WAE Center News

On Sunday November 10th, 150 people gathered to honor Marilynn Schneider for her 20 years of inspiration in Directing the WAE Center at JSDD. Those gathered included: longtime, friends, families of residents and members, current and former staffers, current and former volunteers, …

Marilynn Schneider and the WAE to Evolve Exhibit – 20 Years of Leadership and Art Read More

The WAE Center at JSDD is a holistic, creative and expressive arts learning center, dedicated to Finding the Spark Within. This year is the 20th anniversary of this cutting-edge program, and WAE to Evolve represents the work of WAE Studio artists throughout …

WAE to Evolve – 20 Years of WAE Art Read More

Recognizing Marilynn Schneider on the 20th Anniversary of the WAE Center Sunday, November 10th, 2024 11am–2pm 760 Northfield Ave, West Orange, NJ 07052 The WAE Center at JSDD is known throughout the community and the State of NJ as a premier model …

Celebrating Marilynn Schneider as the WAE Center turns 20! Read More

The WAE Center’s cooking class has been busy with our Cooking Consultant, Crystal Dickerson from Plant Based Planet LLC. This class has been designed to teach participants valuable life skills, promote healthy eating habits, and inspire creativity in the kitchen, including many delicious recipes such as biscuits and gravy, Mac and Cheese and more (all vegan!) The energy in the room is always electric but especially during a recent pancake making class as participants discovered they could be creative with their pancakes. “Who doesn’t love pancakes?”
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The garden at the WAE (Wellness, Arts & Enrichment) Center is both: a place of hustle and bustle and of slow growth and discovery. This summer has been particularly exciting with the addition of 500 pollinator plants that we were given by the Xerces Society. Veggies have been harvested, rocks painted, and everyone has had individual and group experiences in this compact natural habitat. The garden provides inspiration, education, respite and connection to the natural world!
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This past month, I had the privilege of addressing the members of Congregation Agudath Israel during their celebration of Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). The invitation arose from our connection with two active families from the WAE Center, who are also congregants of the synagogue, the Elmowitz and Solomon families. Aided by the invaluable support of congregant Ann Leeb and Susan Werk, we collectively decided that the topic of my address would be diversity and inclusion, specifically focusing on the distinction between "serving" and "helping."
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Getting to Know… Tammy Weinfeld Tammy Weinfield is a Music Facilitator and has been working for JSDD since September 2023. Her first impression was that JSDD is a welcoming place, with beautiful artwork on the walls and a vibrant community inside. What suprised her the most was how passionate everyone is about their work. Read more about Tammy Weinfield and her experience at JSDD.
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