. When I visited the new building, I had the feeling of it being a welcoming and supportive environment. I was also very impressed by the building itself.   What has most surprised you about working with JSDD? Things run smoothly, and it is organized, everything seems to flow well.   What are 3 words to describe JSDD? Welcoming, Loving and Honest   What do you find most challenging […]