Dametralius Moon, affectionately known as “Dee,” proudly comes from a family of nurturers. Growing up, she and her cousin Toshonda spent a lot of time with their grandmother, who provided “an extremely nurturing environment” for her family as well as the foster children she took in. As the cousins reached adulthood, Toshonda spoke about her work at The Arc of Essex County as being so rewarding and life-changing, so Dee looked into switching from her retail job. She landed as a technician at the ARCompany program in East Orange in 1999.

“I had so much fun there,” Dee says. She would supervise the work of the vocational program participants and talk with them about how they could learn and grow.

Dee went on to become an assistant manager at the Avenues Day Program for seniors, where she says the work was more challenging, but very rewarding. “I love people, and I’d have the opportunity to sit and talk with them over tea, about their past and their parents and what it was like growing up. It was so lovely.”

Two years later, she became a Day Program manager, starting in Livingston and later moving to West Caldwell Hub and then to SYA in Nutley. “The ins and outs of making the program run every day, and making peoples’ day was so rewarding to me,” she says. “I loved planning activities, working with the parents, and making affiliations and connections in the community. Those are my people.”

Dee remained at SYA for about seven years before being promoted to Assistant Director of Community Services in 2024, joining her cousin Toshonda Johnson-Hall (Assistant Director of Children’s Respite and Recreation Programs) at The Arc’s main office in Livingston.

She loves that she still gets to help individuals and families in this role, and that she has opportunities to visit with the Arc community when she is at Day Programs for tours and intake meetings, as well as when she works Hotel Respite weekends. She also loves that she can help spread the word about The Arc’s services—at transition fairs, schools, and community events—to help connect families with the support they need.

Dee says that her spiritual upbringing instilled a deep core value that connects her with everyone she meets. “It’s easy to love people, to respect people, to fill them with kindness. They’re not just people I’m working with, they are my brothers and sisters.”

Her family’s history of service continued as her own children worked at The Arc when they were younger: in a group home, in recreation programs, at Hotel Respite, and at Camp Hope. “Like me, they were raised to take care of people and do what they were called to do.”

Dee doesn’t doubt that working at The Arc has been her life’s calling. “I feel like my purpose is being fulfilled here at The Arc. It’s a passion for me and it’s endlessly rewarding.”