Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) hosted a joyful celebration of the 25th Anniversary of its ParentChild Center in New Rochelle Oct. 21. Music, toys, games, block building and other fun activities were all part of the festivities. Dozens of children, WJCS staff and Assemblyman Steven Otis were on hand to take part in the quarter-century milestone occasion.
The WJCS ParentChild Center is a free drop-in play group for young children, from birth to 4 years old, and their parents or caregivers. “It is a thrill to see children develop verbally, emotionally, socially and cognitively over the course of months of parents and children participating,” said Rivka Gorin, assistant director of early childhood centers at WJCS. “Children gain skills and friendships and their parents do as well.”
“All the social, emotional and language skills that children develop in their early years are vital to their success when they enter school and advance in life,” said WJCS CEO Seth Diamond. “We are proud to have reached the 25-year mark. Hundreds of children and their families have benefitted from the play, social engagement and enrichment offered at WJCS ParentChild Center.”
Otis, who has helped secure state funding to support the program, said “Congratulations on the 25th Anniversary of the WJCS ParentChild Center. I have followed this exceptional program for many years and am always wowed by how fully engaged every parent and every child is with the activity of the day. The value of this program will follow these young children throughout their school careers and provide them with the foundation for a bright future. Tremendous credit goes to WJCS, their staff and the teachers that have worked on the program over the years.”
Located at the Boys and Girls Club at 79 Seventh St. in New Rochelle, the WJCS ParentChild Center is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon, October through May.
WJCS-Westchester Jewish Community Services has been serving people facing major life obstacles in Westchester County since its founding in 1943. It is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit, trauma-informed human service agency. Its mission is to help people of all ages and backgrounds cope with emotional, substance use, disability, aging, social, and educational challenges. Agency experts, using evidence-based practices, provide youth, mental health, trauma, disability, family and senior services to about 20,000 people each year. It also offers privately funded programs for the Jewish community, and is affiliated with Family Service Society of Yonkers (FSSY), a human and social services agency founded in 1883 that provides programs and services related to housing for seniors and disabled individuals, literacy and academic support for students in underserved communities, advocacy, free legal counsel and education for kinship families and guardianship for incapacitated adults in danger of neglect, abuse and/or financial exploitation.
