JESPY breaks ground on new building for young adults with disabilities

On May 6, JESPY House broke ground for the Hub on the Cooperman Family Campus. The transformative new building aims to empower young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It was held at its future site, 111 Milligan Place in South Orange. Elected officials, philanthropists, JESPY clients, supporters, and advocates attended the ceremony.

The Hub will be a state-of-the-art multiuse building that was designed by architect Joseph M. Donato to meet the evolving needs of young adult JESPY clients. It will feature 20 residential opportunities alongside a commercial training kitchen, music and art rooms, a technology center, a sensory room, and life skills training spaces.

Philanthropists Leon and Toby Cooperman provided a $13.25 million matching grant to advance the organization’s Go Big for JESPY Capital Campaign. Their generosity has played a pivotal role in bringing the Hub and the JESPY Center from a vision to reality.

“Toby and I became familiar with JESPY decades ago,” Mr. Cooperman said. “Over the years, Toby was a board member and together we gave to JESPY. Go Big is very important to us. We will all work together, and we’ll complete this project and deliver what we promised to JESPY clients.”

Guests included South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum; Assemblyman Chigozie Onyema; Paul Aronsohn, state director for Senator Andy Kim; and Marcy Felsenfeld, senior program officer at the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. Vicki Bixel, CEO of the Bixel Group, JESPY’s fundraising consultant, emceed. Rabbi Rachel Marder of Congregation Beth El in South Orange and Father Sviatoslav Hot of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Holy Ascension in Maplewood offered prayers and comments.

For more information, go to jespyhouse.org/GoBig.