Members of the SDA Church of the Oranges and individuals living in the township of Orange saw a many issues affecting not only members of their church but their friends, family and neighbors. Some of these issues were broken families, literacy, low educational attainment, weakness in dealing with family crises, and immigrant families vulnerable to drugs, crime, and unemployment. But the main need that the founders of CFESC recognized and focused on was strengthening youth and families. The cornerstone of meeting this need was the Survival Skills program, a national program conducted in 39 states for youth, men and women. The success of this program in changing lives, seen in workshops conducted in shelters, careers centers and other institutions, inspired CFESC to bring this program to the youth in Orange. With the initial program given to a segment of high achieving Orange high school students, there was a great interest to take the Survival Skills program and offer it to less fortunate students in the area who could gain just as much, if not more from the Survival Skills workshops. With the success seen in the students who graduated from the first Survival Skills Workshops, OBOE and CFESC decided to partner together on future programs.

In early 2007, after the success of the first graduating class of the Survival Skills workshops, new programs were developed. With an expanded program roster, a board was created to guide this development to meet the needs of the community. Community Family Enrichment Services Center (CFESC) was born. The first board of directors of Community Family Enrichment Services Center utilized current relationships with board members and Orange Board of Education (OBOE) to create the first program, Bridges Life Skills Academy. The Bridges Life Skills Academy was created to provide an alternative academic setting, at a cost savings, to supplement the normal academic instruction with the Survival Skills Workshops. The aim of the first semester of the Bridges Academy was to help 15 at-risk young men who had been taken out of a traditional school setting because of behavioral or education problems so that they could learn in a more comfortable, intimate setting which would also teach them how to deal with their environment through the 10 Survival Skills Workshops. However, this was just the beginning of the mission that CFESC placed on itself; it wanted to change the individuals and families in the Orange community through programs that would benefit those most at risk. The Survival Skills Workshops were the cornerstone of CFESC, but CFESC has expanded its programs to include a Scholarship Fund, a children’s summer camp, and health and wellness programs.

Community Family Enrichment Services Center of the Oranges (CFESC) is a 501(c)(3) New Jersey-based nonprofit organization established in February 2007 in Orange, New Jersey with the vision of creating communities where individuals could rise above their environment and create the best futures for themselves and their families.