ALFA Development, Inc.

Many thanks to our friends at the Grasshopper Irish pub in Newfoundland for partnering with us for a Dining to Donate event on Thursday the 8th of June. The Grasshopper in Newfoundland (West Milford) NJ will be your new favorite Irish pub & restaurant to come with your friends and family.

Owned and operated by the Fitzpatrick family with an emphasis on good service, quality drinks, plentiful food portions at a reasonable price, and a firm belief that the best form of advertising is word of mouth.

All food is freshly prepared on premise with the full menu and specials being served at both the smoke-free dining room and at the bar.

Please visit their website to see the directions to the Grasshopper and to view their extensive menu.

www.grasshopperirishpub.com

At the Dining to donate event their will be live music in the evening and ALFA will receive 15% of the value of your dining check when you present the printable flyer linked below.

AlfaDevelopment Flyer

Also at the event there will be an ALFA Angels 50/50 draw and there will be raffles for an Amazon Echo and I pad mini and much more, there will also numerous giveaways through out the event.

Please make a date in your diary and come along and join us.

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Yankee Candle Fundraiser

Wed, 15 Mar 2017 19:40:00 GMT

We are please to announce that we are currently holding a Yankee Candle Fundraiser here at ALFA. We have had a gap for sometime in our fundraising catalogue, and hopefully this will become an annual Springtime event.If you would like to participate please just visit www.yankeecandlefundraising.com On visiting the main site homepage please just enter Group # 999966907 into the start shopping box and then for each purchase that you make ALFA Angels will receive a generous commission from Yankee Candle. Another feature of the online ordering is that at checkout you can choose to have the products delivered directly to your door. Please consider taking part in this fundraiser, there are some great products that when purchased support great services.

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ALFA Awards Scholarships

Wed, 22 Jun 2016 18:00:00 GMT

West Milford High School held their community awards ceremony on June the 8th 2016. ALFA Development Inc was delighted to be again represented at this event by Executive Director Debi Santa Lucia who presented two scholarships to local students. ALFA Development is based in West Milford and relies upon the support of local businesses and local government, in particular the Township’s Police and First Aid respondents who provide such a great service to ALFA and to the wider community. The scholarships that are presented by ALFA go some way to showing our support to the West Milford community through students in the High School who are either planning to work in the wider social service field or who have faced and overcome significant challenges in reaching for their dreams.

Ms Santa Lucia presented Emily Perry with $1000.00 on behalf of the James McMahon Scholarship. Emily is going on to study music therapy. Ms Santa Lucia then presented Christopher Hall with $1000.00 on behalf of the John William Salino Scholarship. Ms Santa Lucia congratulated the recipients on the receipt of their scholarships.

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Rugged Maniac 2016

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 21:01:00 GMT

ALFA Development is pleased to announce that we are taking part in the 2016 Rugged Maniac event in Englishtown New Jersey on Saturday the 9th of July. Our ALFA Angels team again will be made up of volunteer employees and other individuals who will be joining with us to raise funds. This will be the 5th consecutive year that we have taken part in this event and our intrepid team will be running through mud, over obstacles, under barbed wire and jumping over fire to raise funds for us. As well as all of the obstacles on the course our team will compete rain or shine, and in the past this has been on brutally hot days. It sounds like fun! If you would like to join us in raising money as a team member please e mail jcarr@alfadevelopment.org in the first instance.

For those who would like to sponsor our team a sponsorship package will be going out to family, friends and supporters in the very near future, at this stage we will be also adding a link to be able to sponsor our team via this space.

Additionally we will be again looking for Corporate and Business Sponsors who will receive a package of publicity including their name on the event and publicly worn t shirts as well as online and postal correspondence. Should you be interested in a business sponsorship please mail jcarr@alfadevelopment.org and/or telephone 973 697 1010 EXT 105 to discuss the sponsorship opportunities further. For the 2015 event our major sponsors included. Lakeland Bank, West Milford Pharmacy, Mike Fitzpatrick and Sons. BSE Mechanical, Woodstock Automotive and Ahern Landscaping.

