91��Ƭ Harmony House Director Uses Life Experience to Relate to Clients

Michelle Lang — Wed, 15 May 2024 19:57:39 +0000

Carrie Radice has a wealth of experience working with homeless individuals and in affordable housing. On April 1, she became the Director of Harmony House, 91��Ƭ’s transitional housing facility for homeless families.

Radice started her career in domestic violence, working in a safe house. She later served as the Director of , a homeless shelter. She also ran a veteran program in Newark and worked in property management for a decade.

Helping others has always driven Radice. She is a licensed social worker and has lived experience that helps her relate to clients.

“I was raised by a single mom of four and when the rent went up, we moved. Depending on the definition of homelessness at the time, we were either considered couch surfers or homeless a lot of times as children,” she said. “It’s always been a passion and something I understood.”

91��Ƭ CEO Simone Gagneron sees Radice as a great asset to Harmony House.

“I’m thrilled to welcome our newest team member to the 91��Ƭ family. Carrie’s passion for making a difference and dedication to our mission is truly inspiring,” she said. “I’m confident she’ll make a significant impact in the lives of those we serve.”

Radice enjoys seeing clients improve both their situation and their outlook.

“To see their success and to start to believe in themselves. To see the dullness go to a spark,” she said of her favorite part of her work.

Radice sees having the entire network of 91��Ƭ services available for the clients as very beneficial.

“It’s a concept that should be within every agency that I worked for,” she said. “To have everything in-house is brilliant.”

She also likes the setup of Harmony House since it offers apartments to families with private bathrooms and kitchens, which helps reduce some stress during a time of unrest.

Radice attended county college before earning a bachelor’s degree from . She then earned a master’s degree in social work from . She lived in upstate New York for a short time as a child but has mainly resided in New Jersey, in a variety of counties.

Radice currently lives in Sussex County and has two daughters and a grandson. In her free time, she enjoys playing trivia on a team, playing the tambourine, listening to live music, spending time on the beach in the summer and spending time with her grandson.

Radice sees the work at Harmony House as essential for helping families get back on their feet.

“You can’t focus on anything else if you don’t have a roof over your head,” she said.

New CHELC Director Sees Role As A Homecoming

Michelle Lang — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 14:32:10 +0000

Gloria Johnson is the new director of the Community Hills Early Learning Center.

Although Gloria Johnson is a new face at the Community Hills Early Learning Center, she says taking on the role of director is like coming home.
Johnson was born and raised in Newark and 91��Ƭ founder Monsignor William J. Linder knew her family from the now closed Queen of Angels Catholic Church and school. She also worked for 91��Ƭ previously, opening Harmony House Early Learning Center in 2003.
She left HHELC in 2005 because the commute became too difficult after she lost her car. Although NCC tried to help her get a new car, she said it didn’t work out and she continued her career elsewhere.
Johnson has been a child care center director for more than 25 years, including for a corporate child care center under the KinderCare umbrella and a center for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, where she was for eight years. She said there was a bidding process at the Horizon center and a new management group was chosen. In that situation, she said, “The first to go is the center director.”
She interviewed at several centers and worked for about six months at a child care center at Hunterdon Medical Center. She was very happy when she got a call back from 91��Ƭ, however. The commute from her Rahway home to Flemington was long and draining and she saw the NCC position as a chance for her to advance her career further.
“It’s a great opportunity to grow,” Johnson said of her new role, since she will be working with Newark Public Schools and Head Start.
Both CHELC and HHELC will benefit from Johnson’s experience since she is overseeing both centers.
“Ms. Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in early childhood education and we are happy to have her return to NCC as the director of our child care centers. Her expertise and commitment will be a great asset to the centers,” said NCC Director of Mission Frances Teabout.
Johnson began her new role May 22 and said she already sees that staff morale is up. She said she has an open door policy where employees can come talk to her. She also met with everyone to discuss her expectations of them, but also for herself.
“I call them my team,” she said.
At CHELC, Johnson manages daily functions of the center, supervises teachers and teachers’ assistants, hires new teachers, deals with parent and staff concerns, makes sure enrollment is up and helps the center grow. Johnson works with HHELC Director Sister Maurice Liguori Okoroji, who manages the day-to-day operations at that center, when it comes to overall function.
Johnson has three children: a 29-year-old daughter who lives in Atlanta, a 26-year-old son who attends Ramapo College and an 18-year-old son who attends Union City Performing Arts School and takes classes at Kean University.

Ramapo College – 91��Ƭ

91��Ƭ Harmony House Director Uses Life Experience to Relate to Clients

New CHELC Director Sees Role As A Homecoming