Center for Family Services -Framing Fatherhood

“ I love you.” ”I’m proud of you.” ”I’ve got you.” These are the three things M hopes his daughter always knows. As someone whose father didn't take an active encouraging role in his life, M wants to make sure his daughter knows he is her biggest supporter. In this piece, a rendition of him is shown with his young daughter when they are both happiest, when she is swinging in his arms. The background is an attempt to represent the community they live in. Behind them is the silhouette of the Camden skyline. Camden residents face many challenges including homelessness and food insecurity. Despite this, fathers like M come to the Framing Fatherhood program in an attempt to break the cycle of generational trauma to strengthen their relationships with their children. The trees along with the bright yellow borders serve to represent this very attempt. A hope for change. New beginnings.

South New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative

I interviewed Jennifer (Jennie) Sherlock, a labor & delivery nurse that now works for the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative (SNJPC). One of Jennie's favorite memories at SNJPC was working on a stillbirth public health campaign with Debbie Haine Vijayvergiya. Debbie Haine Vijayvergiya is a strong advocate for raising awareness of stillbirths and helped bring about the Shine for Autumn Act. To highlight the importance of this campaign and the significance of Jennie's work for the underserved communities of southern NJ, I am drawing two Boeing airplanes, each with a passenger capacity of 188, to visually represent the number of stillbirths that occur every week in the United States. My drawing also depicts different barriers to care that play a role in the large number of stillbirths. For instance, social determinants of health and equity are important factors that can determine if patients have access to proper prenatal care and education to prevent stillbirths. Therefore, addressing barriers to care and its devastating impacts such as stillbirths are a public health concern that needs more attention. This airplane analogy was made by Debbie Haine Vijayvergiya and is a lasting memory and motivator for Jennie's work to advocate for the underserved populations at SNJPC.