International Day of Disabled Persons -North Jersey

At 1:00pm EST the Community Options, Inc. of Northern New Jersey held the Above and Beyond All Expectations Environmentally Friendly Balloon Release Ceremony. We released 7 gray balloons which represent state institutions that remain open in NJ. They are Greenbrook Developmental center, Hunterdon Developmental Center, New Lisbon Developmental Center, North Jersey Developmental Center, Vineland Developmental Center, Woodbridge Developmental Center and Woodbridge Developmental Center. These institutions have a total 2,971 individuals still residing there of which 90% are appropriate for community placement. We also released 60 green balloons for the number of individuals we currently serve in our region. It was a great ceremony, despite the cold and wind and what the ceremony signfied meant more than anything.