On the evening of Oct 27th, the ACI family had a fun night of laughs and screams at the Spooktober: Halloween Throwback Party! Attendees participated in a candy corn scavenger hunt, a game of Halloween themed “Who Am I”, and a classic vampire costume contest. The night’s main event was a viewing of the 1931 classic Dracula staring Bela Lugosi. Happy Halloween Everyone!
ACI would like to thank Karen Minus, MaryAnne Kokidis and Stephanie Paneca-Navarro from Amerigroup for their informative and entertaining workshop on resume writing, interview skills and appropriate workplace attire. The event was held on October 17th and was part of ACI's efforts to recognize October as National Disability Awareness Employment Month!
Thank you to Colleen Roche of the NJ Division of Disability Services for her recent workshop on nutrition. 18 people attended the event, which covered such topics as how to read nutrition labels, preparing simple healthy meals, portion sizes and grocery shopping. Thank you Colleen for the informative and hands on workshop.
Written By Niodhi Joshi, Volunteer Blog Writer for ACI
Therese Borchard, founder of an online community for people who struggle with depression and anxiety; and the website has many things to offer for the friends and family of the patients with mental illness. The website address is community.projecthopeandbeyond.com and Project Hope and Beyond is a program of Psych Central Community Connection.
A resource like this is valuable to the ones that struggle to find a good fit in order to cure themselves from the mental illness. Many attempts are made by the mentally ill to get better in terms of mental health. I am talking about this from my personal experience as a patient of Rutgers University Behavioral Health Center. Sudden ups and downs in the treatment make the patients go through frustration which negatively affects the current treatment. A program like PHB can help those patients figure out their symptoms and find necessary coping skills that would help to make the treatment work wonders with a possibility of no relapse after completion of the treatment or therapy.
Written By Niodhi Joshi, Volunteer Blog Writer for ACI
Hello all, this time I am planning to talk about the resources that would help in care giving not just for the mentally ill or the people who needs help with mental health but also for those who take care of the mentally ill or for the people who live with those who need mental health care. The main resource is 2016 Resource Directory For Aging & Disabled Services. For more information on the main resource kindly visit www.co.middlesex.nj.us which is the website for County Of Middlesex Office Of Aging And Disabled Services.
On October 7th, NJ's disability community joined together for the 7th annual NJ Disability Pride Parade and Celebration, sponsored by ACI. Held at Mill Hill Park in downtown Trenton, the event brought in about hundreds people from throughout the Garden State. Attendees enjoyed live entertainment, food truck delicacies, Tai Chi lessons, face painting, exhibitor tables, giveaways, and a photo booth. J Street Band, Signs of Faith Praise Ministry, Al X Spicy, Ethel Barnes, Nenad Back, Cory Singer, and Black Cat Habitat., were some of the featured artists. "It was a beautiful day of unity and disability pride!", says Carole Tonks, executive director and chief organizer of the event. ACI would like to thank everyone who help make this event possible, including our sponsors, donors, guest speakers, entertainers, and Mayor Jackson and the City of Trenton. A special thank you to Millie Gonzalez, Maria Bournias and Colleen Roche, for being our Mistresses of Ceremonies.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Carole Tonks, Executive Director, Alliance
Center for Independence Phone: (732) 738-4388 / E-mail: ctonks@adacil.org
Website: www.adacil.org
More than 800 people with disabilities, supporters, friends and organizations representing a wide variety of services throughout NJ will converge on Mill Hill Park in downtown Trenton for the “Festival in the Park - 7th NJ Disability Pride Parade and Celebration.”
The free event is a grassroots effort organized and hosted by the Alliance Center for Independence (ACI). ACI is a 501(c)(3) Center for Independent Living, community-based, grassroots organization that supports and promotes independent living for people with disabilities in Middlesex, Union and Somerset counties.
