Kessler Foundation Gives $35,000 Community Employment Grant

Jewish Family Service of Atlantic & Cape May Counties (JFS) was recently awarded a $35,000 Community Employment Grant from Kessler Foundation. The Kessler Foundation mission of driving positive change for people with disabilities aligns with JFS’ Vocational Services, specifically by providing access to job opportunities. This funding enables JFS to support, train and place individuals, primarily with serious mental illnesses – schizophrenia, bipolar, depressive disorder, etc. – in cohesive employment as part of our Integrated Case Management Service (ICMS) program.

The grant provides support for a wide array of programs including: transition to work, employment related transportation solutions, vocational training, workplace preparation and strategies to support recruitment, hiring, placement and retention.

“The generous Kessler Foundation grant will assist our mission of providing individuals, with serious mental illness, with support to enter the workforce within Atlantic and Cape May Counties,” said Dr. Nina Stolzenberg, JFS Director of Vocational Services. “We’re delighted that this grant will provide these specific JFS clients with the opportunity to garner more independence, greater self-esteem and financial freedom,” she added.

JFS is proud to once again partner with Kessler Foundation on an important community initiative. In 2017, Kessler graciously provided JFS with a $50,000 grant to create a training and jobs program with a focus on employment for residents with autism and other disabilities. Then, in 2013, Kessler provided JFS with a $10,000 grant earmarked to assist area residents, with physical disabilities, who suffered losses due to Superstorm Sandy. Ultimately, the funds were used to acquire motorized wheelchairs, construct a wheelchair ramp and install an outdoor chair lift for local residents.

Since 2005, Kessler Foundation of New Jersey has invested close to $45 million in funding a variety of employment-related projects that have helped more than 10,000 people with disabilities acquire jobs and training.

“The Foundation’s Community Employment Grants focus on enabling New Jersey organizations to support, train, and place people with disabilities in competitive-integrated-employment,” said Elaine E. Katz, MS, CCC-SLP, Senior Vice President for Grants and Communications at Kessler Foundation. “Having a job creates a sustainable pathway to a better economic future,” she shared.

Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.