Clients of Jespy House stand at the ready during the official ground breaking ceremony for The Hub.
SOUTH ORANGE — The expansion of Jespy House took another step forward last week with a groundbreaking ceremony for “The Hub,” a space that will include vocational and life skills training spaces along with rooms for 20 residents.
“We have witnessed an extraordinary effort to get to this moment,” said Vicki Bixel, a Jespy consultant. “You have begun building the Jespy Center up the street and you have laid the foundation for The Hub where we are sitting today.”
Both facilities are the result of the Go Big For Jespy capital campaign that raised millions of dollars to go along with the $13.25 million matching grant provided by philanthropists Leon and Toby Cooperman. The campaign has raised 85% of the $13.25 million so far.
Board of Trustees President Dr. Ahadi Bugg-Levine said The Hub will be cornerstone of the organization’s young adult programming where clients will learn how to cook and take care of themselves while having access to a creative space and a media room.
Bugg-Levine talked about the creation of Jespy House, which was nearly 50 years ago. She said parents of children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities were tired of being told what they couldn’t do.
“This is going to be a remarkable building,” she said.
The Hub will feature a fully equipped training kitchen, sensory room, library, technology lab, art studio, community gathering areas, and a garden.
Every area is being designed to support clients toward greater independence.
Ground was broken last year on the future Jespy Center on the Cooperman Family Campus that will include 20 aging-in-place suites and 26 affordably priced apartments plus space for vocational training, health and wellness.
The Hub is on Milligan Place while Jespy Center is being built on Prospect Street at its intersection with Milligan.
About 100 people attended the ground breaking ceremony that began with invocations from Rabbi Rachel Marder of Temple Beth El in South Orange and the Rev. Sviatoslav Hot of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Holy Ascension in Maplewood.
“Blessed are the works of your hands O’ Holy One,” Marder said.
“It’s not a regular building, it’s the beginning of new life,” Hot said, adding he appreciated how Jespy clients supported Ukraine in the early days of the war with Russia by selling ribbons to raise money.
Hot prayed that The Hub would be a place of friendship and hope.
“May it stand as a light of hope in the community,” Hot said.
Audrey Winkler, executive director of Jespy, said the idea of The Hub began as a dream to provide more opportunities for clients.
“This will soon be a place of pride, opportunity and belonging,” said Winkler, who became choked up with emotion as she spoke. “This project represents what happens when vision meets commitment.”
Numerous people spoke at the event, including clients of Jespy House.
Andres, 24, said Jespy had helped him learn about himself and his own skills.
“The Hub is really exciting to me,” he said. “It will give young adults like me a chance to live independently.”
Leon Cooperman was among the speakers. He is 83 and said during the past year he had suffered a stroke, had a stent put in and been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
“I’m now called a philanthropist,” he said. “Twenty years ago, I couldn’t spell it.”
Cooperman grew up in the South Bronx and went to college for $24 a semester before working at Goldman Sachs, where he led the asset management division. He founded his own successful hedge fund, Omega Advisors, in 1991.
“I’ve been very fortunate to live the American dream,” he said. “I’m glad I’m in a position to help out.”
Palisa Kelley, parent of a Jespy House client and a member of the organization’s Board of Trustees, talked about her son, David, who came to Jespy in 2024 and now considers it home.
“What I’ve seen since David has been at Jespy is nothing short of remarkable,” she said.
David has built relationships, developed a sense of belonging and realized he has something to contribute, Kelley said.
South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum spoke, acknowledging some of the Jespy clients that she knows who were in the audience and thanking the Coopermans.
“You compel us all to be better people by what you have done,” she said.
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