Disabled job seekers are beneficiaries of grant to Jewish Vocational Service

by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Staff Writer

The Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest has been named a recipient of a $40,000 Community Employment Grant from the Henry H. Kessler Foundation. The award is part of a total of $480,000 given to 13 New Jersey organizations to improve the employment and career advancement of people with disabilities.

“This generous grant from the Kessler Foundation represents a tremendous opportunity for Jewish Vocational Service to assist people with physical disabilities in finding long-term gainful employment, which will enable them to lead financially independent lives,” said JVS executive director Ronald I. Coun in a press release. “Participants will develop workplace skills and increase their confidence, self-esteem, and sense of independence, which will produce a significant, positive impact on the lives of these members of the community and their families.”

According to JVS spokesperson Caren Ford, the organization assists about 500 disabled clients, including those with physical, developmental, and emotional difficulties.

The grant from the West Orange-based foundation, which must be used over the next 12 months, will allow JVS to extend to physically disabled individuals its innovative JVS Community Based Assessment and Work Training Program, which provides on-the-job training and employment opportunities for people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. Participants will have the opportunity to develop workplace skills, learn how to function productively at job assignments appropriate to their abilities, earn a stipend, and build social skills through interaction with other workers, thereby enhancing their employment prospects.

Initially, participants will be placed at participating community-based assessment and work training sites with a job coach. They will then advance to long-term, unsubsidized employment. In addition, the program will extend its outreach efforts to educate employers and the general community about the value of hiring people with disabilities.

JVS, founded in 1939, provides a broad range of services to individuals, institutions, and social service agencies in New Jersey regardless of participants’ religion. In addition to serving the physically and mentally disabled, JVS’ priorities include assisting the unskilled and educationally disadvantaged, newly arrived immigrants, aging workers, single parents, downsized employees, and the “next working generation.”

“We’re very excited,” Ford said. “Kessler is focusing on vocational needs and how important work is to the emotional well-being of these [disabled] clients. Working can be a very good therapy.”

Ron Kaplan can be reached at RKaplan@njjewishnews.com.

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