South Orange Michael Och House Supports People With Special Needs

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — A new home for people with special needs opened in South Orange recently.

The Michael Och House is JESPY House's first aging in place residence. It is designed to meet the needs to service people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they age.

The shared house can accommodate nine people. Occupational and physical therapists and nurses will aid and help care for the residents.

"People with developmental disabilities are presented with age-related challenges decades earlier than the typical population," Audrey Winkler, JESPY's executive director, said in a press release. " This shared house provides our clients with an independent living arrangement."

JESPY House is a South Orange-based nonprofit serves adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities until age 71.

The house was named after Dr. Michael Och. The Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation provided funding for the project to honor their father's decades of service to JESPY. Other grants helped fund the installation of an elevator and helped to renovate the house.

"I must admit that when I became involved with JESPY more than 30 years ago," Och said in the news release. "I couldn’t have dreamed of this. But a house like this is so necessary and it’s been so great to hear from the clients, their families, and the people in the community about the importance of this residence."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com