Easter Seals Disability Services

This Thanksgiving, Won’t You Consider Joining with Us to Make the Holiday Brighter for Someone in Need?

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. In the midst of all the fussing about in preparation for that special meal, we often take for granted just how fortunate we are to even have a place to go or the means to enjoy a bountiful meal with friends or family.

So many are struggling for food, clothing and have no family to dine with, no turkey dinner to look forward to this Thanksgiving.

While most of us are counting our blessings, people living in homeless shelters, transitional programs, or group homes are taking inventory of all they have lost and are fighting for a better future.

At Easter Seals New Jersey’s Homeless Shelter at Fort Monmouth, people like Jesse know all too well about loss and are simply thankful for a warm and safe place to go. “Before I came to the Easter Seals shelter, I was homeless . . . not knowing where my next meal would come from” he says.

The shelter, which operates 24-hours, 7-days a week, houses up to 31 homeless adults daily and provides education in mental health and substance abuse issues, along with assistance in transitioning back into the community and sustaining employment and independent living.

And then, there are people like Linda, who had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals since she was teenager and had basically given up hope of any kind of stable and independent life until she came to Easter Seals. In addition to mental illness, Linda had begun drinking and using drugs to ease her pain. “I felt completely powerless over my life and trapped lashing out at everyone around me,” Linda says.  “But the Easter Seals residential group home staff welcomed me with open arms. Now, I have a sense of hope and the belief in myself that I can live independently out in world.”

People with varying degrees of mental illness are able to receive stable and supervised housing in group home environments at 67 residential Easter Seals locations throughout New Jersey. 

At Thanksgiving, so many people are reminded of the Thanksgiving meals they used to serve to family in their own home. Perhaps, instead of counting the things they’re thankful for, they’re now counting their losses. Many have no way of contacting friends or family, and others suffering from mental illness and addiction may have severed all of their relationships. Whatever their circumstances, they find themselves lonely, scared, hurting . . . and hungry.

“Without a place like Easter Seals and the caring staff that work there, my kids and I might have ended up in a gutter somewhere,” shares Nina, a mother of three children and resident at Linkages, an Easter Seals transitional housing program for up to 72 homeless women and their children.

The program provides a safe, structured, and supportive place to live for women like Nina and educates them on how to become self-sufficient and overcome homelessness by transitioning into permanent and independent housing. “A lot of people don’t understand how truly hard life can be,” she says. “But Easter Seals has helped keep me stay stable in what is sometimes a cold and unfriendly world. I am so thankful for the caring commitment that’s shown by the Easter Seals staff every day." 

Easter Seals understands how many people are struggling for even the most basic of necessities, such as food and clothing, let alone a holiday meal. And though it may not seem like a big deal, for people like Jesse, Linda and Nina, the ability to sit down and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal means more than most of us can possibly imagine.

But, in this time of economic downturn, unfortunately we can’t do it alone. Food prices are soaring and we are counting on friends like you this Thanksgiving to help us offer someone hope through a holiday meal.

This Thanksgiving season, when you think about all you have to be thankful for, won’t you please consider offering people less fortunate than you the opportunity share in this celebratory time?

The ability able help others is one of the greatest things we can be thankful for. And, one of the greatest gifts that we can give.

Easter Seals is so thankful for friends like you that help make this possible. Please join with us this Thanksgiving together we can give hurting people like Linda, Jesse and Nina a reason to give thanks once more.

“It’s not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, that is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” W.T. Purkiser

Your donation today will help us to provide essential items needed to prepare a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings for someone in need. To find out how you can help in time for the holiday, please contact Easter Seals New Jersey development department at 732-257-6662

Easter Seals Makes Starting Over a Little Easier with “Welcome Kits”

Whether you have a disability or not change is difficult for most people. Starting over with nothing is even harder.

But that’s exactly what people with various mental illnesses who enter an Easter Seals New Jersey residential program are facing starting over from scratch. Since many arrive directly upon being discharged from a hospital, they often arrive with nothing. No clothing, no hygiene items, no personal belongings of any kind. It’s intimidating to arrive in a new place with new people; even more so when you arrive with nothing to call your own.

In order to provide them with a sense of security and the tools needed to “start over”, Easter Seals provides each resident with a “Welcome Kit” upon their arrival. These kits contain basic necessities, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, shampoo, clean bedding, and even a set of clean clothing if needed.

Providing these necessary items to the residents costs Easter Seals New Jersey approximately $6,000 per year.

“When I first arrived at Easter Seals, I arrived with nothing,” says John, a graduate of the residential program. “But receiving my welcome kit and having things to call my own during a time of such uncertainty gave me the sense of security and the foundation I needed to begin my journey on the path to my recovery and future success.”

The journey on everyone’s path to success begins with the first step. At Easter Seals, that first step is showing care and compassion by providing the most basic of needs. You can play a role in helping someone have a new start with a sense of security and stability please consider a monetary gift dedicated toward the provision of “Welcome Kits” to people starting over from scratch…. just like John.

Easter Seals New Jersey Residential Programs

“To say that my life was in complete disarray would be an understatement.  I was spinning out of control and I desperately needed help to back on my feet.  Nobody thought I would stay out of the hospital, but I did…”

Management of one’s mental health issues which can include a variety of diagnoses, including depression, addition, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and others makes coping with everyday stress difficult for individuals and families alike.

Understanding one’s diagnosis and learning coping skills like managing medications, improving communication skills, and cultivating independence, are all part of Easter Seals’ residential programs.

Easter Seals’ Residential Services’ house individuals with mental health issues at 60 sites throughout New Jersey and provide them with not only supportive housing, but integrated case management, and mental health and home care services.

Residences range from those supervised on a 24-hour basis to those with light supervision on a weekly basis. Individuals are placed in residences depending on the level of supervision necessary.

Criteria:  Most individuals with severe and persistent mental illness in need of a supervised residential environment in order to maintain themselves within their community are referred to Easter Seals through state psychiatric hospitals, local community mental health providers, and acute care facilities.

Counties:  Essex, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset and Warren

Links:

• Linkages
• Residential Camping
• Community Support Services Residential Programs