By: Joshua Gras, Writer / Follow South Jersey News Reporting Intern
VINELAND, N.J. — The Pascale Sykes Foundation, a nonprofit that supports low-income families in New Jersey and New York, has announced its plans to close next year after operating since 1992. By the time of its closing, the Foundation will have spent around $60 million supporting communities in need over the last 30 years.
The decision to close the foundation came from the organization, which decided that it was better to give significant funds to important causes instead of smaller ones. The Foundation would rather close helping the most amount of people possible.
“Our decision to sunset the Pascale Sykes Foundation was based on our fierce dedication to our mission: changing culture to focus on the integrity, independence and well-being of the intergenerational working low income families,” Frances Sykes, President of the Pascale Sykes Foundation, said in a statement. “We knew our work would be most effective if we awarded a select number of significant grants within a short time frame rather than spreading out our funding in smaller grant amounts, preserving our corpus.”
The main mission of the organization was to make sure low-income families got the help and resources they needed before things took a turn for the worse rather than after. Pascale Sykes is a large proponent of the Whole Family Approach, which is when service providers work with entire family units to help them meet financial and health goals.
In their statement about the sunsetting of the Foundation, the organization says that they “look forward to other funders taking the lead in funding the future of the Whole Family Approach.”
“Many of the current social service systems approach family well-being from an individualistic and crisis-oriented perspective,” Sykes said. “The Whole Family Approach, focusing on whole people within their family environment, encourages collaboration among service providers to address the goals of children and their caregivers together. We know this approach works and encourage other organizations to adopt this model, which can be effective in various situations.”
The last big donation from the foundation was a $1 million check to the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey in order to help Black-owned businesses that have suffered greatly due to COVID -19 find a way to thrive again.
- Your Ability To Balance On One Leg May Indicate How Long You’ll Live
- AC Officials Sign MOU For $2.7B Bader Field Redevelopment
- Atlantic County Spotlights Four Women As Positive Influences In The Community
This article was produced by a Follow South Jersey news intern thanks to a grant provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the New Jersey Health Initiatives program to create hyper-local news to meet the informational and health needs of the City of Bridgeton, N.J.
