Working Together for Working Families

Pascale Sykes Foundation champions the Whole Family Approach, a family-led strategy that provides adults and children with the tools to set, plan for and achieve their goals.

Working Together for Working Families podcast was developed with the intention of it being a limited time series of timely discussions. For this, our final episode, we welcome Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, author of the New York Times bestseller “What Happened to You” co-authored by Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Perry has over 30 years of experience as teacher, clinician and researcher in children's mental health and neurosciences. We also welcome Reverend Darrel Armstrong, Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church (Trenton, NJ), Founder, FAAITH Global Network; Former Director, NJ Division of Prevention and Community Partnerships.

Dr. Perry will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Power of Research to Inform Policy summit on November 16, 2022. Click here to register to attend virtually.

Alfonso Nicholas is six months into his new role as Regional Administrator for Region 2 with the Administration for Children and Families. Region 2 serves New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For this episode we discuss a region of vast differences where families and children are experiencing vastly different challenges. Listen as Administrator Nicholas tells us how he and his team are working hard for the families of his region. He will also discuss the upcoming Power of Research to Inform Policy summit on November 16, 2022. Click here to learn about this important event.

#@ACFHHS #wholefamilies #helpforfamilies

Please join us for a conversation around the importance of collaboration as part of the Whole Family Approach. Our research demonstrates findings that show the collaborative approach played a major role in positive outcomes for families served. We will highlight the partnerships the agencies have formed to benefit the families they work with.

For this episode of Working Together for Working Families, we welcome Elena Ragusa, President, Drive Evaluation Studios; and Emory Edwards, Senior Director of Partnerships and Institutional Relations, Office of Advancement and External Affairs St. Peter's University in Jersey City, NJ. Mr. Edwards is senior director of partnerships and institutional relations at Saint Peter's University. In that role, he maximizes support for broad-based university initiatives and leads community engagement efforts. We also welcome Paula Sarro, Associate Executive Director at Mercy Center, a community center in the South Bronx section of New York City. She played a key role in forming and now co-leading Familia Adelante/Family Forward, one of the Pascale Sykes Foundation’s Whole Family Approach grantee collaborations. Ms. Sarro is an attorney who has worked for 29 years as a senior manager for nonprofit organizations in the New York City area.

Be sure to listen as our guests share their experiences as part of a Whole Family Approach collaboration.

#collaboration   #Wholefamily   #helpforlowincomefamilies

Homelessness continues to be a serious problem plaguing our nation. The recent pandemic has exacerbated the issue, making it more challenging than ever for individuals and families to find adequate housing. For this episode we welcome Katie Lord, Associate Director of HABcore, Inc., based in Red Bank, NJ. HABcore provides permanent housing and individualized support to families, veterans and those with special needs, allowing them to move through crisis to stability, giving them the opportunity to improve their lives.

Katie Lord, a graduate of Monmouth University with a Master's Degree in Social Work, has been working with the homeless and special needs population for the past 14 years. Her introduction to homelessness started out with an internship but quickly grew into a career. She has been with HABcore since 2009, providing permanent, supportive and affordable housing to individuals and families in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in NJ.

To learn more about the Whole Family Approach, visit the website.

To view the work of The Pascale Sykes Foundation click here.

#HOMELESS

#HOMELESSNESS

#AFFORDABLEHOUSING

#WHOLEFAMILYAPPROACH

As we celebrate fathers this month, join us for our podcast episode, Fatherhood: Supporting Fathers to be Good Dads. We welcome John Fuqua of Stronger families in Bridgeton, NJ and Jeff Johnson of Father Time in Keansburg, NJ. These men have been at the forefront of two amazing programs that support and empower fathers. Both programs maintain the notion that when men succeed families succeed and when families succeed communities flourish.

John Fuqua is a community leader who has personally committed his time and resources to ensure that Bridgeton, NJ youth have safe, structured opportunities to grow and learn. John provides support to children and families in Bridgeton and serves as the coordinator of the Stronger Families community program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from William Paterson University.

Jeff Johnson is a Licensed Clinical Social worker with over 35 years of experience in child and family

therapy settings. Jeff and several community dads had a vision for a support group/community organization with a focus on fatherhood. With the assistance of Parents Anonymous NJ- ‘Father Time’ was established in 2005, and through the generous support of the Pascale Sykes foundation- has become a vital fixture in the Bayshore community. When not at work, Jeff can be found in, around, or on top of the local Jersey Shore waterways-on a small, restored 1972 Boston Whaler.

To view the work of The Pascale Sykes Foundation, click here.

To learn about the Whole Family Approach, click here.

#FATHERS

#FATHERHOOD

#DADS

#GOODDADS

#BEINGAGOODDAD

#PARENTHOOD

#BROTHERHOOD

Please join us as we welcome Soco Hernández-Serrano, Carla Villacis, and Debbie Panek for a conversation on how the resilience of some immigrant families using the Whole Family Approach helped them to not only get through the pandemic but to thrive during it.

