Joseph A. Pacera Award for Service to Maternal and Child Health
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Each year, the Cooperative invites nominations for the Joseph A. Pacera Award for Service to Maternal and Child Health. The award recognizes the "unsung heroes" who have made a significant contribution to improving the quality of maternal and child health care for underserved families of southern New Jersey. The award is presented in memory of Joseph A. Pacera, an esteemed and beloved Cooperative Board member, community advocate and health care leader. Joe Pacera was a kind, devoted, intelligent, creative, loyal and demanding man. His accomplishments as a health care professional and community leader did much to advance the cause of maternal and child health care. Contacts: Beth Wilkinson. |
 Birth: January 21, 1939 |
2001 Winner - Jewish Family Services Birthing Project
The Birthing Project of Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County was founded
in California in 1988 and has since been replicated in over 45 communities
across the United States. The goal of the program is to keep more babies
alive and healthy by providing direction, emotional support and education
to their mothers. This support continues for one year after the birth
of the babies. During this year the community Sister/Friend supports her
extended family in obtaining parenting and lifer survival skills, identifying
and pursuing educational and employment goals, as well as helping the
mother understand that she is a part of a community which values her as
an important member.
Jewish Family Services is a non-profit agency that offers a myriad of social services to the entire community regardless of religious affiliation. Services include care for the elderly, counseling for adults and children, mental health programs and more.
Pictured: (l-r) Tracy McArdle, SNJPC Board of Directors and Adria Light, Director of the Birthing Project, Jewish Family Services of Atlantic County.
2000 Winner - Carmen Ramirez, CSW
A social worker for Atlantic City Medical Center's City Division, Carmen
Ramirez was recognized for her work in ACMC's Maternal Newborn Services
and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) where she helps new mothers and
their babies secure much needed social services and health care. A native
of Puerto Rico, Ramirez often uses her translation skills to bridge the
communication gap between many of her patients and their providers.
Pictured: Carmen Ramirez, CSW, Atlantic City Medical Center
1999 Winner - Mujeres Latinas En Accion (MLA)
MLA was established in 1993 to work with families of terminally ill children
in Cumberland County, NJ. MLA's Familias Con Niños con Enfermedades
Malignas (Fund for Families with Terminally Ill Children) makes small
donations to families to help cover expenses like parking, tolls, gas,
car repairs, telephone service, school clothes, wigs or hats for children
receiving chemotherapy, and when necessary, one time payments of utility
bills and/or rent. They also coordinate "Special Wish" trips
throughout the year to give the children and their families a chance to
mingle with other families facing similar issues in a fun setting.
Since its inception, MLA's Familias Con Niños con Enfermedades Malignas has assisted about 30 families - 15 on an on-going basis. Children they've worked with have been afflicted with Leukemia, AIDS, brain tumors and other cancers, Crying Cat Syndrome (a disease that effects Latinos where children exhibit cat-like behaviors), Cerebral Palsy, Sickle Cell Disease, lung/respiratory illnesses, Hemophilia and Lupus.
Pictured: (l-r) MLA volunteer Sonia Lorenzana, MLA President Carmen Miranda Jones, MLA volunteers Judy Carter, Martha Rivera and Alice Rivera, SNJPC Board Member Tracye McArdle and MLA volunteer Evelyen Perez.
1998 Winner - The ACCEPPT Program
The ACCEPPT program was established in 1992 to provide full academic curriculum,
parenting education, life skills training and on-site childcare for pregnant
and parenting teenage girls in Atlantic County.
Program accomplishments include an overwhelming majority of ACCEPPT students finishing high school all students kept their prenatal appointments, all ACCEPPT babies were born healthy and were immunized on time. ACCEPPT graduates are all certified in infant CPR and many have become community service. The number of repeat pregnancies within the program is well below the general population statistics.
Pictured: (l-r) Tracy McArdle, Health Officer for the Atlantic County Division of Public Health, Rev Floyd White, 1997 Pacera Award Winner, ACCEPPT Acting Director Lynn Walters and the daughters of late ACCEPPT Director Harriet Devlin - Sue, Jennifer and Cathy.
1997 Winner - Reverend Floyd White
Rev. White has been a positive force in health care and economic change
in the City of Camden for more than a decade. In addition to his duties
as pastor of the Woodland Avenue Presbyterian Church, Rev. White is an
active member of the Healthy
Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Camden. He is also an appointed
member of the State of New Jersey's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Black Infant
Mortality convened by the NJ Commissioner of Health and Senior Services.
Other ways Rev White works toward improving health care and quality of life for Camden's underserved includes chairing the Community Advisory Committee of the Camden Optometric Center. He was responsible for coordinating eye screenings at eight (8) different sites around the city. Rev. White was also instrumental in obtaining funding for a parish nurse project. This initiative soon expanded to encompass Head Start, which is a program of the Camden Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). Rev. White sits on the OEO Board of Directors and through his efforts developed an important relationship between Head Start and the School of Nursing at UMDNJ.
White is a member of the Camden County Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and serves as the education coordinator. His Woodland Area Substance Abuse Initiative is among the many organizations awarded a portion of the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Camden Healthy Start grant.
Pictured: ( l-r) Mrs. Bonnie White, winner Rev. Floyd White, 1996 Pacera Award Winner representative Marge Cofsky of Osborn Family Health Center.
1996 Winner - Osborn Family Health Center
As part of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center's commitment to helping meeting the health care needs of the community it serves, it established Osborn Family Health Center. The staff functions as a team treating not only a variety of health concerns, but also addressing underlying factors that are present in Camden City's high risk population.
In addition to family practice, pediatric and routine obstetric and gynecological services, Osborn offers care to women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. And, their teen pregnancy program includes counseling for adolescent about health care, education and vocational issues, referrals and financial assistance.
Pictured: (L to R) Sr. Rosemarie Kolmer, Nancy Lee Schmidt and Margaret Cofsky of the Osborn Family Health Center-winner of the 1996 Pacera Award, Cecilia Pacera, Sr. Elizabeth Corry