On Saturday, April 26, scores of runners and walkers gathered at the Clipper Pavilion in West Orange for The Arc of Essex County’s 27th Annual Building Tomorrows 5K Run and Family Walk. The event, which raised funds for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the greater Essex County area, also featured a Fun Fest with games and activities for all ages. For the 5K race, the overall winners in the male division were Tristin DeVincenzo in first place with a time of 17:42, followed by Noah Jerris in second place with a time of 19:46, and Randy Arronis in [...]

On April 4, dozens of The Arc of Essex County’s Day Program participants gathered at Studio Arc to tune in to The Arc of New Jersey’s Self-Advocacy Project Virtual Spring Luncheon, where the group was honored for winning first place in the annual Developmental Disability Awareness Month video contest. The video reflected the contest theme, “Plan for Tomorrow, Act Today,” and showed Arc participants practicing various skills in an effort to move closer toward their long-term goals. (Click here to watch the video.) Votes for the video, which was developed and performed by Arc participants at Studio Arc in February, were [...]

The Arc of Essex County hosted a “Meet the Support Coordination Agencies Night” on April 2 at the Opportunity Zone in Maplewood, bringing families and agencies together to share experiences, information, and resources. More than a dozen families attendees browsed among booths of the nine Support Coordination Agencies that attended the event. The Arc of Essex County provided refreshments as well as swag bags packed with Arc resources. Families are asked to choose a support coordinator when graduates end their final school year in order to successfully access and maintain services through New Jersey’s Division of Developmental Disabilities. The Meet the Support [...]

Stepping Stones School kicked off the month of April with a staff-sponsored feast for the combined Primary and Primary Plus classrooms to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. The school also observed Autism Awareness Month, enjoyed festive Passover and Easter activities, and welcomed performers from Paper Mill Playhouse, who showcased “A Year with Frog & Toad” at the school. Children and staff also enjoyed a well-deserved rest during their Spring Break before returning to their classrooms. Preparations are well underway for end-of-year celebrations in June. The Arc of Essex County’s Stepping Stones School is a Department of Education-approved private school for students with disabilities. [...]

Participants in The Arc of Essex County’s Adult Recreation, Group Respite, and Community Inclusion programs enjoyed a busy April together. Recent activities included: The continuation of the international-themed “Tasty Treats” cooking class series on April 2, 9, and 16 A visit to YESTERcades of Westfield on April 6, where participants enjoyed playing old arcade games, skee-ball, air hockey, billiards, and more. A stroll through the flowering trees at the Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival at Branch Brook Park in Newark on April 13. A Spring Bingo and Karaoke Party at Studio Arc on April 27 Bowling trips to Bowlero Belleville on April 5, 12, and [...]

As the weather has warmed up, The Arc of Essex County’s Day Programs have been bustling, with activities in April that included: Bridges trips to the aquarium, the Cherry Blossom Festival at Branch Brook Park and bowling excursions SYA participants making spring crafts together, going out for their international luncheon, completing an Easter egg scavenger hunt, and wearing blue for Autism Awareness Month Visits from all of the day programs to Studio Arc for projects such as jewelry making, pixel art, optical art, and creating a collaborative artist garden, as well as GameU classes Representatives from several of the programs gathering for The Arc [...]

Residents in The Arc of Essex County’s group homes and apartments have been enjoying the beautiful spring weather and going on excursions together, including: Residents at the Oakwood Group Home visiting Liberty State Park, the Montclair Art Museum, celebrating William’s birthday, and going bowling together The Newark Apartment Program enjoying a delicious Easter lunch together Light lantern making for residents at the Linden Group Home The Verona Apartment residents celebrating James’s birthday with a special dinner out The ladies of Belleville, Orange, 705, Green, and Ashwood group homes gathering for a Girls’ Night In at Studio Arc, where they learned how to crochet. A raucous trivia [...]

The month of April featured a variety of activities for The Arc of Essex County’s children’s programming, offering toddlers, children, and teens educational and engaging experiences together: Children’s Respite celebrated Easter with a visit from the volunteers of Stars of Elegance, who helped the children decorate cupcakes, dye eggs, and go on an Easter egg hunt and donated Easter baskets to each participant. The Children’s Respite group has also been studying how to make healthy food choices and going on excursions to a buffet meal together to apply their lessons. Communi-Play provided engaging and musical communication lessons for our 2.5- to 5-year-olds, [...]

Visit The Arc of Essex County’s SYA Day Program in Nutley and you’re likely to see Bram hard at work drawing many beautiful pictures. He enjoys all of what SYA has to offer, especially community lunch and holiday parties. But his true passion is art, and he loves sketching original pencil and pen drawings whenever he can. Bram only joined SYA earlier this year, but he has been enjoying the Saturday Group Respite program and many Hotel Respite weekends with his Arc community for years, and says he considers his fellow Arc participants some of his very best friends. He especially [...]

Growing up, Sashoy Pryce was immersed in the world of service. Through her church, she was regularly volunteering at food pantries, helping the homeless, and supporting people in need. So when it came time to decide what she was going to study, she knew she wanted a career that would be focused on giving back. Shoy first went in the direction of learning to be a medical assistant while regularly volunteering with the disability population. Even her advisor at Essex County Community College could see that she was meant to be in a more social role, so rather than going in [...]