WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—After 22 years of friendship, raising children and volunteering in local schools, Jen Charnow and Jen Auerbach are building something new together: a foundation designed to connect neighbors with charitable organizations close to home.
At the same time, Charnow’s longtime work with the Hills Valley Coalition is expanding, with Park Ridge expected to become the fifth municipality in the regional prevention and wellness organization in January.
The two developments reflect years of community involvement by Charnow and other local volunteers—and an emphasis on connecting residents with resources and opportunities to help close to home.
Charnow and Auerbach’s new Better Together Foundation will hold its first fundraiser Oct. 22, benefiting Spoil Me Pink, a local nonprofit supporting women affected by cancer. For Charnow, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2023, the choice is personal.
“Once you’ve heard the words you have cancer, you understand in a completely different way how important it is to feel supported and cared for,” she said. “There are so many things happening medically and emotionally at once. Organizations like Spoil Me Pink remind women that they aren’t walking through it alone.”
The event launches a broader effort the founders call “Give Where You Live,” aimed at drawing attention, donations and volunteers to grassroots organizations whose work residents might not yet know.
“There are incredible grassroots organizations doing important work right here in our own backyard,” Charnow said. “These are often smaller organizations with passionate people behind them, where a donation, a new volunteer or simply greater awareness can have a tangible impact. We want to help shine a light on them so they can reach and help even more people.”
The founders describe Better Together as a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that will support charitable organizations through events, promote volunteerism and philanthropy, and provide educational opportunities.
Both women bring years of experience in school leadership, fundraising and community service. With their children moving into adulthood, they saw an opportunity to put those relationships and skills toward a shared project.
“We’ve spent so many years nurturing our families and supporting our schools and community,” Auerbach said. “Better Together feels like a natural next chapter for us—taking everything we’ve learned and the relationships we’ve built and using them to bring people together for causes that matter.”
Charnow, a Woodcliff Lake resident for 20 years, holds a master’s degree in clinical social work and has worked in education, prevention, mental health and community engagement. She founded Parent Academy, has served as co-coordinator of the Hills Valley Coalition and spent four years as co-president of the Pascack Hills High School Parent Faculty Association. She also serves as Woodcliff Lake’s stigma-free liaison and vice president of the Wilder Family Foundation.
Auerbach holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and has held leadership roles with the YJCC Parent Faculty Association and YJCC board, the Woodcliff Lake Parent Faculty Association and Pascack Hills High School Parent Faculty Association. She is vice president of the JA4 Family Foundation.
Through Better Together, they hope to make community involvement accessible to people with varying amounts of time and money to give.
“Giving back doesn’t always have to mean making a huge donation,” Charnow said. “Sometimes it’s showing up. Sometimes it’s volunteering. Sometimes it’s telling someone else about an organization doing great work. We want to make it easier for people to find meaningful ways to get involved.”
Coalition looks to Park Ridge
Meanwhile, the Hills Valley Coalition, which for two decades has focused on educating young people and parents and promoting stigma-free and substance-free communities, is preparing to broaden its own reach.
The coalition currently serves Montvale, Woodcliff Lake, Hillsdale and River Vale, the four municipalities covered by Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley high schools.
Coalition co-coordinators Charnow and Jennifer Zimmermann told the Woodcliff Lake governing body Sept. 16 that they have been speaking with Park Ridge officials about joining the organization, likely effective Jan. 1, 2027.
Charnow said Park Ridge officials “had reached out to us and they want to join us and that’s pretty cool.”
“Park Ridge is right there. There’s no reason for us not to be combining our forces together,” she said.
Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna welcomed the move and the involvement of resident Tammy Levinson.
“We are very happy to join this great organization and I’m so happy to have Tammy Levinson representing our town. Tammy is one of our town’s most dedicated residents who has a long track record of community involvement and hard work. This marriage is certainly great for all of us and I look forward to supporting HVC.”
The coalition brings together municipal leaders, law enforcement, schools, health care professionals, community organizations, parents and students to promote healthier communities through prevention, wellness and education.
Charnow said its educational programs are offered free to community members.
“We believe that the most important thing we can do is to educate as many people as possible,” Charnow said.
Since 2021, the coalition has conducted 19 major educational events or programs. Recent topics have included recovery, mental health, delaying smartphone use and the dangers of social media.
The coalition has emphasized “parallel programming,” in which children learn about an issue in school while parents receive related education.
Charnow said they were “really big on parallel programming” where the kids learn about a topic in school and that is also addressed with parents later at night…that’s the best way for kids to learn and the best way for parents to get involved. If parents are learning and kids are learning they can go home and talk about it and learn together,” she said.
More than 200 people from the four school districts have signed up for the Wait Until 8th program, in which parents agree not to give their child a smartphone until eighth grade. The coalition also promotes the Balance Project, aimed at helping families establish healthier boundaries around technology.
The coalition’s plans for 2026–27 include drug and alcohol awareness programming during Red Ribbon Week in October; Alumni in Recovery speakers and presentation of a Woodcliff Lake Buster Box providing free naloxone in November; a digital safety and Signs of Suicide program in December; programming on body positivity, self-esteem and recognizing signs of disordered eating in February; and a community wellness event in April.
With Park Ridge expected to join, coalition leaders also hope to establish stigma-free representatives and council liaisons from all five municipalities and increase engagement with families of elementary-age children.
“Like I said, we’re really hoping to start earlier, that’s been the goal. We really want to get to kids before it becomes a problem,” Charnow said.
The Hills Valley Coalition’s first meeting of the 2026–27 school year is Monday, Oct. 5, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. The meeting ID is 909 951 6173. New and returning participants are welcome.
First fundraiser Oct. 22
Better Together’s first event, “Pink Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” is Thursday, Oct. 22, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Pearl River Saloon. The 1980s- and ’90s-inspired evening will feature music, dancing, light bites, drinks and local vendors, with guests encouraged to wear pink. Tickets are $50, with proceeds benefiting Spoil Me Pink.
For Charnow, both efforts reflect a belief in starting close to home.
“I have always believed that I may not be able to change the whole world, but I can make a difference in my little slice of the universe,” she said. “If we all did that—if we looked around our own communities and asked where we could help—the collective impact could be extraordinary.”
— With staff writer Michael Olohan