About Us

Who would have thought that March of 2020 unleash such a transformation in our industry? From the way we care for our residents, clients, and patients to the way we do business with one another, everything changed.

Life as we knew it came to a screeching halt in March when they were recommending “no handshakes.” Our Executive Board decided it was best to hold off on meetings for just a bit. Boy, did we make the right decision!

No one could have predicted what was ahead for our industry after that. Some of our members lost their jobs, others were furloughed, and the rest of us had to adapt quickly– learning how to use Zoom, work remotely, and creative in our positions.

Here at CCNJ, we shifted our focus from hosting networking meetings and education for our professionals, seniors, and caregivers to supporting our members and sponsors in their fight against Covid-19.

We are proud to announce we donated over 3,000 masks to those in need. We rallied seamstresses in our counties and partnered with the Princeton Chinese Community who donated 1,500 disposable masks to CCNJ.

We shifted our education focus to sharing the latest information about Covid-19 across our network and held State of the Industry calls to inform our members of resources that were available to them,  not only professionally, but personally. We shared where to purchase PPE, where clients could purchase groceries from stores with senior-only hours, and then we asked our members to volunteer and they stepped up to pick up groceries and prescriptions for seniors in their community. 

When the vaccine became available, we shared the latest information with our members and even stepped up as Vaccine Volunteers (otherwise known as Vaccine Warriors) to help seniors in our community get appointments and find transportation.

With all the challenges we all faced in 2020, it was impossible to provide our members and sponsors with the traditional benefits we have in the past. That is why in October of 2020, we decided to waive the dues for sponsorships and memberships for 2021.

2021 marks ten years since the inception of Caring Connection of New Jersey.

It also marks the rise of an industry that has faced challenges they never thought imaginable.

An industry whose compassion is greater than a national pandemic.

An industry that banded together to not only help their own residents, clients, and patients, but who helped one another mourn and grieve the losses of so many seniors in our community, as well as family and friends they lost to COVID-19.

An industry that learned how to conduct business from behind a computer screen, socially distanced in the safety of their offices and their homes.

An industry that had to figure out how to balance their family’s needs, as well as the needs as the seniors they serve.

I could not be prouder to be a part of this industry. It is an honor to know and work with each one of our members and sponsors. 

Although we had to shift our original mission to support those in need during the Covid-19 crisis, we feel like we acted in the best interest of our members and sponsors during that time.

We are happy to announce there is another shift happening.

With most of our folks being vaccinated, that opens up opportunities for the near future.

Live meetings will resume in July. Instead of one per week prior to Covid-19 in our respective 6 counties, we will be combining our meetings.

Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex will be on the first Thursday of the month and Burlington, Somerset, and Mercer will be on the third Thursday of the month.

It will be a while before we can get to the place where facilities can sponsor meetings in-house. We are, however, allowing our sponsors the opportunity to host upcoming meetings, rotating counties each month within each area. Stay tuned for opportunities to sign up for an upcoming meeting sponsorship!

We would like to thank everyone for your continued support over the past fifteen months. We are ever grateful for our sponsors and members who have been with us for years as well as our new sponsors and members within the last fifteen months. We would not be here today celebrating our 10th year serving our community, our seniors, our family caregivers, and one another if it were not for all of you.

With gratitude,

Sheli Monacchio

Sheli Monacchio,
President of Caring Connections of New Jersey