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Employee Focus

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 22:06:00 GMT

In the second of our occasional series focusing on the very special people that work for us we would like to feature Eugene Edwards. Gene has worked for ALFA for very many years and is popular with clients and colleagues alike. Gene was born and raised in Whippany, NJ, a small town in Morris County. Gene went to Hanover Park High School, in East Hanover, where he graduated. Gene then attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he studied and earned a bachelors degree. After graduating Gene returned to the US where he started a career in advertising. Gene was based in New York City where he was an account executive for two major recruitment advertising agencies. After spending some time in that position Gene began to feel that he was not fully satisfied with his career so he applied to be the payroll administrator at the Foundation for the Handicapped in Wayne, NJ. The Foundation provided employment for individuals with Developmental Disabilities who are able to do tasks in the workplace, and in turn receive a paycheck from their employers, this makes them feel much more independent. After spending several years with the Foundation Gene applied for a position with ALFA, Gene immediately felt complete, that this was the job that he had been looking for. Gene adds that helping individuals with disabilities gives him a tremendous feeling of accomplishment, and at ALFA we strive to help those we serve to increase their life skills leading to greater independence.

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Ashley Farms Fundraiser Update

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 13:13:00 GMT

As an update to our previous Ashley Farms Blog post we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who purchased pies, cookies and cakes from us, an extra thank you goes out to those of you who went the extra mile and encouraged Family, Friends and colleagues to also buy products. We really appreciate all of your support.

Due to your fundraising efforts we sold almost $5000.00 in products this year, which is the most ever for this sale. Thank you so much for your support.

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Car/Boat/RV Donations

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 13:30:00 GMT

With the end of the tax year just around the corner, it’s a good time to remind us all that you could maximize your tax benefits by donating a vehicle to ALFA Angels. The Process is very easy, just click through on this website to the online donation form or call 1-855-ALFA-ANGEL, where you can speak to an account manager who will take you through the whole process. From arranging the collection of your vehicle to making sure that you receive all the relevant documentation that you could possibly claim against your income when you submit your taxes. ALFA Angels is a 501 (c) (3) Tax Exempt organization.

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Employee Family Focus

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 21:09:00 GMT

From time to time we are going to be including a feature on the many great people who work with those that we serve, all part of the ALFA family.

For this month we would like to highlight Zachary Ombicha. Zach came to work at ALFA in 2004, and has been a hardworking, caring co worker and friend for those eleven years. Many of you who are familiar with ALFA will have seen Zach over the years, working at our houses, on transportation, at our Day Programs and out in the community with our activity groups. Zach has for many years has led our team for our thrice weekly swimming program with our friends at the Sussex County YMCA. Zach takes a keen interest in the keeping our clients active and is regularly working on the exercise equipment and leading activity groups in floor exercise programs.

Zachary is from Kisii in Western Kenya, a beautiful city around 190 miles from the capital city of Nairobi. Kisii has many parks and lush green areas with the climate influenced by the regions proximity to Lake Victoria. After completing his high school education Zach went to university in the Punjab region of India where he earned his Bachelors degree. On his return to Kenya Zach taught tourism and administration as a member of the university faculty.

On coming over to the US, Zach spent some time at Hamline University in Minnesota before heading East,he now lives with his family in New Jersey but still makes annual trips back to Kenya to visit with his parents, extended family and to manage his business interests.

Zach is motivated by helping to nurture positive change in the family of clients that we serve. Over the years he has seen clients arrive with many challenges and has been able to work with them to increase their happiness, comfort and their independence.

Zachary is also a great fundraiser and for many years has raised impressive sums of money for events such as our Ashley Farms fundraiser and our Rugged Maniac events.

“To enable individuals with diverse needs to achieve purpose and independence through the quality and caring services of the ALFA family.”

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Ashley Farms Fundraiser!

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 20:55:00 GMT

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Happy Birthday!

Sun, 16 Aug 2015 20:06:00 GMT

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ALFA Awards scholarships to local students

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 20:49:00 GMT

ALFA Executive Director Debra Santa Lucia presented a checks to the value of $1000.00 each to:

Samantha Mickens who received the James McMahon Scholarship

Robert Law who received the John William Salino Memorial Scholarship.

