A Message from the President, Jill Sorkin Johnson

Celebrate the Past, Shape the Future 1912-2012

This is the tagline you will see throughout this year as NCJW, Essex County Section commemorates 100 years of action, 100 years of impact, and 100 years of service in our community. Our section has helped better the lives of women, children, and families in so many ways throughout the last 100 years and we look forward to continuing to make a difference in the future.

We were there to help settle new immigrants in the early 1900's and again in the 1980's by providing orientation classes to help them adjust to life in America, taking a stand against restrictive immigration laws, and giving immigrants household items and clothing from our Thrift Shops.

We were there for senior citizens in the middle part of the 20th century... fighting for social security and medical benefits, developing senior centers, and stepping up as the first Jewish woman's organization to sponsor Meals on Wheels. We continue to be there for seniors by offering home-bound seniors a weekly phone check-in from a warm and friendly voice through our Telephone Reassurance Program.

We were and are there for victims of domestic violence … through our Task Force on Battered Women in the 1970s; as the creator in 1992 of the Teen Dating Abuse prevention and awareness program that provides high school students with information about safe and unhealthy dating relationships; and as a founding partner in 1997 of the Rachel Coalition. which provides services and support groups to victims of domestic violence.

We have been and will continue to be THE community resource for women who need to get their lives back on track … beginning in the 1970's through the WISH (Women in Self Help) program and continuing today with the many services provided at the Linda & Rudy Slucker NCJW Center for Women, including career planning, job counseling assistance, computer skills training, financial and legal guidance, career-appropriate clothing, support groups and educational and informational workshops.

We have been and will continue to be the resource for volunteerism in Essex County for individuals looking for the appropriate place to spend their volunteer time and for agencies needing volunteers for their programs and projects.

We will continue to help children through our RAINBOWS support groups for grieving children, our VolunTweens program where girls and boys in grades five to eight regularly volunteer at a preschool program in East Orange, and our Back 2 School Store, where in its first three years over 1,000 elementary school children selected their own new back-to-school clothing and school supplies to start the school year with greater self-esteem and confidence.

I am proud of all that NCJW Essex County Section has accomplished in our community over the last century and I look forward to leading our section into its second century. Please browse this website and gain a better understanding of why NCJW, Essex County Section is so special and vital.

All the best, Jill Sorkin Johnson, President, NCJW Essex County Section