This issue contains...

1. 2025 Annual Celebration: A HUGE Success!

2. JCHAI Members Take Action on Issues That Matter

3. Cooking Up Independence with Guest Educator Keri White

4. Doylestown Community Hub Spotlight

On May 15th, we enjoyed a lively evening celebrating the incredible JCHAI community at our 2025 Annual Celebration fundraiser at JCHAI’s John and Jacqueline E. Swartz Education Center.

We're happy to announce that we raised a record-breaking $630,000+ and welcomed more than 225 attendees! Huge thanks to all of our amazing sponsors, supporters, and auction donors for helping us transform lives and our community across the Greater Philadelphia region.

Please join us once again in recognizing our 2025 Honoree, Phillies Manager and JCHAI Board Member Rob Thomson, for his deeply-rooted community partnership with JCHAI. His ongoing dedication and support is nothing short of remarkable.

Finally, we are incredibly grateful to our 2025 Event Chairs, Cindy & Alan Dannenbaum and Cristy & Mitchell Hollin. We truly couldn't have done it without your care and dedication!

With the federal spending landscape changing, it’s essential to ensure that people with disabilities have a place in the conversation. As voters, jobholders, and taxpayers, their opinions matter.

JCHAI members are proud to play a key role in ongoing advocacy in these changing times. Recently gathering at our three hub locations, JCHAI and AADD members crafted individualized letters to each of their federal legislators, including both of their US senators and their local congresspeople.

Through these letter-writing sessions, our members took action by making their voices heard, sharing their stories and experiences, and practicing self-advocacy.

Our members are setting a great example of self-advocacy and civic engagement. We hope you will join us in making your voice heard to your legislators on issues important to YOU!

Keri White started cooking with JCHAI during the pandemic as a way to give back to the organization, and her Cooking with Keri classes have become a monthly staple at JCHAI's Swartz Education Center. Her son, Cormick, receives supported independent living services at the Radwyn Apartments, and has thrived as a member of the JCHAI community for nearly 10 years.

Keri has been cooking for most of her life, has taught cooking classes to groups of all ages, has written several food blogs, ghost wrote a cookbook for a renowned chef (is contractually forbidden from revealing the name), and was the food writer for the Jewish Exponent for 14 years. She serves as Vice Chair of the Reading Terminal Market, and her obsession with food takes her around the world to eat, cook, and learn about different cultures through their cuisines.

Thanks to JCHAI guest educator Keri White, our members now have access to more experiential learning opportunities than ever before! The Cooking with Keri class model has acted as a foundation for JCHAI to expand upon our class offerings. Across JCHAI's three geographic hubs, a diverse array of guest chefs share their craft with our members, increasing their confidence in the kitchen and expanding their culinary and nutritional horizons in a friendly, fun-filled learning environment.

JCHAI is proud to be thriving in the Doylestown area — and we continue to grow every day!

Collaboratively with JCHAI program leaders, individuals, and family representatives, JCHAI guides the development of personalized care services tailored to each member’s diverse interests, passions, needs, and goals.

Over the last several years, many of our D-Hub members have resided with family members while participating in JCHAI programming in the community and working toward their independence goals.

Recently, JCHAI is proud to have supported two D-Hub members as they moved into their own apartments for the first time, and now, we continue to provide in-home and community-based support services to help them achieve their personal goals.

Soon, we're excited to launch a new supported apartment program in our Doylestown Hub in order to fulfill unmet need in the community. More details coming soon!

About JCHAI

JCHAI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonsectarian organization in the Greater Philadelphia region that inspires and empowers individuals with developmental differences or disabilities to imagine and fulfill their life aspirations and be valued contributors in the community.

We rely on funds raised by generous donors like you to support the vibrant array of programs and services benefiting our 300+ members, helping them reach their personal goals and achieve their life aspirations.

Check out JCHAI's nonprofit profiles on Charity Navigator and Candid to see the great work we do in our community. We want to make sure you have the progress updates you need to confidently support our work with trust and assurance.