Ms Santa Lucia on behalf of the Board of Directors at ALFA Development INC congratulated Samantha and Robert on their achievements and wished them every success in their future endeavors. Ms Santa Lucia added that it is such a blessing that ALFA is able to give back to a community that gives so much support to those that we serve.

ALFA Development INC is a not for profit agency that has served the local special needs population since 2001. ALFA has four residential group homes located in local communities and two adult special needs day programs based in Newfoundland serving over seventy individuals from local communities.

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Friends together through the years thanks to ALFA

Sun, 07 Jun 2015 02:51:00 GMT

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Rugged Maniac 2015

Wed, 18 Mar 2015 13:21:00 GMT

ALFA is pleased to announce that for the third consecutive year it is entering a team in the New Jersey Rugged Maniac race. Our team made up of ALFA employees, supporters and friends. As well as participating in the event our team of ALFA Angels raise much needed monies that provide the extra services and support for the clients that our State and Federal funding alone do not provide.

For this years event we are seeking sponsors for the event, sponsors will be able promote their business or services. $500 will secure a business logo on the t shirt and $250 will secure a listing of your business on the shirt. As well as this your business will be featured on ALFA’s social media platforms to ensure maximum publicity both for ALFA Angels and your business.

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ALFA refreshes it’s Mission Statement

Wed, 18 Feb 2015 12:20:00 GMT

ALFA Development Inc is pleased to announce that it has refreshed it’s Mission Statement. ALFA serves a diverse population with many special needs and diagnosis, with no specific behavioral or diagnosed commonality. ALFA continues to grow, expanding it’s services to meet the needs of the local population whilst not losing focus on our family roots. ALFA continues to offer personalized care and support for those we serve.

“To enable individuals with diverse needs to achieve purpose and independence through the quality and caring services of the ALFA family.”

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Knights present check

Mon, 05 Jan 2015 03:52:00 GMT

In an effort to aid the developmentally disabled, Tom Caiaffa PGK President of the Columbian Club, Paramus Knights of Columbus 5680 presented a check for $1,000 to Eileen McMahon, President of the Board of Directors for ALFA (Appropriate Living For the Autistic)
Development INC. Similar checks are being issued to Camp Acorn, ARC and the Paramus Board of Education.

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Client Christmas Party

Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:38:00 GMT

The highlight of the afternoon was the arrival of Santa. He arrived with wonderful gifts that were specially purchased and wrapped for each client. ALFA would like to thank the Sunrise Rotary of Denville for their kindness, generosity and continued support. We would like to give a special thank you to Rotarian Roland Basinski for all that he does. Thank you to Jeff for his assistance on the day with food service and associated duties.

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Thanks For Your Support

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:44:00 GMT

ALFA would like to take this opportunity to thank those Companies, Organizations, Groups and Individuals who have generously donated monies, their premises, equipment or materials and their time in support of the clients that we serve .

Some of our supporters have funded special projects such as the installation of a back up generator at our main program, some have contributed to our general fundraising which may have paid for client trips, vacations and parties, house and program premise and plant refurbishment , unpaid medical expenses, individual hardship payments or funded one to one care during hospitalizations.

We have many generous Benefactors to thank for their kindness and generosity, some of them are listed below.

Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism

ALFA would like to offer our sincerest thanks Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for their great support. They very generously awarded us a grant for $10,000 which ALFA used towards providing a much needed back up generator so our clients can continue to receive the continuity of programming they most desperately need during long term power outer outages such as the ones that have occured during the last few years where the program had not been able to operate for many weeks due to the lack of power.

The goal of the Flutie Foundation is to improve the quality of life for people and families living with autism.
They are dedicated to increasing the awareness of autism and the unique challenges of families who are faced with it everyday. Our commitment is to support these families by helping them find the resources they need and by funding advocacy programs as well as educational, therapeutic and recreational opportunities.
Doug Flutie, Jr. was born on November 29, 1991. Up until the age of 2 1/2 he seemed to be developing normally and spoke in almost full sentences. Then the Fluties noticed a gradual change in Dougie; he seemed to be regressing. He went from speaking in sentences to phrases, then to single words. Eventually he lost all speech. At the age of three he was diagnosed with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder or CDD. CDD is a rare form of autism with little information known about it. One difference between children with CDD from many other children with autism is the presence of affection. While some people with autism avoid human contact, Dougie welcomes it.

