‘Life Village’ will teach life and job skills
Livingston center to feature interactive Main Street with theater, supermarket
A village is being built in Livingston to help individuals with disabilities learn and practice life and job skills.
Life Village will be an educational and recreational center for young adults with special needs and the cornerstone of LifeTown, a Livingston-based inclusive center.
More than 35,000 people are expected to use LifeTown’s programs and services, including 6,500 students who will use the 11,000-square-foot Life Village, a working Main Street within the building that will include a doctor’s office, town hall, bank, and shops.
The Life Village will also include a ShopRite supermarket, following a just-announced partnership. Students will use the supermarket to shop, while learning lessons about money management, staying on task, waiting on line and following a shopping list.
They will also learn how to stock store shelves, work a cash register, bag groceries and more as part of job-readiness training.
About 36 percent of adults with disabilities face obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so ShopRite will also offer classes on healthy eating and smart food choices.
“It is an honor for us to welcome ShopRite as a partner in LifeTown,” LifeTown CEO Zalman Grossbaum said. “It is inspiring how ShopRite has always included individuals with special needs as employees, and how welcoming they are to customers of all abilities. The ShopRite store in LifeTown and our partnership will create learning opportunities to enhance so many lives. We look forward to working together.”
The Life Village ShopRite market will also be incorporated into each student’s individualized educational program, allowing them to practice what they learn in a real world setting before doing so in within the greater community.
“ShopRite is proud to partner with LifeTown to provide job and life training experience for young people in New Jersey,” said Neil Greenstein who owns two Essex County ShopRite locations.
LifeTown will seek to aid the more than 19,000 children under 18 living with special needs in Morris, Essex, Passaic and Union Counties. More than 100,000 adults live with special needs in those four counties according to the latest Census figures.
The 53,000-square-foot LifeTown will provide social, recreational and educational activities for children, teens and young adults with special needs and their families.
In addition to Life Village, LifeTown will have a zero-entry pool, a sound-attenuated gym and accessible indoor playground.
LifeTown and Live Village will open this summer. The project is expected to cost $15 million and $12.5 million has been raised to date.
Other Life Village sponsors include RWJ/Barnabas Health, Regal Bank, Words Bookstore, DCH Audi, and more. Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey is also a sponsor of the indoor accessible playground at LifeTown.
The LifeTown program is part of Friendship Circle, a resource for families with children who have special needs. Go to https://www.lifetown.com/ for more information.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com