With admiration for a lifetime of service to the pregnant women and growing families of South Jersey , the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative (SNJPC) named maternal-child health (MCH) nurse Marya Small of Woodbine its 2008 recipient of the Joseph A. Pacera Award for Service to Maternal and Child Health.
Small, a long-time community advocate, provides residential nursing care for clients of the non-profit Atlantic City Rescue Mission.
She is a mother to three children, two of who are autistic and one of whom also has Down Syndrome and has survived leukemia. In addition to being fully involved in their schooling and care plans, Marya is also the outreach coordinator for 21 Down of South Jersey, a support group for families of Down Syndrome children.
The Pacera Award also includes a $1,000 donation by SNJPC to the recipient's favorite charity. Marya has opted to divide that amount among the FACES Autism Support Network of Ventnor, NJ and the AtlantiCare Foundation of Egg Harbor Township, NJ, with each organization receiving $500.