The Franklin Lakes Community Center Has a New Job Description
For about ten years, the Franklin Lakes Community Center at 1 Vichiconti Way was run by the Wyckoff YMCA. This fall, a gym membership or a cup of coffee in the building also pays for job training and paid work for teens and adults with autism, under a partnership REED Autism Services began with the borough on April 1, 2026.
The building on the Pulis Avenue Field property still has a gym, still holds fitness classes, and is still where the Recreation Department works. What changed is the reason those services exist. The gym, the café and the front desk now run as workplaces first, and residents are the customers who keep them busy.
The borough's community center update explains the first step. The Wyckoff YMCA's 10-year lease had expired, and the borough asked for proposals to lease the building. Both the Y and other groups responded. Before the Mayor and Council made a decision, members received a flyer from the Y saying it would stop offering services at the center and would not try to extend its lease, citing "the continued uncertainty."
The borough's eventual partner was REED Autism Services. In a March 10 announcement, REED said it would begin operating the center on April 1, 2026. The plan had three parts: a refreshed gym with individual and family memberships, room for youth recreation training and group fitness, and a café. Jobs tied to each of those, and to running the building day to day, would go to people with autism.
The borough's own page for the center calls the arrangement "first-of-its-kind." It says the center serves Franklin Lakes residents today, and it expresses hope that the model will reach beyond the borough.
This is where the new center differs most from the old one. REED's job training page lists the work participants do on site:
At the café, REED adds making and serving drinks, stocking supplies and serving customers.
Every item on that list exists because residents use the building. A gym with no members produces no towels to fold, and a café with no customers has nobody to serve. In the March announcement, REED CEO Chantelle Walker explained why the jobs are built into the building's operations:
"Employment remains one of the greatest challenges for adults with autism, with unemployment rates as high as 80 percent. By integrating jobs into the operations of the center, we are creating real work experiences that help people build skills, confidence, and greater independence."
The borough's page gives a slightly higher estimate, saying 80 to 85 percent of autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed. The building also has new space for the REED Next Adult Day Program, so the center is in use during weekday hours even when the gym floor is quiet.
Here is the building at a glance, based on the posted details from the borough and REED.
| Space | What's there | Posted hours or cost | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| THE GYM | All-new cardio and strength equipment | Mon–Fri 6 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sat–Sun 6 a.m.–1 p.m. | REED Autism Services |
| Beans Do Good café | Coffee, tea, smoothies, light bites; indoor counter and walk-up window | Tue–Thu 8 a.m.–4 p.m. | REED Autism Services |
| Recreation Multipurpose Room, upstairs | Adult, senior and grades 5–8 fitness classes | $25 per adult class; $22 per senior class | Franklin Lakes Recreation & Parks |
| REED Next space | Adult day program | Program use | REED Autism Services |
THE GYM soft-opened on September 1, according to the borough's announcement. The borough's most recent news post says you can stop in for a tour and pick up a free one-week pass. Membership options and sign-up are on REED's gym page.
The weekend hours matter if you plan around Saturday mornings. The gym closes at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, so plan weekend workouts for the morning.
Beans Do Good builds on something REED has run for years. In a September 28 post, REED described Greens Do Good, its hydroponic vertical farm in Hackensack, which opened in 2019. According to REED, the farm has given hands-on job training and employment to hundreds of teens and adults with autism.
The café takes that model and puts it behind a coffee counter, which means a different set of skills. A grant from the Oritani Charitable Foundation helped pay for it. Foundation president Jack Fields told REED he hoped "people come in for a good cup of coffee and leave inspired by what they see happening here."
REED's café page lists hours of Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with service inside or at the walk-up window. Oritani was one of several funders. REED also credits Spectrum Designs, the Columbia Bank Foundation, the Achelis & Bodman Foundation and TD Bank with helping bring the center to life.
Even with REED running the building, it is still a municipal space. REED's March announcement said the center would remain home to the Franklin Lakes Recreation Department and would keep hosting nonprofit meetings, social skills groups and volunteer opportunities for local teens. Dina Robinson, Community Director for Franklin Lakes Recreation & Parks, welcomed REED "as our partner in operating the Community Center."
The upstairs Recreation Multipurpose Room shows how that split works. The fitness classes there are a borough program, taught by Perform As Designed and Rachel Nyhuis. The borough's class listing, last updated October 22, sets out three groups:
The borough says adult classes come in morning, afternoon and weekend time slots. Unlimited senior classes cost $50 a month less than the adult rate, and unlimited classes for middle schoolers fall between the two.
The ribbon-cutting was on Saturday, October 3. REED's account of the grand opening lists Mayor Charles Kahwaty, Senator Kristin Corrado, Assemblymembers Lisa Swain and Al Barlas, and members of the Franklin Lakes Council among those who attended. Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Zur, who lives in Franklin Lakes, told REED the public-private partnership would "create meaningful job opportunities for young people with unique abilities while providing a beautiful place to bring neighbors together."
In the same account, Walker said what she sees when she looks at the building: "A place where teens and adults with autism can build valuable job skills. Where neurodiverse adults can find meaningful, paid employment. And where people of all abilities can come together as part of the same community." A participant in the REED Next program also spoke, saying they were excited to come in every day to learn, grow and spend time with friends.
The center's Saturday morning hours line up with the borough's other events on Pulis Avenue. The Farmers & Artisan Market at Veterans Plaza, at Pulis Avenue and Franklin Avenue, is run by the same Mayor's Wellness Campaign that held the Trunk or Treat at MUNI Field. It runs Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through November 21, which leaves two Saturdays this season.
On November 14, the trolley tour ends at 1 p.m., the same time the dye workshop at Lorrimer starts, so pick one of the two. A gym session fits before either one, since the gym opens at 6 a.m. On the 21st, the gym's weekend hours and the last market of the year overlap from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Keren Abraham has worked in Bergen County for more than 23 years and watches how places like the Community Center become part of daily life in the boroughs she serves. If you're thinking about a move in or out of Franklin Lakes and want an advisor who knows the town building by building, let's make it happen. Get your free home valuation.
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