Our Blog

Tag: Greater Mercer TMA

NJFA 12th Annual Conference!

Posted on

On June 10, 2010 the New Jersey Foundation for Aging hosted its 12th Annual Conference. There were more than 200 people in attendance at this year’s conference. There were professionals from senior centers, County Offices on Aging, Senior Housing, Assisted Livings, and other community organizations. They all gathered at the Crowne Plaza in Monroe to listen to our morning keynote provided by Donna Butts at Generations United, which focused on shared sites and how they benefit the community through intergenerational services. The conference participants were enthusiastic about Donna’s presentation.

In the afternoon, the group received words of advice on advocating for seniors and updates regarding the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act from Bob Blancato. The crowd was encouraged by Bob’s words and asked terrific follow up questions regarding ways they can make a difference in their community.

The breakout sessions for the conference consisted of Music and Your Brain, a session by Dr. Concetta Tomaino on the effects of music therapy on those suffering from cognitive disorders such as Parkinsons, Alzheimer’s and stroke; Managing Chronic Disease featuring community programs which are finding new ways to help seniors with chronic illness through education; The Legal and Ethical Response to Elder Abuse, during which professionals from Adult Protective Services provided valuable information about how the system works, how to identify elder abuse and what legal and ethical dilemmas could be faced. Please stay tuned to the NJFA Blog for more details on all of these sessions and more.

NJFA would like to THANK all of our sponsors and vendors for the day: Novo Nordisk, Thomas and Theresa Berry Foundation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NJ, Harmony Information Systems, The Wallerstein Foundation for the Improvement of Geriatric Life, Society on Aging of NJ, NJ Association of Area Agencies on Aging, NJ Association of Senior Center Directors, Roche Genetech, Francis E. Parker Memorial Home, CST Your Link to Life, Wedgewood Gardens, OceanFirst Bank, AMRamp, Heath Village, Visiting Physicians, Wells Fargo, GA Foods, Springpoint Foundation, Senior Care Management, Disability Rights NJ and Seniors4Kids.

NJFA’s Community Grant Program, Announcing 2 New Grantees!

Posted on

New Jersey Foundation for Aging Announces Two Grantees to increase services to NJ Elderly 

Trenton- The New Jersey Foundation for Aging (NJFA) is pleased to announce that grants have been awarded to two exceptional organizations in New Jersey, Greater Mercer TMA’s Travel Training Program and Camden City Garden Club.

The program at Greater Mercer TMA will provide training to seniors that will allow them to access public transportation. Transportation is a vital resource for older adults living in the community. Without access to transportation, seniors are unable to make medical appointments or maintain contact with the community, leading to poor health and isolation. In addition to getting to medical appointments, seniors often also need access to transportation for grocery shopping and social interaction. Through Travel Training, which will instruct seniors how to use public transportation, NJFA and Greater Mercer TMA hope to make a difference for seniors who find themselves without transportation. NJFA is proud to support a program that will be so beneficial to the senior population of Mercer County.

NJFA grant award to the Camden City Garden Club will help raise awareness about food insecurity among the aging population in New Jersey. Many residents in urban areas have little or no access to affordable, healthy food options. These urban areas also often have many vacant lots. NJFA hopes that by supporting the outreach efforts of the Camden City Garden Club some of these issues can be alleviated. The Camden City Garden Club will help seniors in the community to create gardens throughout the city of Camden, as well as educate them about growing and preparing healthy foods. Access to affordable and healthy food is key to aging well.

NJFA believes strongly in working toward making New Jersey a great place to age well and believes these two programs will help older adults do that. The Foundation is pleased to continue its Community Grant Program, through which $340,000 has been awarded over the past nine years, serving more than 25,000 NJ residents. NJFA congratulates this year’s grantees and wishes them much success with their programs.

NJFA releases an RFP once a year, we will be releasing the RFP again in June 2010. For more information please visit: http://www.njfoundationforaging.org/funding.html 

or contact us at 609-421-0206!