Emmanuel Cancer Foundation, Inc.
Serving New Jersey's Children With Cancer And Their Families Since 1983
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
ECF strives to ease the multitude of burdens faced by families coping with a child's cancer diagnosis. We help in any way we can for as long as we can through professional counseling, material support and emergency financial assistance.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Professional In-Home Counselling
ECF provides NJ families faced with the crisis of pediatric cancer a place to turn for comfort and support through professional in-home counseling and a uniquely tailored package of assistance. We accomplish this through counseling for the entire family by professional caseworkers and advocacy on behalf of the families with insurance companies, medical providers, landlords, etc.
Emergency Family Financial Assistance
ECF provides NJ families faced with the crisis of pediatric cancer a place to turn for comfort and support through emergency financial relief
Material Assistance
ECF provides NJ families faced with the crisis of pediatric cancer a place to turn for comfort and support through professional in-home counseling and a uniquely tailored package of assistance. We accomplish this through material support such as food, clothing, toys, and household items.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of new clients within the past 12 months
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Professional In-Home Counselling
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of therapy hours provided to clients
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Professional In-Home Counselling
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Hours of support group services offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Professional In-Home Counselling
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of meals delivered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Material Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Estimated dollar value of clothing and household goods donations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Material Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of families served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Professional In-Home Counselling
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Since 1983, The Emmanuel Cancer Foundation (ECF) has been providing New Jersey families facing the crisis of pediatric cancer a place to turn for comfort and support through professional in-home counseling and a uniquely tailored package of assistance. ECF was founded by a family wanting to assist others experiencing the same enormous emotional and financial hardships that they endured during and after their young son's battle with cancer.
ECF is committed to being a beacon of light for New Jersey families facing pediatric cancer. Through trained professionals and dedicated volunteers, our goal is to replace fear with hope and confusion with balance. Many organizations are searching for a cure to pediatric cancer but in the meantime hundreds of families in New Jersey are struggling with this disease on a daily basis. ECF helps families navigate the complicated world of cancer, preserve their emotional well-being, and relieve the burden of day-to-day needs so that they can focus on caring for their sick child and getting their family through the crisis of pediatric cancer intact. We serve any New Jersey child with cancer (age 18 or under) and their family regardless of race, creed, socioeconomic status, or any other demographic restrictions.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
ECF has three pillars of support which are tailored to each individual family's needs:
1) Counseling and Advocacy Services. In-home counseling is provided by a staff of professional Caseworkers who are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Services may include individual and family counseling, emotional support, bereavement counseling, and advocacy with outside agencies such as insurance and medical providers, utility companies, landlords, etc. Counseling helps parents learn how to handle their fears and communicate with their children. Children get help understanding what they are going through and how to cope with all the resulting emotions. Siblings learn to face their emotional challenges, such as feelings of resentment and abandonment.
2) Material Support. While battling pediatric cancer, even simple tasks such as shopping for groceries and maintaining the home are neglected because the family becomes overwhelmed by taking care of their child's needs. By giving families groceries and household items, and providing children with birthday and holiday gifts, ECF helps families retain some sense of normalcy. The intervention provided by ECF is often the critical link that provides families with the support and assistance they desperately need to maintain stability.
3) Emergency Financial Aid. ECF families also face enormous financial pressures. For middle class families who struggle in good times to make ends meet, facing pediatric cancer can devastate finances. Single parent families are forced to choose between working and caring for their sick child. Oftentimes in two-parent families one of two breadwinners has to leave the workforce. Currently, over 50% of ECF families earn below the poverty level. Monthly expenses, as well as mounting medical bills, are impossible to tackle. ECF Caseworkers advocate on behalf of our families to find ways to help them pay their bills. Additionally, ECF provides financial aid on an as-needed basis to families to resolve urgent situations such as foreclosure on their homes, having their utilities shut off, and losing their cars due to lack of payment. Support can also be offered to families for the cost of meals while they spend time at their child's bedside in the hospital, for costly transportation to treatment facilities, and to families who cannot meet the high cost of burial and funeral expenses for a child who has lost his or her battle to cancer. In 2021, we have provided more than $40,000 in emergency financial assistance, due to both a growing number of families needing such assistance and an increased number of grants dedicated to this purpose.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since 1983, the foundation has assisted nearly 2,000 families across New Jersey. Our current staff includes 16 caseworkers (two of who are also case managers), 4 regional directors, and 5 managerial/administrative employees. Each ECF caseworker is a trained, professional counselor who has met the minimum requirement of a Master's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or a related field. They are held to the National Association of Social Work Standards for Social Work Case Management, which covers such items as ethics and values, qualifications, knowledge, cultural and linguistic competence, assessment, service planning, advocacy, collaboration, practice evaluation, record keeping and professional development. Caseworkers—many of whom go above and beyond and help families without billing ECF and are available 24-7—are assisted by our four regional directors who reach out to the community for help, partner with other organizations, mobilize volunteers, and appeal for contributions and food and other donations from local businesses, families, and civic associations.
