Deborah Jaffe
New Jersey’s Heartland Heroes are all special people, and none more so than Deborah Jaffe. For her tireless work on behalf of the region’s special needs children, we are proud to name Deborah our 2019 November Heartland Hero award recipient.
Over many years, Deborah has been touched by the strength, perseverance and determination of special needs children, having personally witnessed the day-in, day-out challenges and struggles they face. When Deborah’s 50th birthday coincided with the 50th anniversary of the special needs private school where she works, Deborah saw a unique opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the many special children who had so touched her heart.
Deborah created a GoFundMe page and founded two Facebook support groups dedicated to special needs children – “Help Special Children” and “Friends of Children with Special Needs.” As interest grew, she decided to focus on managing “Friends of Children with Special Needs,” growing the page’s followers to nearly 3,000. She also engages the special needs community through more than 17,000 LinkedIn connections, while using these two vast networks as a platform to help the special needs community.
Deborah is a regular guest on a local special needs radio show called “Everything Special Needs.” She participated in an award-winning movie about the “ability” in disability called “One Little Finger,” which has been shown at various international film festivals and is currently in limited release in select theaters. Over 80 children and young adults, many of whom have disabilities, acted and played major roles in the film. Quincy Jones, Julian Lennon, and America’s Got Talent’s Kechi Okwuchi were among the celebrities involved in making the film, which premiered at Red Carpet events Deborah attended in Los Angeles and in New Jersey.
Deborah’s work has truly benefitted and helped raise awareness of how we can all help children with special needs, which is why we are so proud to welcome her as our newest New Jersey’s Heartland Hero.