If you would like more information on the Doug Flutie Jr Foundation please visit their website which is listed below.

http://www.flutiefoundation.org/

Mt Carmel Church

ALFA offers our sincere gratitude to Monsignor Roziack and the people of Mt Carmel church in Ridgewood, NJ for their kindness in recognizing the the needs of the Autistic community with a very generous donation of $2474. Mt Carmel have been raising funds for ALFA for many years and their continued friendship and financial support of our mission is greatly appreciated. Our clients lives have been badly disrupted by the weather emergencies such as Hurricane Irene and “Snowtober” in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy last fall, the generosity of Mt Carmel will help us purchase a back up generator that will allow the clients the environmental and emotional consistency by being able to be served at a familiar location when power is lost at their place of residence in the future”.

Fort Lee PBA

ALFA would like to sincerely thank our friends from the Fort Lee PBA for their ongoing kindness and generosity.

Paramus Knights of Columbus 5680

ALFA would also like to thank our friends from the Colombian Club, Knights of Columbus, 5680 for their ongoing kindness and generosity .

Family and Individual Donations

At ALFA we always strive to go above and beyond with the goal of making a difference in the lives of those we serve. We understand that this would not be possible without the generosity of the many individuals and families who generously make donations to support us. We would like to thank the following supporters , many of whom give annually to support us in our mission.

Eileen and James P McMahon
Aedan and Noreen Dowling
Dr Philip and Diana Affuso
Brian McMahon
Joshua and Jeanne Burwick
Dr’s Michael and Gabriella Weiss
Lorraine Caldwell
Mary Rogers
NJ State Knights of Columbus 1736-200
Michael McMahon
Barbara Pannone
Marie Meidanis
Diane Hiller
Edgar Arevelo
Michael McMahon
Eileeen and Robert Benson
Habtai Gebrezhi
Mr and Mrs Olstein
Claire Dowling
Dr Robert P Forte
Gladys and David Gilfenan
Thomas Gropler
Richard and Corinne Steensma
Sylvia Riskin
Yvonne C Schutt
Lillian Sullivan
Dorothy Westra
Beatrice Victory
Kathy Watson
The Women’s club of Paramus
Medical Specialties of New Jersey
Lab Corp of America
Dr and Mrs George Ajjan
Carrol Brown
Dr Cristina Tzilinis
Give with Liberty/Anthony Mundhenk
Bernice Mullin
New Jersey Workshop for the Arts
A C and Nora Giurlando
Ramona and William Walsh
John and Clare Rennar
Louis Mortiz
Knights of Columbus: West Orange, NJ.
Peter and Ann Marie Pinchera
Mike Fitzpatrick and Son Inc
The Sunrise Rotary of Denville
Jack Sahagian
Mr and Mrs Jerry Ciraulo
Dr and Mrs Eugene Sweeney
Mr and Mrs Vito Lenooci
Dr and Mrs Salvatore Forcina

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In The News

Mon, 24 Nov 2014 15:30:00 GMT

West Milford — The four homes lie within typical residential neighborhoods in West Milford, Butler and Oak Ridge. They look like any other home with the family members coming and going; off to shop, out for a meal or heading to church. The difference is that the family members are clients of ALFA (Appropriate Living for the Autistic) Development, Inc. They are all adults and all have developmental disabilities with special needs.

ALFA is a non-profit agency licensed by the State of New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities. For the past 10 years ALFA has run the residential programs, two of them in West Milford, as well as a day program in Newfoundland.

According to Executive Director Debra Santa Lucia, the agency was founded in 1999 and the first group home opened in 2001. ALFA is fully funded by the state and accepts clients 18 years or older. The day program currently has openings but the homes are at full capacity.

“The state has 14,000 clients waiting for a bed and they place just 125-150 clients a year,” Santa Lucia said.

