Save the date! Montclair Public Library & Foundation’s Summer Reading Celebration will be at Edgemont Park on Saturday, August 20 from 9am to 5pm. Kids, teens, and adults are invited to this day of programs, activities and good old fashioned fun. The event will feature yoga, mini-Adult School of Montclair programs focused on health, fitness, and …Read More…
By Stephanie Grove, RSVP Director of Essex and Hudson Counties Civic engagement refers to the ways in which citizens participate in the life of a community in order to improve conditions for others or to help shape the community’s future. We often hear this term used in the context of motivating younger people to …Read More…
View the conversation between Cecilia Zalkind, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, and John Mooney, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Editor of NJ Spotlight.
The cost of living in New Jersey is one of the highest in the nation while incomes have become stagnant; therefore people struggling to make ends meet are open to considering creative options such as sharing their homes. HomeSharing, Inc. began 31 years ago with the mission of creating these affordable housing solutions by …read more…
By Montclair Emergency Services for the Homeless, Inc. (MESH) MESH’s “Home for the Holidays” program, funded in part by Partners for Health Foundation, sponsors housing for college students who experience homelessness when schools close during the winter and summer breaks. Over this past winter break the program covered the cost of housing and meals for …read more…
As New Jersey continues to struggle with a poor economy marked by high rates of unemployment, foreclosures, and an increasing cost of living, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) remains a crucial lifeline for low-income families. By lifting families out of poverty and giving a boost to local economies, the EITC is a vital tax …read more…
By Montclair Community Farm Coalition Thanks to Professional Woodworkers Guild of Upper New Jersey, the Montclair Community Farm Coalition now has a mobile farm stand to take local produce from its farm sites to area seniors. The Coalition operates two primary microfarm sites – one behind the HOMECorp building on Miller Street and one at …read more…
By Katie York, PhD, MBA Project Director, Lifelong Montclair After attending a conference on age-friendly communities, I realized how far Lifelong Montclair has come but how far we still have to go. Lifelong Montclair, a Partners for Health initiative in collaboration with the Township of Montclair, started two years ago under the moniker Aging in …read more…
The Independent College Fund of New Jersey (ICFNJ) has posted a new scholarship funded by Partners for Health. Junior and senior nursing students attending Bloomfield College and Caldwell University can apply for this competitive scholarship through ICFNJ at http://www.njcolleges.org/icfnj-student-scholarship-information#Partners_for_Health. Five successful candidates will receive a $5,000 award toward the cost of attendance in 2016-17. …read more…
The subjects that teens explore when creating films provided a platform for a wonderful panel discussion about the concerns of local youth and how our community can provide a safety net to support them. The event was held on Wednesday, May 4 and was presented by Partners for Health as part of the Montclair Film …read more…
The Township of Montclair celebrated Older American’s Month with an open house and ribbon cutting to officially kick-off senior programs and activities at Edgemont Park House. The event was held on Tuesday, May 3. Edgemont Park House has seen significant upgrades, new equipment and additional staff in anticipation of its opening as a space for …read more…
By Matthew LaZaro In early March, my Package Design class at Montclair State University was given an assignment to design a label for a bag of popcorn, a healthy snack that would be distributed to major sponsors of the 2016 Montclair Film Festival. The “client” was Partners for Health Foundation, which is co-presenting a panel …read more…
Community members opened their hearts and their wallets to help raise more than $400,000 donated through the Partners for Health Foundation’s Holiday Matching Grants program to seven local soup kitchens, food pantries and agencies that provide services to the homeless. Contributions of $202,700 from 438 individuals and families were matched dollar for dollar by Partners …read more…
Joy Kay, Executive Director, Montclair Shared Housing Association The residents at The Montclair Inn are always filled with pride when they talk about life at the Inn. Since 1990 it has been a residence for independent seniors who enjoy the camaraderie of the small community and the warmth and beauty of the house. One of …read more…
Caldwell University will expand the services it provides through its Counseling HelpLine, made possible through a grant from Partners for Health. Graduate students provide crisis counseling and mental health referrals for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. Dr. Thomson Ling, professor of psychology and supervisor of the graduate students, says they are very pleased that Partners …read more…
Want to improve your community? Enlist the help of third graders inspired by speakers from community organizations including A Lot to Grow community gardens, the United Way of Northern NJ, Bike & Walk Montclair, and PAWS. Dana Rose, Meghan Schorr and Maurine Toth, third grade teachers at Montclair Kimberley Academy, implemented an innovative Social Studies …read more…
Parishioners of the Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair recently organized a healthy food drive for the Human Needs Food Pantry. According to John Helm, Mission Chairman of the church, “We collected more than 2,000 pounds of food – literally a ton – making a ton of difference. For the past ten years, we’ve had a …read more…
Neighbor to Neighbor Network has been working with Boy Scout Troop 22 out of Bloomfield, chartered by Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, to collect healthy food for the Bethel Rehoboth Food Pantry & Meal Center in Bloomfield. Through mid-April 2014, they had collected nearly 40 bags of food using the Fight Hunger the Healthy Way …read more…
MKA juniors Joe Amato and Ben Rapsas have teamed up with Partners for Health to fight hunger. The young men enlisted more than a dozen peers to join them in a Food Run held on Sunday, April 6, 2014. Each runner/walker raised funds and traversed a 5K route outlined by an MKA Cross Country coach. …read more…
By Jennifer Hanawald Local children are learning about suburban hunger and taking action to raise donations for emergency food programs. Leaders of Girl Scout Troop 20528 in Montclair said the goals of the Campaign to Fight Hunger the Healthy Way — to help community members of all ages to eat well — resonated deeply. The …read more…
By Jennifer Hanawald The Pre-K through second graders of School 2 in Little Falls are doing an amazing job collecting healthy foods for two food pantries: St. Agnes Church and First Reformed Church, both in Little Falls. Our school’s Media Advisor, Ms. Roth, has been reading to our students from the list of children’s book …read more…
By Jennifer Hanawald Partners for Health has kicked off a year-long campaign to raise awareness about suburban hunger and inspire action that will help nourish our neighbors who struggle to afford healthy food. The grant-making foundation developed the Fight Hunger the Healthy Way campaign to put an emphasis on donations of healthy foods to emergency …read more…
By Jennifer Hanawald What would you do if you had to choose between paying the bills and putting a decent meal on the table? With poverty rising twice as fast in the suburbs than in cities, that’s become the reality for an increasing number of our neighbors, right here in Montclair. Partners for Health, a …read more…