Soco Hernández-Serrano is currently the Program Coordinator at Qualitas of Life Foundation. She is an alumnus of the Immigrant Civic Leadership Program of New York Coro Leadership Center. She holds a Data Analytics and Visualization Certificate from Columbia University; a Financial Counselor Training Certificate from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection; an advanced certificate in Migration and Governance from the Center for Research and Teachings in Economics (CIDE), and a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC).

Carla Villacis is a Research Project Coordinator at the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers Camden. Ms. Villacis manages the program evaluation for the Pascale Sykes’ Strengthening Families Initiative. She was also the Principal Investigator for the Whole Family Culturally Responsive Approach, a study examining the barriers, challenges, supports, and needs of Hispanic, immigrant families. Carla received her BA in Romance Languages from Bowdoin College. She worked as an English instructor abroad before pursuing an MA in Psychology from Rutgers University-Camden.

Debbie Panek is the Director of Family and Youth Programs at Mercy Center, Bronx, NY. Ms. Panek oversees services that include the Familia Adelante/Family Forward collaborative project, which supports immigrant families pursuing short and long-term family goals. Debbie obtained her Master’s in Social Work and Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University, and her B.A. from Duke University.

A lack of transportation in the mostly rural regions of Southern New Jersey has been a barrier for many working-class and low-income residents. Many people have expressed frustration in their inability to retain employment or access necessary resources simply because they are unable to get there. Through its funding of community shuttles, the Pascale Sykes Foundation developed a public/private partnership that provides transportation to employment, health services, education, and businesses in the region. For this episode of Working Together for Working Families, we welcome Nate Dorfman of Cross County Connection Transportation Management Association (CCCTMA) and Quentin McClendon of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Newtonville, NJ to discuss transportation equity.

Nate Dorfman serves as a Senior Transportation Planner with CCCTMA. In that role, he advances the Atlantic County Community Shuttles, collaborates with partner organizations, and promotes the shuttles as gateways to economic opportunity in South Jersey municipalities. Nate holds a bachelor’s degree in government from George Mason University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Quentin McClendon has been a lifelong resident of Buena Vista Township. Over the past three (3) decades he has served the community in a variety of service roles. Since 1995 he has served as a Fireman / Line Officer in the Newtonville Volunteer Fire Department and currently holds the rank of 1st Lieutenant. His passion for helping his fellow community members led to his appointment as Director of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in 2014. He immediately took the lead in turning the MLK Center from an underutilized and physically needy facility to a vital and dynamic community center offering needed services to the diverse residents in the township. Quentin was instrumental as a member of the Transportation Committee for the Route 54/40 Community Shuttle in bringing awareness to a much needed transportation program for the rural community.

https://pascalesykesfoundation.com/pascale-sykes-foundation-transportation-grantees-get-essential-workers-to-jobs-during-the-pandemic/

To view the work of The Pascale Sykes Foundation, click here.

#TRANSPORTATIONEQUITY

#SOCIALJUSTICE

#COMMUNITYSHUTTLES

For Part 2 of the series, Public Policy in Action, we will share how a Whole Family Approach has been embraced and expanded within social service agencies at the federal government.

In honor of Black History month, we are talking about the Equitable Small Business Initiative, a lending program focusing on Black Business Enterprises and minority owned businesses in New Jersey. The initiative was founded in part through a donation by the Pascale Sykes Foundation.

In the episode we welcome Phillip D. Woolfolk, Chief Operations Officer of the African American Chamber of Commerce of NJ, and Bydeia Harmon, Community Development Officer for the Chamber. Most recently Phillip served as the Managing Principal & Profitability Advisor for Main Street Advisory, LLC. He is a Senior Associate for the new social media App, Grapevyne, and is Co-founder of P & P Real Estate Investment Company, founded in 1989 focused on residential and commercial mixed used real estate. ​A native of Philadelphia, Bydeia attended the HBCU Delaware State University, majoring in Finance and Banking. He has served as a mortgage loan officer at Bank of America, as well as in management roles with Wells Fargo bank and Santander.

Click here to contact Bydeia Harmon for additional information.

Click here to apply for an ESBI loan.

To view the work of The Pascale Sykes Foundation, click here.

#BlackHistoryMonth #Equitable #BlackBusinessEnterprises

For Part 1 of the series titled Public Policy in Action we welcome the New Jersey Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, Christine Norbut Beyer. Since 2018 Commissioner Beyer has been redefining the agency as a prevention-focused, child and family serving department, with a vision to help keep all New Jerseyans safe, healthy and connected. Listen as she discusses how adding family voices to the table has created a prevention-focused approach to working with whole families.

Links to topics referenced in the podcast:

Listening Tour Report

Kinship Placement

Family Success Centers

Powerful Families, Powerful Communities

To learn more about the Whole Family Approach, visit the website.

To view the work of The Pascale Sykes Foundation click here.