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On Sunday, the Freeholder Board and the City of Plainfield partnered with Hyacinth AIDS Foundation and Garden State Equality to host the first Union County SAGE Table community lunch at the new Plainfield Cultural Center (formerly FUSP). The intergenerational event brought together LGBTQ family members, friends and allies

Organized by the Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the Division on Aging (ADRC), the event is a program of the national SAGE organization and is designed to draw the community closer together, to alleviate the loneliness common to many LGBT seniors and to share stories and ideas, and engage in meaningful conversation about how we relate to people across age boundaries in the community, and how we can take action together.

Freeholder Chair Bette Jane Kowalski, Freeholder Vice Chairman Alexander Mirabella and Freeholder Rebecca L. Williams attended the event.

Union County Freeholder Chair Bette Jane Kowalski and Vice Chairman Alexander Mirabella present a resolution to Ben Adams and Paul Brunda of Son’s Prestige Collision in Garwood recognizing them for their outstanding contributions to veterans in need, and thanking and acknowledging them for their acts of charity and patriotism in the community. They were joined by Mike Boll of the New Jersey Veterans Network.

The auto shop, through a partnership with GEICO Insurance and the New Jersey Veterans Network, have been able to restore and donate vehicles to local veterans with a goal of ensuring transportation is no longer a worry in their lives. Son’s Prestige Collision received 4 cars from the GEICO recycle rides program and worked tirelessly to repair the cars and then donate them to disabled veterans in need throughout the area. Prestige is currently working on an additional two cars for disabled veterans. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

County’s Division on Aging to hold public meeting on July 17th, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Rahway Senior Center to get public input on services for seniors

The Union County Division on Aging (in the County’s Department of Human Services) will host a public meeting on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Rahway Senior Center, 1306 Esterbrook  Avenue, Rahway, to hear opinions from Union County’s senior adults about services needed that should be included in the state’s 2020 Area Plan.

“This meeting is an opportunity for seniors to tell us what services they think need to be increased, addressed or added to what county government currently provides,” said Bette Jane Kowalski, Chair of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. “The states must submit service plans to the federal Administration on Aging every four years that list service needs, establish priorities, and explain how the federal Older Americans Act and state funding will be used to reach plan goals.”

According to Freeholder Kowalski, Union County government is committed to maintaining its many services to senior adults and their care givers in areas such as home delivered and group meals; transportation, especially wheel chair accessible van transportation for medical care; and help applying for assistance available from state and federal programs.

“Each month staff in the Division on Aging hold information and assistance sessions in libraries and senior centers throughout the county in an effort to bring information and help to residents closer to their homes,” Freeholder Kowalski said.

The division provides services to promote wellness, independence, dignity and choice for seniors and their families.  The division’s services include Information and Assistance; the State Respite Program (SRP); and Nutrition programs, including home-delivered and congregate meals, and the Farmers Market food voucher program.

The Union County Division on Aging is one of 670 “Area Agencies on Aging” nationwide established under the federal Older Americans Act.  As of 2012, the division became the Division on Aging and Disability Resource (ADRC) in compliance with a state initiative to better serve the elderly and disabled populations. The division has information printed in both English and Spanish.

For further information about the Union County Division on Aging and Disability Resource Connection, call 908-527-4870 or the division’s toll-free number: 1-888-280-8226, or visit the Union County government website at www.ucnj.org.

Union County Freeholders Angel G. Estrada and Sergio Granados joined Union County Deputy County Manager Amy Wagner, Clerk of the Freeholder Board Jim Pellettiere, United Way of Greater Union County (UWGUC) President and CEO James W. Horne, UWGUC VP of Programs and Operations Juanita Ayala-Vargas and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano in congratulating Union County Freeholder Chair Bette Jane Kowalski and Freeholders Angela R. Garretson, Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded, Andrea Staten and Rebecca Williams on receiving the Community Impact-Trailblazer Award at the UWGUC Annual Celebration in Springfield. They also congratulated Union County Department of Human Services Director Debbie-Ann Anderson on receiving the Champion for the Common Good Award and Union County Division of Community Services Director Brandon Givens on receiving a Rising Star Award. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County held its third annual UC PRIDE In The Park in Rahway Park on Saturday. The County’s PRIDE event was a celebration of family, equality, diversity & acceptance with music, family activities, PRIDE art, and more.

Freeholders Andrea Staten, Rebecca Williams, Alexander Mirabella, Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded and Angela Garretson and Assembly Members Jamel Holley, Linda Carter and Jon Bramnick joined local residents, friends, families, local elected officials, county employees and allies of our local community in the celebration of pride.

Union County Freeholders Sergio Granados and Angel G. Estrada joined Union County Deputy County Manager Amy Wagner, Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste, Simon Youth Academy Principal Syreeta McClain and Simon Youth Foundation President and CEO J. Michael Durnil in congratulating the first graduating class of the Simon Youth Academy at the Mills at the Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth. The Simon Youth Academy, the first in the state of New Jersey, provides at-risk youth an opportunity to earn a high school diploma. The academy is a partnership between the Simon Youth Foundation, the Freeholder Board and the Union County Vocational-Technical School District. (Photos by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholders Angela Garretson, Sergio Granados and Angel G. Estrada present a resolution to Hillside High School Principal Christine Sidwa, Hillside Board of Education Vice President Kimberly Cook, Teacher Paul Skelton and Student Council President Mateus Ramos recognizing and congratulating Hillside High School and the students who volunteered their time to beautify and clean Liberty Avenue Park in Hillside on June 12, 2019 (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)