Kessler Foundation Disability Rehabilitation Research And Employment

COVID-19 Edition In 2020, Kessler Foundation awarded nearly $1 million in COVID-19 emergency grants to nonprofits faced with new and sudden challenges to serving people with disabilities in New Jersey. The Foundation’s COVID Emergency Fund provided funding for 37 grantees of Kessler Foundation’s employment grant program. In this mini-series, we explore how our COVID emergency grants supported these nonprofits as they adapted to a new reality, enabling us to continue toward our common goal – helping individuals with disabilities reach their goals of independence and self-sufficiency. In this episode, I spoke with Purna Rodman, President & CEO at Pillar Care Continuum, of Livingston, New Jersey. Pillar Care Continuum operated 15 group homes that needed to provide around-the-clock care for adults with severe disabilities and medical challenges. While most residents formerly spent their days in day programs, these programs closed during the pandemic, thus creating a need for a third shift of staff members. T