In 2018, the Partnership awarded mini-grants to 11 community-based organizations throughout Jersey City. We’re happy to feature each of them in a series of blog posts to help spread the word about the good work that they’re doing.
The Character Enrichment Society (CES) is a youth service organization with a vision to build a healthy relationship with the community that supports local youth to help them achieve their goals. We asked them to answer a few questions about their role in the local community and the Partnership for a Healthier JC. Here are their responses:
What does “building a culture of health” mean to you?
We constantly encourage the children to think healthy, eat healthy, and make good choices that can lead to a healthy lifestyle
What would you identify as your most significant accomplishments so far towards building a greater culture of health? What have been some of your toughest barriers?
On the accomplishment side, CES has made great strides in teaching the children to be organized, to be cooperative in school, instilling a sense of ambition, being more responsible and adhering to rules within their homes, and being accountable to themselves. The challenges we face center around how our youth interact with each other and with the adults in the community – simple things like teaching manners and learning how to be a team player present a challenge with some of the children we serve.
Tell us about your team. What do they do to build a culture of health in Jersey City?
The team at CES are all college graduates who grew up in Jersey City. Their educations are focused on social work and education. CES also has six volunteer staff members, and the parents of CES children are a big support for the organization. Our team engages in life-coaching, emphasizing the development of a lifestyle that will lead to success and creating citizens who will be productive members of their communities as adults.
How do you plan on using your Culture of Health mini-grant?
CES will be distributing the dollars to a variety of programs, where we hope to enrich our children socially, emotionally, physically, anc creatively. We engage the students constantly with etiquette workshops, so the grant dollars can help pay for guest speakers. We also will be able to fund field trips to museums, outdoor cultural events, physical activities, books for journaling, and arts and crafts supplies.
If you knew of an organization that was considering joining the Partnership for a Healthier JC, what would you tell them to encourage them to join?
“The HealthierJC Partnership is becoming one of the most important factors in the heart of Jersey City.” CES would advocate the partnership for anyone interested in building a healthier Jersey City!
For more information about CES, please visit their page by clicking here.