Your Home. Your Life. Your Journey.

Lester Senior Living: Building on our Success

Thanks To The Help From Donors Like You, the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jersey (JCHC) has been meeting the dynamic needs of seniors in our community for over 40 years.

Lester Senior Living Renovation Project:

Our latest capital improvement plan, started this year at our flagship Lester Senior Community, is one of our most
ambitious and exciting upgrades yet. It allows us to meet or exceed the quality of amenities and services offered
by other communities in the area, and provides needed updates to meet the changing needs of seniors in our care.
Just some of these upgrades include:

  • Upgrading and expanding the medical suite to add more examination rooms and to provide better patient
    privacy and confidentiality for meetings between residents, family members and medical professionals.

  • Reconfiguring the Heller community dining experience. We will move away from an institutional dining setting to one that facilitates resident choice and a more restaurant style dining experience.

  • Creating a new, state-of-the-art cinema experience and making improvements to audio and visual systems in other locations that will make the experience accessible to all, including those with hearing and vision issues.

  • New fitness opportunities such as an upgraded fitness area, an inside walking path and more dedicated outdoor space for exercise. Dedicated areas for a putting green and bocce courts.

  • Reinventing our backyard to incorporate an outdoor dining experience, more raised gardening beds to improve community gardening opportunities and reduce social isolation.

  • Reconfiguring the building driveway and entrances to provide shelter from the elements while exiting their
    vehicles with a new porte cochere, regraded sidewalks and traffic calming measures.

  • Replacing outdated furniture both indoors and outside with new seating, tables and other pieces that address the mobility limitations faced by a growing number of our senior residents.

  • Introducing new safety and accessibility features in our apartments, such as walk-in showers, new kitchen
    appliances and more and lower shelving.

  • Making aesthetic and functional improvements in community rooms, common areas and apartments to
    enhance socialization and make the building more visually appealing.

We are asking the Greater MetroWest Jewish Community to consider supporting this important work. With our work together, resident families have greater peace of mind knowing that their loved ones are safe, happy, and living with high quality of life.

For large institutional donations, naming opportunities, or further questions, please contact JCHC Chief Executive Officer Harold Colton-Max at haroldc@jchcorp.org or 973-530-3961.

First Floor Atrium - Before
Second Floor Heller Cinema - Before
First Floor Heller Entrance - Before
First Floor Atrium - Proposed
Second Floor Heller Cinema - Proposed
First Floor Heller Entrance - Proposed

View Additional Renovation Photos:

Why the Jewish Community Housing Corporation?

Simply because If you know us, you know that we are a vibrant, active organization that is not afraid to do big things for our community.

Lester Senior Housing

When the JCHC identified the need for market-rate housing and assisted living for seniors, the JCHC raised money and built the Lester Senior Housing Community, including the Margaret and Martin Heller Independent Living Apartments, the Josh and Judy Weston Assisted Living Residence & the Aresty Family.

Village Apartments & Federation Plaza

When the JCHC identified the need for housing for middle-income seniors, the JCHC raised money, planned and built the Village Apartments of the Jewish Federation, a 92-unit apartment building in South Orange.

Affordable Housing

When the JCHC identified the need for affordable housing for seniors on a fixed income, the JCHC raised money, and built three communities in West Orange, Irvington and South Orange providing more than 325 subsidized apartments for low-income seniors.

specialized Memory Care

When the JCHC identified the need for specialized care for those ravaged by Alzheimers disease, we raised money, rebuilt and dedicated an entire floor to become a secure, assisted living memory care suite.

JCHC and Lester Senior Living:
Making a difference in Greater metroWest