Back in 2011, I realized there had to be a better way to network with professionals than what I saw.

I always found that helping other professionals gave me the most reward, be it through reciprocal business or introducing someone to another professional. I wanted to give back to the people in the Senior Healthcare industry who helped me when I first started who introduced me to my first colleagues.

I wanted to find a way to educate our seniors in our community.

I had a vision for something new.

With very little promotion, finding a host site (Brookdale Monroe) and personally inviting the professional contacts that we had, that’s when Caring Connections of New Jersey (CCNJ) was born. We hit the ground running talking about CCNJ every chance we got. I must take a moment to recognize my friend Eric Miller, who was a BIG part of our growth in the beginning. He was one of our biggest disciples, spreading the word about CCNJ to everyone he ran into. (His company even hosted our first Bash on the Beach!)

We kicked off our first meeting in January of 2011 in Middlesex County.

We decided if everyone who attended the meeting brought a can of food, we could donate to the local food bank in each county, and add some kind of value to the meeting and a unique way to give back to the community.

Our group grew quickly. All of a sudden we had a mailing list of people who were interested in being a part of these meetings. Soon, professionals from other counties were asking if their facilities could host a meeting.

From that very special time to now, we have reached over 550 members, donated hundreds of pounds of food, and are now in six counties in New Jersey and one county in Pennsylvania. One of the niches we uncovered for CCNJ was our vetted cadre of speakers who are are part of our Speaker’s Bureau. They are knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics affecting seniors. Folks frequently reach out to us for speakers and we put them in touch with one of our expert members, giving the professional members opportunities to educate seniors who are looking to learn more about the supports and services available to them in their local area.

With all this growth, my vision for Caring Connections of New Jersey grown as well. Up until now, I have been managing the activities of seven county chapters. Weekly newsletters, facebook posts, and tons of emails. As you can imagine, seven counties is a lot to manage. I knew it was time to find a way create a space to help others connect to other professionals, promote events, share open positions on a job board, search for work, advertise their events, have the opportunity to share their expertise via our speakers bureau.

Fast forward to today and here we are with our new website. We recently became an official a non-profit organization. We are making this  vision of growth come to fruition.

Your support through the last seven years is what has made this growth possible! Now we have a resource that our seniors will be able to access  education and resources for the services and supports they need. YOUR SERVICES!

Thank you to each and every host site. Thank you to every member of our group. Thank you for your attendance at the meetings, your food donations and all of the support that you have given me through the years. This seven year labor of love has resulted in what you see here today.

Special thank you to our facilitators who have shared time and compassion to be a part of this organization.

We welcome our area seniors to explore our site, inquire if you need a speaker that you do not see here, and gather the resources that you need.

If at anytime there is something you are looking for that you cannot find, please do not hesitate to reach out.

We welcome our professional friends! We hope you see value in our group and become an all access member so that you get all of the perks of this website!

I look forward to watching the growth of Caring Connections of New Jersey AND Pennsylvania with each and every one of you.

Thank you again for all of your ongoing support,

Sheli Monacchio

Founder of Caring Connections of New Jersey