Santa Lucia started with ALFA in 2004 after leaving a job in telecommunications. She very much enjoys her current position and looks forward to going to work each day. She’s become a mother hen to her clients.

It started with a mom

The agency has its roots with a mother. Eileen McMahon, ALFA’s founder, was looking for a safe and respectful residential option for her son, who had autism. She had been running respite programs for parents but saw the need for something more.

The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder appears to be higher in the state of New Jersey. Nationally the numbers are 1 in 150 children, but in New Jersey the reported numbers are 1 in 94 children. Some believe, however, that these numbers do not reflect a greater number of children who have the condition, but rather the state’s ability to identify the cases. There are currently approximately 87,000 people with some form of autism in the state of New Jersey.

ALFA is a diverse group

ALFA’s clientele is not restricted to those with autism, but rather runs the gamut of developmental disorders and intellectual disabilities. In residence they are cared for by certified staffers, three in the day time and two overnight personnel.

The current residents, ranging in age from 22 to 61 years old, enjoy a home life much like anyone else. Sundays may find them lounging on the couch watching a football game or just hanging around the house. Weekdays are busier, out of bed by 7 a.m., breakfast, and then off to participate in the day programs.

The day program offers recreational, social and community activities. They go to Wal Mart and Shop Rite, visit farmer’s markets, go bowling, dancing and swimming. After dinner it’s games or TV until lights out. It is a full schedule for those who want to be busy but they can opt out of activities if they choose to.

Gratitude to the community

Santa Lucia is very grateful for the open arms and assistance from the community of West Milford.

“There are a lot of friendly faces,” she said.

Stacy at Sheik’s Family Fitness provides dancing for the clients every week, Brian from BSE Mechanical has come to their plumbing aid, Fr. Steve Shadwell and Sr. Janet Brisky of Saint Joseph Church lend their support and West Milford Pharmacy is always helpful, to name a few.

Mainly, Santa Lucia just wants people to know that they are here, a part of the fabric of the township.

And what is the best part of working for ALFA? “My guys,” she said simply.

ALFA gladly accepts donations to help fill the gap between what is allocated by the state and the expenses incurred in trying to keep the activities going in tough economic times .

Source: West Milford Messenger

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A Growing Community

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 02:18:00 GMT

ALFA Development Inc is pleased to announce the opening of our fully operating satellite day program. This is a wonderful, bright and airy space that ALFA acquired via long term lease beginning in the summer of 2014. The space had previously been a furniture store and subsequently a fitness center. The 4000 square foot space is perfect for our use, as it has lots of natural sunlight and the work and activity areas are large and open. Areas in the program include a skills training area, an in house library, an arts and crafts an area where our full time art therapist is based. Together with our staff, our art therapist works on both individual skills as well as group projects, many of which find their way home at the end of the week.

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Rugged Maniac 2014

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 01:19:00 GMT

On Saturday July 12, 2014 our intrepid team of ALFA employees took part in this years Rugged Maniac event at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ to raise funds for ALFA Angels , as well as to raise awareness of the agency and it’s mission. In addition to a very challenging course and lots and lots of mud, our team also had to cope with very warm weather and terrible traffic to reach the event — the traffic was so bad that a couple of our team were not able to make the event despite having driven for many hours. Having attended the previous year’s event many team members remarked on how much more challenging the course was this year, as if the course was not already challenging enough!

We are very grateful to our team members for both competing in the event and raising much needed funds for ALFA Angels , Thank you also to those employees that raised funds for the event but due to traffic and unforeseen circumstances were not able to race. Many thanks also to our family, friends and supporters who donated very generously to such a fantastic cause. We still are awaiting some donations and sponsorship from the event to come in, however at this moment in time we have raised in excess of $1,200!

It’s not too late to make a donation in support of our team and of our cause! You can do so by using the Donate button at the bottom of every page on our web site. During check out please note that your donation is in support of our Rugged Maniac team.

Alternatively we welcome checks made payable to ALFA Angels mailed to the address below:

Rugged Maniac
ALFA Angels
39 Oak Ridge Rd
Newfoundland, NJ 07435

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