'The Village' to seek zoning approval May 22
Jason Cohen
May 9, 2008
The New Jersey Workmen's Circle would like you to imagine a new way of life for seniors -- living in a non-profit Jewish community.
The Workmen's Circle, a non-profit service organization that has been around for more than 100 years, on May 22 will go before the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment with plans for a two-story, 100,000-square-foot, "truly Jewish" elderly care center called the Village for Healthcare and Rehabilitation of Workmen's Circle of Freehold Township.
"The Village is a new concept because it will be the first Jewish non- profit community in the area, whose whole mindset is to cater to Jewish people," said Marshall Goldberg, head of the Village.
Workmen's Circle provides nursing homes, schools, camps, retreats, affordable health insurance, and year round programs of concerts and lectures. Additionally, for the past 60 years it has operated N.J. Geriatric Center of Workmen's Circle in
The Village is currently planned to be built on 14 acres of woods on
Designed by NK Architects of Morristown, the plans call for the construction of a 152-bed nursing home, a 37-bed assisted living residence, and a 32-bed dementia unit, arranged into three eight- to 12-bed clusters around a strolling path.
Each household in the nursing home will include a family-style kitchen, dining room, activity area, and living room, with access to an enclosed courtyard or balcony. They will also include alcoves for a care station, medication, and linen storage. According to the plans, the "central core" of the unit will include bathing areas, a team room, and utility rooms.
The dementia household units will include a sunroom, a family pantry, and a dining room.
The assisted living residence will be a separate, two-story, 44,000-square-foot building. The building will include seven "households" of one- and two-bedroom apartments on two floors. The households will be arranged around a "support core" with a care station, bathing room, laundry room, and storage. The common areas will include a dining room and recreational areas.
The advantage to the design, according to Workmen's Circle, is that seniors can start out living an independent lifestyle in the assisted living home, and if need be they can then move to the nursing home.
"The Village will be 'home-like' where people would live in neighborhoods where they would eat with 12 to 15 people, where they would have a choice of different types of things to eat, rather than just eating in a mass dining room and just having a choice of one thing to eat," Goldberg said.
"The
Additionally, Goldberg said that because of the household lifestyle, as well as all of the Jewish activities that will be provided, "People won't get lost in the shuffle."
He said there won't be long corridors or clipboards on every door, and there will be no need for medical charts on doors because all of the records will be computerized.
"We want our residents to feel at home and have the focus be on them and not the staff," Goldberg said.
The Village has already obtained the Certificate of Need from the Department of Health; the Zoning Board must approve a use variance for the project to proceed.
According to the Township Zoning Office, the land is currently an "M1 zone", which means it is designated as a manufacturing zone and it is restricted to industrial, farms, and auto repair.
Goldberg believes the Village will make a huge impact in the senior Jewish community.
"We need Jews to come out on the 22nd and support us," he said.
Goldberg said it would be the only non-profit Jewish community with an assisted living home and nursing home, and it would focus on making the residents feel at home.
"Overall, it will be a Jewish campus, not an institution," Goldberg said. "Because the community needs a Jewish campus for healthcare and that's what we are going to provide."