The Cooperative celebrated its 2009 Annual Meeting in style on April 24. Its theme, “Staying the Course for Quality Maternal and Child Health Care,” inspired the convivial spirit of the evening. Friends, members, staff, and supporters of the agency and its mission gathered to commemorate the agency's achievements. Among the guests was NJ Commissioner of Health and Senior Services Heather Howard, who delivered the keynote address of the evening.
The document that tells this story in greater depth than any other report is the 2008 Annual Report .
Highlights of the Annual Report include:
- The addition of the Southern Regional Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Coalition to the Cooperative's menu of services. This all-volunteer group helps citizens and municipal leaders implement local strategies to prevent lead poisoning.
- SNJPC's Support Center for the New Jersey Immunization Information System doubled the number of providers it recruited for the system, adding another 146 users.
- Our Postpartum Wellness Initiative helped 30 South Jersey practices implement an electronic screening tool for postpartum depression. More than 1200 digital screenings were completed and 130 women found at high risk for PPD.
- Mom's Quit Connection enrolled 34% more case-managed clients in 2008 than it had in the previous year and increased the number of counseling sessions by 95%.
- Overall, our case management programs served a combined total of 1300 families with one-on-one, individualized support.
Another highlight of the Annual Meeting was the presentation of the 2009 Joseph A. Pacera Award for Service to Maternal and Child Health to Woodbine, NJ nurse Marya Small. The award remembers Joseph A. Pacera, an SNJPC Board member, community advocate, and healthcare leader who was unflagging, creative, and infinitely devoted in his contributions to maternal-child health care.
Small, a long-time community advocate, provides residential care for clients of the non-profit Atlantic City Rescue Mission. She is a mother of three children—two of whom are autistic and one of whom also has Down Syndrome—and serves on the advisory committees at each of their three schools.
Small is also the outreach coordinator for 21 Down of South Jersey, a support group for families of Down Syndrome children. Her service to families of every need truly reflects the best of what a maternal-child healthcare worker can hope to achieve. There is no finer example of the continuing legacy of Joseph A. Pacera's work in South Jersey.
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