PROJECT REDIRECT/YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES

CELEBRATES COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS AT THE

9^TH ANNUAL EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS & COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS GALA

Project Re-Direct/Youth & Family Services Celebrates Partners And Stakeholders Doing Exemplary Work In The Community At

This Year’s 9^th Annual Excellence In Business & Community Service Awards Gala, Friday, June 8, 2018

NEWARK, NJ – More than twenty years ago, Sharon D. Berry founded ‘Project Re-Direct/Youth & Family Services Inc.’ to help underserved families in Newark, NJ significantly improve academic and social skills development; lower the incidence of juvenile delinquency, child abuse and domestic violence. The vision is to save the lives of children and Re-Direct them towards healthier lifestyles; while developing productive men and women who will pursue a better quality of life.

‘Project Re-Direct’s new initiative is to provide S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) education along with a rigorous academic and social skills curriculum in line with the Core Curriculum Standards of New Jersey for pre-k – 8th grade urban students. Students who participate in this Saturday academy are prepared for higher education that will lead to careers in math, science, engineering and technological based careers.

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What makes ‘Project Re-Direct/Youth & Family Services’ unique is their ability to engage and educate students during ‘non-traditional’ hours which are Saturdays and during the summer months. They supplement the public and charter schools with accelerated academic, social skills development and recreation; while providing S.T.E.M. education at such an early age.  They believe that a more appropriate response to juvenile delinquency and crime in the urban communities is not the building of more prisons and juvenile halls, but academic, economic development, job opportunities for teens and adults. This holistic, creative, comprehensive and proactive approach, is pivotal in the vital fight against poverty and desperation that leads to crime.

Additional Project-Redirect initiatives include:

ü  Children Are A Gift – Public Awareness running from April through June, promoting alternatives to the abuse of children, and educating caregivers to more positive methods of discipline and child rearing.

ü  Parent Leadership Institute – A program that empowers parents towards independence and self-sufficiency.

ü  School To Work Program – Allows students in eighth grade and above to do volunteer work, and at the same time learn leadership and other skills that will help them in their future careers.

ü  Healthy Mind Healthy Bodies – Education for the prevention of child abuse, use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, juvenile delinquency, and gang intervention.

ü  S.I.M.B.A. II (Single Intelligent Males with Bold Ability) – Gives young males between the ages of nine and thirteen alternatives to juvenile delinquency and crime while increasing academic and careen choices.

ü  The NIA Project – A project dedicated to developing young ladies (9-14), of purpose by teaching them to avoid negative and unhealthy lifestyles that hamper their future success.

Each year, ‘#ProjectReDirect’ hosts an awards ceremony to celebrate partners and stakeholders, doing exemplary work in the community. Funding for their upcoming 9^th Annual Excellence In Business Community Service Awards Gala, 6pm, Friday, June 8, 2018, at the Best Western Plus Robert Treat Hotel, 50 Park Place, Newark, NJ, is made possible by PSE&G, PNC Bank, American Federation of Teachers NJ, Novartis, Prudential Foundation, National Teachers Union, MCJ Amelior Foundation, International Longshoremen’s Association, and Newark Bronze Shield. Manager at Mercury Public Affairs, Modia Butler, is the events Honorary Chair; Legislative Director Of Economic and Housing Development, at the City Of Newark, Larry Crump, will serve as Master Of Ceremonies; and the entertainment will be performed by the Emmy Award-Winning Singer, Composer, Hunter Hayes. For ticket information, log onto www.ProjectRedirectNJ25.org. This year’s honorees include:

Ø  Mayor Ted Green (Mayor of the City of East Orange) receives the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ø  Ms. Renee Marshall-McKinley – (founder of Keep Yourself Smelling Sweet) receives the Excellence in Business & Community Service Award.

Ø  Mr. Sherle L. Boone, Ed.D, (An expert on the psychology of race, ethnicity) receives the Excellence in Business & Community Service Award.

Ø  Mr. Derel M. Stroud, (Experience New Jersey political campaign strategist) receives the Outstanding Humanitarian Award.

Ø  Ms. Johnnie Hill-Marsh, (A Faculty Member for the ECMC Foundation) receives the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ø  Mr. Dosso Kassimou, (Founder and CEO of Sandji CDC) receives the Excellence in Business & Community Service Award

Ø  Ms. Pamela Morgan, (Executive Director of Women in Media – Newark) receives the Lifetime Achievement Award

Ø  Mr. Chike Uzoka, (“Entrepreneur Coach,” Author, Speaker, Mentor) receives the Excellence in Business & Community Service Award

Ø  Ms.Linda McDonald Carter, Esq., ( Owner of Law Office of Linda McDonald Carter, LLC) Lifetime Achievement Award

Ø  Ms. Jennifer Kohl, (Founded Lotus Enterprises) receives the Excellence in Business & Community Service Award

Ø  Mr. Akbar Salaam (Owner and operator of Unity Brand Halal Beef Sausage Company) receives the Excellence in Business & Community Service Award

ALL MEDIA ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND!

WHO:               Project Re-Direct/Youth & Family Services.

WHAT:             9^th Annual Excellence In Business Community Service Awards Gala.

WHEN:            6:00 p.m., Friday, June 8, 2018

WHERE:         Best Western Plus Robert Treat Hotel,

50 Park Place, Newark, NJ, 07102

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About Sharon D. Berry

A veteran ten-year instructor of English and fifteen-year Guidance Counselor, Sharon D. Berry has always had an affinity for children. She founded Project Re-Direct/Youth & Family Services in 1996 at the same time that she was an exemplary educator in Newark Public Schools. Focused on the underserved population in Newark’s West Side Park, the nonprofit organization works proactively to facilitate the restoration of families and prevent child abuse and juvenile delinquency. Ms. Berry performs a myriad of functions as its president and CEO; planning events, writing grants, conducting developmental workshops, training staff, counseling, marketing, and fundraising. She feels, however, her greatest role is as an advocate of children and their families.

Driven always by the conviction that child abuse prevention initiatives work, Ms. Berry has observed, with great dismay, that present economic troubles have forced cutbacks in programs that provide vital support – law enforcement agents, public awareness programs and family support services, at a time when they’re needed the most. With this in mind, she develops and advocates programs that are specifically designed to work in this recession.

A former School Counselor at South Seventeenth Street School, Sharon is presently the Program Director of the Education for the 21^st Century (EY2K Saturday) and Summer Madness initiative of the agency. Ms. Berry organizes recreational activities, field trips, life skills classes, and academic instruction and tutoring, to bring learning and enrichment into the lives of local kids. At the most basic level, she gives at-risk children a safe place to play and learn.

Sharon Berry received her Master’s of Arts in Counseling and Humanistic Service from Montclair State University and her Bachelor’s degree in English and Secondary Education from SUNY Cortland; she took courses in non-profit management from Rutgers School of Business. She’s a member of the National NAACP, the NJ Association of Women Business Owners, and Phi Kappa Phi. Her goals for the next five years include becoming a licensed clinician and pursuing a Ph.D. in organizational development and non-profit management. She has two children, Chia Lai and Kristian and resides in Middlesex County.

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