Michael Jaggernauth (far left) and Linda Calderon (second from right) of OceanFirst Bank present the $10,000 grant to (l. to r.) Enlightened Farm Director Brianna Bee, Hansen Foundation President Jennifer Hansen, Vice President Edwina Hansen and Megan Reid of Enlightened Farm
The OceanFirst Foundation recently awarded the Hansen Foundation $10,000 a general operating grant for its Solid Roots Program at Enlightened Farm in Galloway Township. The program provides job skills training, employment, and sober living for individuals in early recovery.
OceanFirst Foundation has supported the Hansen Foundation over the past five years with their life-saving programs for adults recovering from addiction and mental illness. Bank employees voluntte
In 2022 and 2023, OceanFirst Bank employees volunteered at the annual Enlightened Farm CommunityFirst Day and helped the farm team transition the fields to fall crops. In 2019, OceanFirst awarded the foundation a three-year $75,000 grant to renovate and open a Sober Living House for men and women.
“We are extraordinarily grateful to OceanFirst for their generous support of the Hansen Foundation,” Foundation President Jennifer Hansen said. “That support is vital in enabling us to carry out our life saving and life changing mission for so many that battle addiction.”
The Hansen Foundation was established in 1999 for the purpose of raising funds and establishing essential programs to help those recovering from addiction. After Jennifer Hansen’s personal struggle with her own addiction and recovery, the Hansen family supported Jennifer’s passion to help as many people as she could by opening her own facility so individuals had a place to go when they needed help. Their mission is to assist those in need to access substance abuse treatment, provide sober living, and other therapeutic services to help individuals recover and reclaim their lives.
Since 1999, the Hansen Foundation has opened and operated Serenity Houses (sober living residences) with a total of 112-bed capacity for extended care recovery in Atlantic County. The residents are provided with the tools and skills to sustain successful independent lives while in recovery.
In 2016, Enlightened Farm was established to provide horticultural therapy, employment training, and organic and local food production for the community. Located in Galloway Township, the 3-acre nonprofit farm cultivates a healing environment for all. Clients in treatment receive therapeutic sessions at the farm twice per week, have an opportunity to work and build skills when they complete treatment in the Solid Roots Program, and access nutritious food grown on the Enlightened Recovery campus.
For more information, visit www.hansenfoundationnj.org, or call (609) 270-4443.
