Livingston’s $15M ‘Lifetown’ Will Help Special-Needs Youth (VIDEO)

LIVINGSTON, NJ — They call it “Lifetown,” a city where children and teens with special-needs and disabilities can practice daily life and job skills in a friendly-but-realistic learning environment.

According to its developers, the ambitious, $15 million, 53,000 square foot facility in Livingston - slated to open this summer - will provide a unique learning oasis for 6,500 special-needs students in Essex County.

Features of the miniature city will include a working “Main Street” with a theater, bank, doctor’s office and shops, including a replica ShopRite supermarket. Navigating their way through simulated daily encounters, visitors to Lifetown put the skills they learn via their Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) to work in a real-world setting.

At Lifetown’s ShopRite, for example, special needs students will get the chance to practice crucial daily tasks such as money management, choosing healthy fare, waiting on lines and following a shopping list.

Young adults with special needs will also have the opportunity to learn how to stock store shelves, work a cash register, bag groceries and more as part of job-readiness training, ShopRite representatives said.

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Livingston Facebook page here.

But it’s not all work and no play at Lifetown. The facility will also have a zero-entry pool, a sound-attenuated gym and an accessible, indoor playground, developers say.

So far, $12.5 million of the expected $15 million price tag for the facility has been raised, developers stated in April. In addition to ShopRite, project sponsors include RWJ/Barnabas Health, Regal Bank, Words Bookstore, DCH Audi and Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

The project will also provide volunteer opportunities for more than 2,000 teens, college students and adults, developers estimated.

Take a virtual tour of the planned facility below. Learn more about Lifetown here.

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Photo: YouTube screenshot, FCNJ