At 86-years-old, Gena Johnson rises before dawn and takes two buses to get to NCC's Community Hills Early Learning Center in Newark. For the last 11 years, Johnson has been a foster grandparent at the center, where she arrives by 7 o'clock, helping with breakfast and then settling into her assigned Toddler 2 Classroom.

"For me, it's a ministry," said Johnson. "I'm really sent by God to come to this place. God gets the glory for allowing me to work with the children and even go on trips with them and take walks. Everybody in this whole building calls me 'Grandma.'

Punter Steve Weatherford of the football Giants and Newark Mayor Luis Quintana together helped present hundreds of toys to youngsters from New Community Harmony House shortly before Christmas, courtesy of an organization that rescues and recycles gently-used plastic toys and distributes them to needy children.

"A bike!" 3-year-old Lisa Hall exclaimed as she hopped onto the seat, clearly indicating which toy she wanted under her Christmas tree.

Community health nursing students from Seton Hall University College of Nursing recently enjoyed a lunch meeting with Monsignor William J. Linder, NCC's founder and board chairman, whose passion for community-based healthcare led to the establishment of several programs and facilities over the years, including NCC's 180-bed Extended Care Center and Adult Medical Day Care program.

The students, December 2013 graduates, also traveled to NCC senior buildings during the fall semester, providing blood pressure and glucose screenings to residents, as well as health education. Under the direction of Associate Professor Kathleen Sternas, they also visited children in the Harmony House Early Learning Center.

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