Our four regional centers, covering eastern, southern, northern and central New Jersey, each have a food pantry and hundreds of committed volunteers who help with everything from food delivery and gift wrapping, to data entry and assisting at events. We have a large array of friends in the communities—including many kids-- who run food drives, birthday bag collections, garage sales and other fundraising and donation collection events on behalf of ECF.
Additionally, ECF has a growing board of directors—all 15 members are passionate about ECF's mission and committed to the organization's growth. They have a variety of expertise and represent various segments of the community, including pediatric oncology, finance, information technology, the pharmaceutical industry, and parents who experienced a child with cancer. This active board benefits ECF in ways such as fundraising, strategic planning, and forging new community partnerships.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
For 40 years the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation (ECF), our committed and passionate staff, along with numerous volunteers of all ages, have been busy providing support and assistance to a growing number of New Jersey families facing pediatric cancer. We actively seek out families that have a child with cancer who might otherwise not have known about our services. The increased referrals are due to retraining caseworkers in more effectively communicating ECF's mission and services and raising awareness of ECF among hospitals and other healthcare providers, churches and schools.
We are also always exploring how best to serve our families. An increasing number of our families are struggling financially-- over 55% earn below the poverty level. So we have been providing significantly more emergency financial assistance than ever before—this year we distributed over $40,000. Also, many more of our families are Spanish speaking, so we have recently contracted with several new caseworkers who are bilingual in Spanish and English, as well as acquiring a translation service to help with other ethnicities. We also eased the application process for new families and recently sent a survey to our families to get feedback on ECF's current services and recommendations on fulfilling any additional needs our families may have. As part of an effort to expand our programming, we are exploring several new programs opportunities.
The following quantifies our services over the past year
2022
Total # Families Served 283
# Caseworker Home/Virtual Visits /Advocacy Hours 3,832
Gift Cards Distributed $21,905
Birthday bags sent to ECF kids and their siblings 354
Holiday gift wishes filled $62,800
Material donations $65,410
Bags of Groceries Delivered 2,592
Emergency Financial Assistance Distributed $52,000
Total Food & Material Assistance (in-kind value) $208,780
Volunteer hours 2,457
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Emmanuel Cancer Foundation, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 02/01/2024
Mr. Paul Dougherty
Eisner Amper
Term: 2025 - 2023
Mr. Robert Mecca
BeiGene
Term: 2023 - 2025
Steven M Wooton
(C) Systems Global
Michael Yuschak
Shore Systems
Betsy Shaheen
Builders General
Susan Vizzoni
Joseph Vizzoni
Paul Dougherty
Eisner Amper
Ralph Diaz
Merrill Lynch
Karen Diaz
Novartis Pharma
Jonathan Kanarek
Moody's
John Kwasnik
Mezzacca & Kwasnik
Joel Markel
Preferred Home Health Care
Christina Mecca
Robert Mecca
Gilead Sciences
Julisa Medina
John R. Hill & Assoc.
Valerie Sculthorpe
Citizens Bank
Tammy Garrison
South Jersey Gas
Veronica Sergiacomi
Atlantic City Electric
Brian W. Jones
First National Bank of Elmer
Ritch Yanowitz
Karen Peck
ExamWorks
John Finley
Greenbriar Capital
Mark Lerch
Lerch Family Partnership
Cara Murphy
PwC
Maryann Zaleski
JP Morgan
Valeria Cisnero
Emerging Markets Credit
Krishna Shetty
S&P Global
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/07/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.